Home & Away

Life has been pretty mundane here which is why I've not felt inspired to write. But Neil's mam & dad arrive tomorrow for three weeks which will include time away for us & more travelling stories so I thought I'd fill in the gaps now.
July was a month of feeling a long way from home. The Lions came & went & the NZ media ribbed Clive Woodward for far too long after his departure. London won its bid to host the Olympics which amazed us (maybe it wasn't quite as much of a shock to those still in the UK but obviously there was less build up to it here) and then the bombings the next day really left us reeling. It was interesting reading emails & comments from other Brits who were temporarily out of the country; all seemed to echo the same feeling of wishing that they were back home to comfort & somehow 'defend' it.
Neil's had a birthday &, having been an 'old woman' for just over a month, I'm now 'as young as him'. There was a highly competitive, testosterone spirit in the air as he & mates celebrated with a go-karting grand prix. He came second over-all & would have won had he not been forced into the tyres in the first race - I know that sounds like an excuse but more than one person has told tales of such dirty tactics being played (and subsequent penalties being given) that I think it's true. He has to be given the benefit of the doubt seen as it was his birthday!
And spring appears to have arrived, it doesn't seem possible that winter can be so brief (though we have been told not to count our chickens because there is still 2 weeks of August left & anything can happen...). The daffodils are out, blossom everywhere & lambs abound (what do you expect, it is New Zealand!). The other day we were on the beach in temperatures over 20 degrees C & our friends were skiing just over an hour's drive away. Crazy!
Well that's about it for now. Tomorrow sees the arrival of the first of several visitors before the year ends which is very exciting for us - we're missing you all heaps...