Moving.

We have had a great holiday and now have to set to and pack all our belongings again as we are moving house next weekend. We will have been in NZ almost a year and decided that we would move to get a slightly bigger place in a quieter location. A lot of our stuff is still in boxes and has never been unpacked. It makes you realise how little you actually need to be comfortable and happy. We will e-mail you all our new address once we are settled. I hope you are enjoying our photos and news. At least you have the choice to look or not! And it is fun putting it together even if not many folk have the time to view it.

The last year has had its ups and downs. We are amazed a year has gone by and at the same time feel we have packed a lot in. The kids are half way through this school year now and have both had good half way reports. They have done well adjusting to new schools and making new friends, but like us adults they miss their Kenilworth friends.

We are visiting the UK just after Christmas for 3 weeks. Hope we will have the chance to catch up with some of you. Bet you all have a lot of news too!

Reflections.

Just had to post these photographs as we could not believe how perfect the reflections were.

Time to chill out!

This was a novelty! This drinks bar is made entirely of ice. The seats, bar, sculptures and even the glasses- Gareth decided to eat his! You are given a thick warm coat to wear and a vodka cocktail to drink - Yum Yum!

The Shotover Jet

If any of you make it over to visit us here in NZ then a jet boat ride is a must. Bit of an adrenalin fix! We could hear these boats from the cottage in the Shotover River Gorge below. Very spectacular place- yes I know yet another piece of stunning scenery! Used in the Lord of the Rings- end of the Fellowship of the Ring when they are paddling in the canoes for those who are Tolkien fans. (In fact a lot of the Lord of the Rings was filmed near Queenstown and the local businesses are still making the most of the connection!)

A walk in the snow!

We had a day resting from skiing and had a walk from Arrowtown to get these wonderful views over the town and valley. Not sure the kids enjoyed it as much as Wayne and I did! It was pretty slippy underfoot.

Arrowtown

10 mins from where we stayed is the old gold mining town of Arrowtown. Some pretty neat shops and cafes. Panning for gold in the river is a popular tourist activity- bit too cold for that this holiday!!

Skiing!!

For the first time the kids had the stamina to ski all day and not need picking up too often!

Coronet Peak.

The main reason for us to go to Queenstown this week was to Ski!! We had some superb weather and the snow conditions were really great! Coronet Peak gives great views over the valley with Lake Wakatipu in the distance- stunning!

Cosy cottage near Queenstown

Our holiday cottage was very cosy once the fire got going and in a great location; about 10 mins out of Queenstown and 30 mins from the nearest ski field at Coronet Peak. Also had great views of the mountains.

Lindis Pass in the snow.

Time for another update. We have just had a great week away in Queenstown. Pretty interesting journey down with the mountain passes almost impassable. In fact the Lindis was officially closed to 2WD vehicles so thank goodness for the 4WD Prado. We have only seen this road in the good weather so a bit of an adventure. No other way down to Queenstown really so we were extremely glad we got through!