Back to reality

Well, it seems we hit earth with a bump after our amazing three week trip to NZ. No sooner were we back on US terra firma than Annalie was back to work. It was exceptionally hard for her to get motivated after such a long break, but she had some issues to deal with that needed her to be on the ball. Thankfully we didn't suffer too badly from jetlag and we managed to get our body clocks back on the right timezone quickly enough.

Maddy seemed ever so pleased to see us, even though she'd had a great time with Shannon and Steve, who looked after her so well, despite her picking up another bladder infection. She really bonded well with their dog, Dexter, and apparently he was acting like a big brother, all protective of her while playing in the dog park! Now we had never seen her play with other dogs, so we haven't taken her much. However, we have now witnessed her in full play mode, usually taking on dogs that are at least twice her size, and she appears to have a thing for Boxers! So maybe the dog park should be on our itinerary more often?! She's also been doing other unusual stuff, like finally sleeping on a dog bed/pillow that we bought for her before she arrived. Finally she's discovered that it's comfortable. And if she can't get on the furniture, maybe it's the next best thing!

The week after we got back to the US it was that major American tradition of Hallowe'en to be enjoyed. The Fire Department makes a big deal out of this, so on the Friday night, we went down to the Fire House t help make up goodie bags of sweets to give out to the kids the following night. We also got creative and carved out a few pumpkins to create the right kind of mood. Then Saturday night Ian was part of the annual parade from the local junior school to the Fire House, where a show is put on. Little did he realise when turning up, he was going to have a much bigger than abticipated part!

In our attempts to avoid trick or treaters, we were invited around to our friends, the McCanns, for some dinner. There were a few others also around and we let the McCann children fend off the other children from the estate! This night was one of seven scheduled games in the baseball "World" Series, which this year featured Ian's beloved Yankees against the Phillies. Although there were three bug Yankees fans in the room, they managed to resist asking for the TV to be turned on. For a while at least. The Phillies took an early lead. Then when the Yankees equalised, all hell broke loose and the TV could no longer be resisted. With most of the other people in the room unable to understand the rules, it was partially an education session, but they were much more interested in the game than trying to teach others what it all meant. Eventually, after a significant rain delay, the Yankees prevailed. On that night and to win the entire Series. Let's just say it's like winning the FA Cup, or the League. But not quite!

One thing that has kept Annalie occupied since coming back from NZ has been the Dubai Air Show, so she ended up there for nearly a week. Despite the sun, she only managed to spend about 2 hours lazing by the pool as she was indoors working for most of the time. The evenings were mostly free though and this gave Annalie the opportunity to go snowboarding - yes, snowboarding - whilst there. Like in the UK, Dubai has an indoor slope that produces real snow. Only unlike the UK versions, it is that big it even has a chair lift! They are also geared up for all the tourists that turn up without any ski gear, so the price includes hire of clothing as well as boots and boards (or skis if you so prefer!). She took along two colleagues from Pratt & Whitney and one from Rolls-Royce and much fun was had by all.

Most of the other evenings in Dubai were informal dinners and drinks, but as is typical of an air show, there were too many late nights and too many drinks involved ;) At least it gave Annalie the chance to catch up with some of her friends from Rolls-Royce, specifically Zara, who regularly shares a drink or three on the road!

The other big milestone has obviously been Ian playing age catch-up with Annalie ;) For his birthday Annalie tried a novel restaurant idea by visiting a Brazilian Charruscaria in Hartford. These are based around meat, meat and more meat, so Annalie thought the carnivore in Ian would enjoy it. The concept is simple: you have an indicator on your table that has a red end and a green one. If you turn it up to have the green one showing, the servers will keep coming to serve you with freshly grilled meats. And they keep coming until you turn it to red. You can keep going all night long if you want, just turning the indicator as you require, and it is an Atkins diet dream! More meat than you dare to imagine. We don't think we actually managed to try everything on the menu! This is also supplemented by an all-you-can-eat salad and sides bar too. If you dare!

We also made a trip to the Bushnell Theater in Hartford to watch what is traditionally the start of the ski season, a documentary film about skiing and snowboarding by Warren Miller. This year's was Dynasty, and it featured some amazing mountains as the backdrop to short stories about skiiers and boarders from around the world. There were also some pretty amazing stunts as part of this that had the entire audience gasping. We didn't think it would be so popular, so we turned up just over half an hour before the showing started, only to find out that there were just 11 tickets left - phew! After the showing, we ventured to Tango in Glastonbury for a few drinks and something to eat, meeting up with some of Annalie's workmates there.

We finally managed to sort through our photos from NZ, all 3,000 of them!!! We whittled it down so that we could produce an affordable photobook to put on the shelves and also to show people. There's still several hundred to choose from, but Annalie spent hours creating a book to be printed, before having real trouble sending it to be processed! Ian managed to get that bit sorted though and the books (it was BOGOF!) have now arrived. And even if we say so ourselves, there's some damn fine pictures in there! We've actually uploaded most of them to the online album, but it doesn't quite have the same effect!

Other than that, it's all been quite low key and settling back into the swing of things here. Although we're off again soon enough.

The last time we left you, we had just over a week left in NZ, and what a packed week that was! I guess we should start where we left you in Kaikoura.

The Maori word Kaikoura actually means "eat crayfish" as this is the local speciality. We didn't sample any as it is quite expensive, despite its abndance, but this is a seafood place in general, so we had to try some of the local "fush and chups" (said in the best Kiwi accent - although we did see a t-shirt with that spelt out later in our stay!).

This lunch was served after Annalie took to the Pacific Ocean for another Kaikoura speciality - whale watching. It is one of the lucky places on earth that has resident whales residing just off shore. These are usually juvenile male Sperm Whales who are waiting to mature before heading out to the open sea to find a mate. The area is great for this giant beast because there is the equivalent of the Grand Canyon under the sea just a short boat ride off the coast.

Ian chose not to participate in this trip for fear of spending most of the time bent over the rails or camped on the toilet! So Annalie went along on her own - but with Ian's camera for company. Admittedly it was probably a wise move on Ian's part, as there were a few people worse for wear during the journey!

The boat staff are experts at locating and tracking these whales using specific equipment. It has to be quite a science as the Sperm Whale holds the record for holding its breath the longest, at over 2 hours. As the whale watching cruise was only 2.5 hours, that could make for a very fruitless trip. Luckily the company offers an 80% money-back guarantee if no whales are spotted. This was clearly not required on the day of our cruise as there were two spottings, although we think it was the same whale. Still, it was enough to make it worthwhile. Seeing these huge, majestic creatures quite close up was a surreal experience. The icing on the cake has to be the tail "flute" which signifies the Sperm Whale's deep dive to feed.

Once that was over, and lunch was had, we hit the road again, this time to the mountain spa resort of Hanmer Springs. We'd given ourselves a day and a half there to get some R&R, but we started our stay with a late afternoon game of golf. Although it has to be one of the worst games either of us has played in a very long time. Still. it got the legs moving after a couple of hours on the road.

The next morning we had booked ourselves a 2.5 hour horse ride to explore the countryside at a more sedate pace. Annalie was given a pretty forward-going mount called Tom(ahawk) who liked, and seized, his opportunities to canter. Ian settled on a few trots with his sensible mare called Katie. The "John Wayne" feeling certainly took effect very soon afterwards and we both started to feel sore - not helped by the fact that we'd spent a couple of hours mountain biking just the other day. But what a good day to choose to go to the spa?! Anyone would think we had planned it that way ;-) A relaxing steam was followed by a soothing massage to take away the aches and pains. Once all that was completed, it was time to hit the thermal pools at Hanmer Springs. As it was getting quite late (7pm) and all the pools are outdoors, many of the pools had cooled down. The hottest pools were the sulphur springs, but we didn't want to try them for some reason! We didn't stay in there very long and rinsed off before going out for a roast dinner.

The following morning we travelled to the West Coast, over the mountains through the Lewis Pass to Greymouth. As a major port, we were expecting a bustling little town. However we were rather disappointed to find that it was actually pretty dead. Even at 1pm on a Saturday afternoon. Many of the town centre shops were shut and finding a lunch pit stop was also tricky. We had a Monteith's Brewery Tour booked at 4pm so we had a relaxed lunch and then headed out of town to the supermarket to get some provisions and had a drive around to kill some time.

The brewery is actually a very small operation, as most of the beer (and now cider!) is made by two other breweries around the country. However the Greymouth site is the historic site that originally produced the beer to the same recipe that a Scottish settler imported during the Gold Rush. The tour was informative, but most of us were there just in anticipation of the tasting session at the end ;) Seven beers were on offer, as well as the new Crushed Apple Cider that has tempted Ian's palette this holiday. After sampling each of the beers, from the aforementioned cider to the Monteith's Black stout, we were all let loose on the pumps and able to sample as much as we were able to. With a short drive ahead of us, we didn't go mad, but our firm favourites were Monteith's Radler and the cider. We did manage to coin a new nickname for the Radler beer, which is normally referred to as a "girlie beer" as it is a nice, light lager, with lemon and lime juice added. However, one of the guys on the tour was talking about his liking for this particular tipple and he was getting ribbed for it being a girlie drink. So Annalie helped him out by suggesting it was really a "man shandy"!!! It really does taste like shandy but is actually 5% strength. Very drinkable and very dangerous!! If you're in the UK, look out for the Monteith's beer and cider in Waitrose. In the US they export to Trader Joe's. Luckily we've got one of those over near West Farm's Mall, so we think Ian may be sent on a scouting mission next week ;)

After our beer sesh was finally closed, we got back in the camper for the short drive to Hokitika for our nightly stop. On the way down, we crossed many single lane bridges, which is not something you expect to see on a State Highway - or the Kiwi version of a motorway! On this drive we met possibly the most bizarre bridge of all, which was single lane AND shared with a railway line!! We're guessing the train gets priority! After all, we wouldn't argue with it!

We decided to go on a scenic drive around some of Hokitika's landmarks the following morning, although this did take us well out of our way. No matter, it was only 2 hours to our next stop. Ian proposed a trip to Dorothy Falls while Annalie wanted to see the Hokitika Gorge. We were slightly worried that we would be disappointed after driving so far out of our way, but thankfully both sites provided wonderful scenery and photo opportunities. The Gorge in particular had a stunning coloured river, a strong green-blue, that is probably influenced by the presence of pounami - or greenstone - throughout the valley.

From there it was a case of hitting the road and heading for Franz Josef Glacier. We had booked a full day hike on the glacier to enable us to see some true "blue" ice and get above the dirty stuff at the bottom of the slide. When we arrived to a beautiful afternoon in the town, we thought it might be novel and more fun to actually do a heli hike. We were still hurting from the horse riding and the thought of a full-day of walking and climbing was not the most appealing. So we booked ourselves on an early heli-hike based on the warning that, if the heli-hike was cancelled, we could still go on the full-day hike.

We went to bed to a clear night and much anticipation. During the night, however, the heavens rolled in and duly opened. We should have known better based on our experiences of this holiday! The cloud cover was so low the following morning, even though it wasn't raining, the helis were all cancelled. So we got kitted out and braced ourselves for a full day on the ice.

It was an awful lot of walking, but it was also a lot of fun. We saw some stunning ice colours and formations as we trekked around at about 900m above sea level, having gained about 700m during the climb. And it wasn't even that cold - although that may have something to do with our clever use of clothing layers! As we neared the end of our walk in the late afternoon, the heavens opened again, but it was fine. We were on our way in as it was so we weren't that bothered. It would have been a different matter if it had done that all day!

After a nice warm shower to heat us up, we headed out for dinner. Even though it was our last night in the 'van, we were too tired to contemplate cooking, even though we already had some leftover spag bol from the previous night! It turned into an appetiser for Ian ;) So we headed to The Landing in the village to sample the goodies. A reasonably-priced menu belied the HUGE portions that came out. Even though ours were large, we were still gobsmacked by the size of some of the other meals making an appearance! Needless to say we were completely stuffed once that was over and done with, but we'd earned it with our exhausting day on the glacier.

Waiting for us the next morning was our longest drive of the holiday from Franz Josef to Queenstown - our final destination for this trip. It was approximately 450kms and the satnav was telling us that it would take around 4 hours 40 minutes. However, that most definitely wasn't allowing for a) the windy roads, b) the scenery, and c) the pit stops we required along the way! We planned a breakfast stop in Haast, around 180kms from Franz Josef and signalled the end of out coastal drive. Lunch was looking out over Lake Wanaka, before we took the back road into Queenstown. We were really glad the satnav took us the back way rather than down the highway as we were left with some amazing views of Queenstown as we descended through the mountains into town.

After checking into our hotel it was time to wave goodbye to the faithful old camper. Despite the niggles we'd experienced with it, we had lots of fun, but at least we no longer had to assemble the bed each night and unassemble it again in the morning any more. Well, we didn't always unassemble it ;) We ditched the 'van and headed back into town on the bus, meeting a very talkative Scottish bus driver who informed us that Dunedin, a southern town that we didn't get to, was literally a copy of Edinburgh.

We explored the town a little to get our bearings and then decided to try out the local speciality sport - frisbee golf! There is a course laid out in the local gardens and you can hire or buy frisbees all over town. We decided to hire as we weren't sure how many times we would play and off we headed. With the same rules as golf (effectively) it was easy to understand, but a lot harder to get the hang of! This first round had us all over the place and over par in double figures!

After dinner that night, we popped into the casino to see what that was like. Compared to our usual haunts in CT, this place was just TINY! a couple of tables of each card game and roulette, and about 20-30 slots. Not the mini-cities we're used to at Mohegan or Foxwoods, which even appear bigger than most of the Vegas casinos we've visited. Still, we thought we'd sit down and give the $5 blackjack table a whirl. A couple of hours of fun saw us walk away $40 up, so we took that and ran.

On the way out that night, Annalie spotted a shop that she knew they would both want to visit, so the next morning she dragged Ian into the British Lolly Shop. It is truly like an old-school sweet shop that you used to visit when you were kids (I clearly remember two on Oldham Road!). Old favourites were there in their jar glory, including Rainbow Crystals, Uncle Joe's Mint Balls, Bon Bons (of various different flavours), Midget Gems, Cherry Lips, Porky Pigs, Cola Bottles etc, etc. We couldn't help but buy some Rainbow Crystals, Rhubarb and Custard and a Double Lolly! The best bit is that you can sample anything you fancy that's in the jars!

The next morning we were booked to take a scenic flight from Queenstown to Milford Sound and then take a cruise before flying back. Despite a lovely day in Queenstown, the flight company claimed the weather in Milford was not quite so idyllic, so we rebooked for Friday morning. With a day freed up, we meandered around town trying to figure out what crazy activity to do. Queenstown is known as the adventure capital of the world and has retained that status since inventing the bungy jump over 40 years ago. The variety of heart-stopping things to do is mind-boggling, but Annalie quite fancied doing a canyon swing. Another, less scary alternative was the Nevis Arc, so we opted for that one, and to do it tandem as well so we could share the fear at close range!

A 40-minute ride out to the site, which also included the highest bungy in Queenstown, lead us to a majestic view over a river valley below. There wasn't much opportunity to get scared as there were only a few jumpers before us before it was our turn. Unlike a bungy, or the canyon swing, you don't have to jump off or let yourself go like the other activities. So when it came to our turn, the controller gave us a countdown from five, but let us go on three, making it most unexpected! This didn't dampen our experience though as the freefall quickly turned into a controlled swing that felt quite tame compared to some of the things we've done in the past!

Another night at the casino saw us walk out another $40 up - we seemed to be getting the hang of things ;) Although sometimes it was quite frustrating watching what some people were doing, like splitting 10s/picture cards! We have no idea what that was all about!

Thursday saw another round of frisbee golf, although we'd decided to buy frisbees because we'd figured we'd play enough times to justify buying, based on the cost of hiring. Ian had gone for a solo round on Wednesday and got talking to some locals who provided him with some inside knowledge. He imparted this on Annalie and it improved her game no end!

We also had another pre-booked activity, this time on the Shotover Jet. Billed as the world's most thrilling jet boat ride, it certainly didn't disappoint as the boat raced through canyons, missing the rock walls by centimetres and throwing us into crazy 360 degree spins. But the best thing was the heated hand rails ;) Seriously, it was a cracking ride and even included some educational bits, which we weren't quite expecting. But then the Kiwis seem to be into that kind of thing. Ian voted it the best thing we'd done so far, and with only 1.5 days to go, that will be tough to beat.

When we returned to town, we headed up the gondola to get the obligatory high-level views of Queenstown. There was also a luge here, as there was in Rotorua and apparently owned/operated by the same company. The experience was much tamer in Queenstown though - which was surprising considering the town's reputation and adrenalin-fuelled crowd. But it was still fun. When we descended we thought we'd have a go at the local indoor crazy golf course that looked, well, a bit crazy! It housed the most elaborate mini golf course we've ever seen, with intricate obstacles and "lucky dip" tubes where you can only guess which chute your ball will come out of! When you finish you get a free Chuppa Chups lolly as well - that alone made it worth it! ;)

Friday morning came around and we set off on our scenic flight to Milford Sound in near perfect conditions. Clear blue skies and just a light breeze ensured prime viewing conditions from the tiny 6-seater plane. The pilot took us "the long way round" to enable us to see some of the spectacular mountain scenery that surrounds this part of the country. We even got a glimpse of the tallest peak in NZ - Mount Cook - despite being about 100kms away from it. That might indicate how clear the day was.

The Milford Sound cruise was equally picturesque, but where we've been so spoilt over the last three weeks with some stunning scenery, we almost started to take these things forgranted. Now that does sound wrong! A quick hop back on the plane and we were back in Queenstown by 1pm. After a spot of lunch we headed out to the frisbee golf course again in the late afternoon sun and then hit the Monteith's bars to take in some more of the addictive brew! In one pub, the Pig 'n' Whistle, they were bringing around sausage sarnies for free, so we sampled a couple of those. Then we got talking to some Kiwis and ended up sharing some of their snacks. So although we'd planned to have a nice meal as it was our night in NZ, we didn't actually need it! So we hit the casino one last time. For once it was Ian who had the luck of the cards and he managed to walk away $110 up.

Our final morning saw us head over to the Lolly Shop to stock up on some goodies to take home with us to CT. This time we met the owner who happens to be from Rochdale! Although Annalie had guessed he was from that neck of the woods as he hasn't lost the accent one bit. After repacking everything (properly for a change!) we had one last round of frisbee golf to while away another hour and then headed back to the hotel to wait for our ride to the airport. When we checked in for our flight from Queenstown to Auckland, we discovered that we'd received a small upgrade from normal economy to the extra legroom economy, which was nice. Maybe Annalie's contacts with Air New Zealand paid off ;)

And so ended our trip of a lifetime to the Land of the Long White Cloud (as it is apparently nicknamed!). Others may know it as Middle Earth, or the place where sheep outnumber people. We couldn't recommend it highly enough and think everyone should visit at least once. We've been here three weeks and we've just scratched the surface of this vast country. Would we come back? Quite possibly, but Ian would only do it if he could fly Business all the way ;)

North and South

The next stage of our expedition took us south. Unfortunately the weather on the North Island waged a bit of a war against us and foiled some of our ideas for activities. First there was Ian’s desire to do a sky dive at Taupo, when, on a good day, you can see both coasts of the island. From there we had thought about doing the Tongariro Crossing, which is a full day hike across high plains. Unfortunately the unseasonable weather meant fresh snow had been falling, with 10cms overnight just before we travelled that way.

We then tried to do a mountain bike trail called Fishers Track, which is a good beginners trail with a short incline where, upon reaching the top you get great views of the three mountains in the area – Tongariro, Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe – and then it’s 17kms downhill all the way. As the day had started out pretty rough, we were advised that it wouldn’t be good. So we decided to go to the local thermal pools for a relax. We were extremely pleased to get a private pool for $9 each (that’s about ₤4!) for 20 minutes, and then access to the public pool was included. We soon realised why it was so cheap though, as it was like going to a bad public swimming baths! But the waters were warm and soothing, so we didn’t care!

After we’d had our fill of soaking in warm water, we carried on our southward journey. At this stage the weather was turning into a lovely afternoon, affording us fantastic views of the three mountains anyway on the drive round. We arrived in our port for the night – Ohakune – in the early afternoon and had some lunch. This town is the main access point to the biggest ski area in the North Island, Turoa ski field, so we thought we’d take a nosy to see what it was like, especially with the fresh snow. The access road is worse than the one at Killington! It’s about 15kms long and very windy. The ski lifts were actually shut for the day, and the season-closing ski race postponed, due to extremely high winds up there. Although some people were up there on sledges and snowboards doing little runs.

The following morning was our longest drive as we headed down to Wellington, so we had an early night, which wasn’t hard considering the fresh mountain air and a long, warm soak earlier in the day! And so we were up at 5.30 to commence the 4-hour trip to the country’s capital city. We did this because we wanted to get an afternoon to have a look around “Welly” on the way through.

We headed straight for the Te Papa Museum which is the New Zealand National Museum. There is a special exhibit in there at the moment which covers the history of Formula 1 racing and includes a number of history-making cars – some of which appeared to be on loan from Donington Motor Museum – how ironic is that?! We finished off our visit with a ride on a simulator, which was a pretty violent way to end it!

We then headed off to find some lunch, choosing a location Ian had read about in the guide books. It turned out to be a really hippy/bohemian area, but we found one of the recommended cafés and felt rather over-dressed, but well-fed at least. Then it was off to the Mount Victoria lookout to get a great view over the city and the airport (for Ian’s enjoyment!). The Mount was also the filming location for some of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which is quite remarkable when you see how built up the area is. But then there was so much CGI used in the films, apparently most of the filming sites are unrecognisable.

After trying to get some of our niggles fixed on our campervan, we decided to kill a bit of time with some ten pin bowling, where we also enjoyed a local beer (although brewed on the South Island). We were rather taken with our choice of tipple, so we’ve now added a stop at the Monteith’s Brewery in Greymouth to our itinerary for the South.

We then camped up for the night, ready for the early Interislander ferry to the South Island on Monday morning. Due to his propensity for sea sickness, Ian spent the entire 3-hour journey getting the cobwebs blown away on the VERY blusty top deck. However, when we reached the other side, we were both positioned on either side of the boat with cameras at the ready.

The ferry that connects New Zealand’s two islands slowly chugs into port on the Southern side through a labyrinth of bays and inlets called the Marlborough Sounds. And it is truly impressive. The water is aquamarine in colour and much of the land is untouched, giving it a unique rugged beauty. It travels slowly through these narrow waterways before dropping everyone off at the port of Picton.

We decided to base ourselves here for a couple of nights to enable us to explore the Sounds further. That afternoon we went in search of a good way to see the area, and opted for a day tour kayaking and mountain biking on the Tuesday. We were up bright and breezy again to get into our boats (sea kayaks) for a 3 hour cruise around the Queen Charlotte Sound. The water is so clear and that is what creates the bright blue hue.

After a gentle paddle around a couple of bays and across the sound, we bumped into a couple of local seals. One of them decided to follow us and he frolicked and played alongside us, affording us plenty of photo opportunities.

The tour then took us further towards the tip of the Sound to Anikiwa, where we ditched the kayaks and picked up our mountain bikes to ride the earliest stage of the Queen Charlotte Track. Now this is billed as suitable for most beginners to tackle, but, as we found out later, is actually a Grade 3 Intermediate stage. And it’s not hard to see why. After an undulating start, which lulls you into a false sense of security, there is a long, climb upwards, which is also very steep in places. Rounding each corner we were hoping to reach the apex, only to be defeated by another incline.

Eventually though, we got to the top, to be rewarded with some amazing views of the surrounding bays and inlets. And then it was time for the fun part of the downhill. The track was actually pretty narrow, so Annalie took it fairly easy for fear of dropping off the steep hillside! This bit was far too short, and over far too quickly, considering the pain we’d gone through to get up there! And then it was all over and we were at our stopping point in Mistletoe Bay, in plenty of time for our water taxi back to Picton. After our exhausting day, we thought it would be wise to book some time in the Jacuzzi spa bath at the campsite – and it was very much welcomed!

Picton and the Marlborough Sounds have truly amazed us with their colour and beauty, and we could easily spend days exploring them further. So who knows, maybe we’ll have to schedule a return visit? ;o)

Upon leaving Picton we decided to stop off in the Blenheim region which is one of the most prolific wine-producing areas in New Zealand, renowned for its Sauvignon Blanc. We asked at the campsite reception if they had a recommendation for a winery to visit and we duly headed for their suggestion – Saint Clair’s. The welcome was warm and the Sauvignon Blanc (or Savvy as the Kiwis call it!) was very good. The tasting fee was a measly $2 (less then ₤1) but this was waived if you bought any wine. So Annalie bought a bottle of Savvy, just for the hell of it!

Then it was back onto State Highway 1 for the trip to Kaikoura. The State Highways are the New Zealand equivalent to motorways, and we’ve honestly seen bigger, wider B Roads than these in some places! Having said that, with some of the scenery being as spectacular as it is, you don’t want to be travelling too fast! And this leg of the journey was no more disappointing. We ultimately ended up driving along the coast with an immense and awesome backdrop of the mountains. The word “wow” was probably over-used several times during this trip.

To give us chance to soak in some of the scenery, we’d been advised to stop for lunch at a place called The Store, which was about 50kms North of Kaikoura, and it was worth the stop. A lovely vista out over the ocean and some fabulous homemade food was enough to keep us off the road for an hour! We even indulged in what was possibly the best-looking carrot cake ever! Although we did share ;o) The remaining journey to Kaikoura was broken up with stops to view the New Zealand Fur Seal colonies, resting their weary flippers on the rocks and beaches neighbouring the highway.

And now here we sit in Kaikoura, at a campsite less than 100 yards from the Pacific Ocean, yet looking out over some amazing snow-capped mountains as our backdrop. This has to be some of the most stunning scenery that can be found anywhere in the world. But that is our opinion based on what we’ve seen so far. Our bet is that the best is yet to come…

And so the Adventure begins

And so we are sat in our campervan at a campsite just outside Lake Taupo, sipping local Sauvignon Blanc from tumblers – how classy is that picture? ;o) But hey, it suits us!

Our journey to New Zealand actually started on Thursday night. We had a 6am flight from Bradley Airport so, rather than trying to convince someone to do us a favour and give us a lift to the airport at about 4am, we decided to spend the night at the airport hotel. One of the many benefits of Annalie’s frequent trips is the loyalty points on hotels as well as flights, so she cashed in some points for a free night.

We had just enough time for some dinner before hitting the hay. Annalie in particular was knackered as she’d had some fairly manic days at work in the run up to the holiday.

The alarm rang at 4am and we were in the airport having breakfast by 5. At that point we worked out how many hours it would be until we touched down in Auckland…a whole 30 hours later! Our first flight (6am from Bradley) took us to Dallas Fort Worth. We then had a 3.5 hour layover before our onward journey to Los Angeles, arriving in LAX at around 1.45pm local time. Because we’d also cashed in miles for these flights, we didn’t have as much choice as we’d have if we were buying tickets, so this meant an 8.5 hour layover in LAX. Luckily, by the time we reached the Air New Zealand terminal, check in was already open for one of their flights to London. This meant that we could ditch our bags and make our way to the lounge – the benefits of travelling Business Class ;o)

We managed to pass the time fine, but by the time our 10.30pm flight was ready for boarding, we were both about ready for bed – after all, we’d been up since 1am LA time anyway! However, just as we were getting ready to depart, Ian suddenly got excited by the fact that a person that seemed to resemble Harry Connick Jr was sat just four rows back. It turns out that it was a certain warbler, verified by the friendly cabin crew later on.

On board we were treated to some great hospitality and a lovely meal before setting up the beds to get some sleep. Both of us slept quite soundly – quite unusual for Ian to sleep at all on a flight – getting a good six hours each. But then the flat beds are very comfortable – much more so than the BA Club Class we’re used to (or at least Annalie is!). The service was also impeccable, and quite refreshing following some stale BA flights recently. If only we had more cause to travel this way!

Upon arrival in Auckland, we faced a mammoth Customs and Immigration experience as three long haul flights had landed almost together, with ours being at the back! Eventually we got through and headed straight to the campervan rental place to pick up our home for the next two weeks.

Although we say home, we managed to retain the luxuries of a real home for two more nights as we stayed with Sarah and Paul. Annalie went to university with Sarah and she’s married a kiwi, so it was a good opportunity to catch up. They were away for the weekend so we busied ourselves with getting familiar with Auckland. The weather wasn’t great and we weren’t feeling up to much, so we just drove around the city a bit, before getting back to Sarah and Paul’s in time for dinner.

The next day’s weather was just as poor, but we braved the wind and the rain to have a look around the city. This culminated in a very quick and brave/stupid* (delete as appropriate!) decision to do the Sky Jump off the city’s main landmark, the Sky Tower. It is billed as a 192m base jump ‘by wire’ so it differed from the bungy we did in South Africa, but it was equally scary, if not more. Ian did the gentlemanly thing and let Annalie go first (of course!). At the top of the Tower the wind was howling and was registering at -10 Celsius. However, the adrenalin pumping through us meant it didn’t feel that cold.

Annalie decided that the only way she would manage the jump would be to shut her eyes as you have to do a kind of crucifix to prepare for the jump – which is more of a ‘step off’ at 192m! ;o) Once she’d stepped off the platform it was time for the eyes to open and watch the ground get closer!

Ian had to wait a few minutes as the video camera batteries had run out before Annalie’s jump (thankfully for her!) so he had more time for the nerves to build. When it came to his ‘step off’ there was some hesitation but he finally jumped on his own free will.

Once at the bottom we decided against buying the video of Ian and just purchased photos of us both as proof we did something so stupid so quickly!

The next morning required an early departure from Auckland as we started our real NZ adventure. We had booked ourselves on the Black Abyss tour with the Legendary Black Water Rafting Company in Waitomo and thankfully the weather had cleared up to a beautiful sunny day. Here there are around 387 (mapped) caves fed by a fresh spring, but the real reason to go underground is to see the glow worms lighting up the caves like the night sky.

After getting decked out in enough gear to resemble beached whales, we headed to the cave opening for a 35m abseil, this was followed by a short walk and then a flying fox in the dark, which was amazing when you enter a pitch black cavern that is covered in glow worms! Then we sat and had a hot drink and flapjack, before jumping into the cold water about 10 feet below while attempted to land on our bums – which were conveniently positioned inside an inner tube! It felt like doing a belly flop on your bum though – and we can both testify to this as we both landed it perfectly!

Then we had to pull ourselves upstream to look at a bigger cavern of glow worms and get a close up view, before a gentle ride back downstream. Once out of the tubes, we walked through a labyrinth of caves to our final destination, climbing three waterfalls to get out. Now, for this you have to consider that it rains a lot in NZ. And the previous few days it had really rained. A lot. Well, it is Spring after all. So the water level was high and the waterfalls were heavy. Still, we all worked hard and got out in one piece. An exhausting but exhilarating day.

Back at the company HQ, we had warm showers and hot soup and a bagel waiting for us. And boy was it needed. We’d been lucky that we had only been a group of four as well as usually they take 8-10 people out, so we got to do more than many others would have. The other couple bought the pictures that they were selling and told us they’d copy them and mail us a CD ;o)

And so to the first night in the camper. We have booked into many campsites ahead of time, mainly using the New Zealand Top 10 campsites, which come highly recommended. So this was our first taste in Waitomo. A cute little campsite in the centre of the “village” (population 47!) and pretty much right by everything else in the town.

As we hadn’t had a chance to stock up on provisions, we decided to eat out at the local pub, befriending the local Doyle lookalike at the same time (only it was much fluffier!). Then we rented one of the free DVDs from reception to play on our laptop. Unusual choice of film though, a road trip thriller…while we’re on a road trip! Nothing too scary though (thankfully).

The following morning we hit the road to Rotorua, famed for its volcanic hot springs so it stinks of sulphur. We didn’t have anything planned so we headed to the equivalent of Tourist Information (I-site) because Annalie wanted to do a traditional Maori hangi evening and we didn’t know which would be best. As it happened we got a deal to include a late night guided tour of the neighbouring wildlife park to see the nocturnal kiwi. What we could see of the shy little buggers anyway!

The Maori hangi is basically a roast dinner cooked underground. For our meal we had chicken and lamb (naturally!) with some other native dishes such as stuffing! ;o) It was a lovely meal with plenty to go around – which is a necessity when Ian’s around! This feast was laid on after a show of traditional Maori culture, including the local Haka. The Haka that is displayed by the New Zealand Rugby team actually belongs to Wellington, but each tribe has its own ‘war dance’ that really is to show respect to your enemy, not simply intimidation.

While in Rotorua we also travelled up the town gondola to get a good view over the lake, but also to play around on the luge. This is a cross between a bobsleigh and a go kart – that’s the best way to describe it, and was very similar to the toboggan on the Great Wall at Mutianyu.

After a night at the Rotorua Top 10 campsite, we headed south to the Wai-o-Tapu “thermal wonderland”. The first port of call was the Lady Knox Geyser, a 10-15m eruption that is induced each morning through ‘soaping’. They claim that it would erupt naturally anyway, but they aid nature to relieve some of the built-up pressure. We also explored some of the other amazing pools created by the unique volcanic activity below the surface.

Then it was time to make our way further south to Lake Taupo – which isn’t exactly a lake, but the world’s largest volcano crater. Here we stayed two nights to stop rushing around so much and there is a fair amount to do in Taupo, especially when the weather is good. Unfortunately for us, the rain and wind set in again and put a dampener on some of the things we’d potentially planned to do. Still, we did some practical stuff, like laundry, getting some money out of the bank and some more shopping. We even cooked our first evening meal – lamb seemed like an appropriate option! Each of the campsites provides kitchens and BBQ facilities so we made the most of those to save our own gas.

Our second day in Taupo proved to be no better than the first. But despite the rain, we figured we’d head out for a good walk along the Waikato River to view the Huka Falls. After walking for what seemed like an age, we didn’t feel any closer so decided to walk back to the campsite to pick up the van and drive around to the viewpoint! On our walk, we had encountered a natural thermal stream that was hot enough to bathe in, even down by its merge with the Waikato. Annalie decided to go paddling on our return leg, and was welcomed by bath-like temperatures.

We headed over to the Huka Falls viewpoint on the other side of the river, about 10 minutes’ drive away and discovered it would have been an hour’s walk in total just to get to the Falls, let alone the walk back. Still, the view would have been worth it. Not that it’s spectacular like Niagara, but the water is so clear that the river is coloured the richest, deepest blue/green you have ever seen. It is an amazing sight.

As we were on that side of the river, and seeing as Annalie was playing Long Distance Clara at the wheel of the van, we headed to the Huka Prawn Park to go prawn fishing – and what you catch you can boil there and then and eat. After a fruitless 20 or 30 minutes, Annalie moved to a spot that had been recommended – not for the biggest prawns, but for the “young and stupid” ones! After losing bait a couple of times, she hooked a decent-sized fella, but it took her a while to get up the courage to figure out how to de-hook him!

A few more pieces of lost bait (who said they were stupid?!) and she bagged another one. Much smaller than the first, but it was most definitely a female as she was carrying a belly full of bright orange eggs. Although considered a delicacy in some parts of Asia, Annalie didn’t fancy trying to eat it! A bit of a waste but you’d have to see it to believe it. The camera didn’t like taking photos of her though, but you should make out all the orange eggs on the photo. Ian failed to hook anything, despite following in Annalie’s footsteps. Maybe the prawns knew who liked them? ;o)

And so for some tea in China...

After spending just five days back in the US, we headed off on our second trip to Beijing. Thanks to a BA promotion last year, we had a free “companion ticket” which meant that Ian could travel in the same cabin as Annalie on any of her trips before the end of this year. Based on her upcoming work trips, she could offer him Beijing or Dubai, and he opted for the Far East instead of the Middle.

Also travelling with us was Annalie’s colleague, Roger, who runs the air shows for her. As this trip was based on IAE’s attendance at an Aviation Expo, Roger was handling logistics for her.

We headed off to Boston together and a stretch limo turned up as our ride. We only needed the bottle of champagne on ice to make us feel like true celebs! Instead we had to make do with the fellow motorists on the I-84 and I-90 trying to look through the tinted windows to get a glimpse of the stars in their midst ;o)

Flying BA meant we had to endure an 8-hour layover at Heathrow. Thankfully Annalie had spoken to Somerset the previous week at TC and James’ wedding and she kindly came to pick us up and take us to our favourite greasy spoon – the Wonder Café in Uxbridge. Then it was back to her place to meet her little man Harry before Annalie went out to watch the hockey with her. It was great for Annalie to see all the old girls again, and especially nice to see Rachel again. Annalie spent most of the time playing with one of Rachel’s twins, Luke, who has a keen interest in taking up hockey, but he has a terrible sense of age (telling Annalie that his mum was 20!!). Bless him, but then again he’s only 5!

We then headed back to Somerset’s to pick the guys up and get back to Heathrow in plenty of time for our flight. An uneventful journey, but a nice one considering that it was the first time we’d done any length of time in business class together.

The first afternoon in Beijing we headed out to the Forbidden City to make sure we stayed awake. Annalie knows from previous experience that falling asleep in the middle of the day can be fatal when it comes to a good night’s sleep. Unfortunately we got their quite late and only had an hour to rush through the various halls. And Annalie was quite disappointed that they’d got rid of the Roger Moore audio tour!

Monday we were leant a driver by one of the IAE team in Beijing so we headed out to the hills to the Summer Palace, previously a famous retreat of the Emperors and their concubines. There was a lot of walking and climbing but we were rewarded with some great views. Then it was back to the city centre to climb the hill in Jingshan Park to get a bird’s eye view of the Forbidden City. It is only from here that you get a real idea of the size of the place – you just don’t understand it when you’re walking through the labyrinth that is the palace itself.

As Annalie had to work on the Tuesday, Ian decided to head out on his own little adventure for the day. He travelled to Xi’an to go and see the Terracotta Army. Again it shows how useful it is having colleagues in country. Annalie asked for help in organising the trip through IAE’s Beijing office. They got flights at half the price we would have paid ourselves, they arranged drop off and pick up at Beijing Airport, and the local IAE Field Rep in Xi’an met Ian at the airport there, drove him the two hours to the Qing tombs that are the site of the Army, sorted out a guide and then drove him back via the city centre. Talk about personal service! But he kind of needed it – he was picked up from the hotel at 6.15am and didn’t return until 11pm.

The army itself was less impressive than Ian expected but he’s still glad he went. There are literally thousands, if not millions of statues, each individually hand-carved with their own expressions and dress. And they are life size as well, although maybe not Chinese life size! They are all between 6 foot and 6 foot 4 inches tall. The terracotta colouring oxidises within two hours of each warrior being excavated so they are no longer red. Researchers are trying to discover methods of keeping the rich colour but so far, nothing has been achieved.

After a couple of lazy days for Ian, that Annalie spent at the Aviation Expo, we both took the Friday off and headed out to the Great Wall at Mutianyu. This is not the closest area to Beijing (which is Badaling) but it is far less touristy and with a lot less people. We were lucky enough to be provided with a driver (again!) and so we set off for Mutianyu at about 6.30am.

We arrived at the Great Wall at 7.30am and we are certain we were the first people up that morning. We travelled in a cable car to “Tower 14” and turned left at the top to try and reach “Tower 20” for some stunning views. Unfortunately for us, we’d had four days of fabulous clear days, only for the smog to beat us on the day we really needed it to not be there.

Still, it didn’t dampen our enthusiasm for the amazing Wall and we walked to the last Tower on this section anyway. Despite the smog it was an awfully hazy and humid morning. After hiking a couple of miles of gently undulating Wall, we reach an ascent that was mind-boggling. We were determined to do it though and, with a few rest stops on the way, made it to our target point. Although there wasn’t that much to see, it was still a very satisfying climb.

We decided to count the number of steps on the way down and quickly realised why it had felt so hard on the way up. 456 steps later, we were back at the starting point of our climb – ouch!

Then it was back the way we had come. We started to meet a few more people now but we’d beaten the crowds and felt like we were the only ones on the Wall for a good 2 hours. Past Tower 14 again and on down to Tower 6, we made our way back to the bottom of the Wall the most fun way – on a toboggan!

We were so hot and sweaty by the time we got to the bottom that we asked our driver to take us back to the hotel to allow us time for a shower before carrying on our sightseeing. Then it was on for some lunch and then to the Silk Alley Market. Famed in Beijing for fakes and bartering. We didn’t really require anything but we just wanted to go for the experience. Although we did end up buying a memory card for our GPS for around $15 – bargain!

Ian nearly ended up being forced into buying a fake North Face soft shell. The price started out at 2,600 Chinese RMB (about ₤173) but this dropped quickly as Ian threatened to walk away. Ultimately, as we were finally turning our backs on them, the price bottomed out at 100 RMB (about ₤6.70)!!! We still weren’t tempted as the quality wasn’t great, but it just goes to show how low they will go!

And with that we ended our visit to the Orient. Saturday saw us travel back in style again. This time we didn’t have a stretch limo waiting for us, instead getting a Chrysler Escalade SUV – much more civilised!

Before China

Well, we did warn you that we had a whirlwind coming up and we've neglected the blog a little in that time. Anyway, to make things easier, we thought we'd split the blog into pre and post-China!


So, before we headed out to the Far East, Annalie had resumed her footballing days of old and she's been getting plenty of action on the pitch! In her last two games she's scored and has been setting up her fellow team members as well. The rules about the guys not being able to tackle the girls helps somewhat, but that doesn't stop some of them getting a bit physical at times. But anyone who's seen Annalie play will know full well that she can hold her own on that side of things! With Beijing and New Zealand though, she's missing most of the session, which lasts about 8 weeks - so she's only getting to play about half of it.


We also had a flying visit back to the UK to be at TC and James' wedding - we wouldn't have missed it for the world. It was a great weekend catching up with old friends and seeing two of our favourite people get married. The wearing of hats had been requested, but because of the additional complication of travelling, Annalie decided that a "fascinator" might be the more transportable option. However, upon embarking on a quest to find one before departing the States, she soon realised that they aren't particularly fashionable over here. The last resort was one of the most expensive department stores in the US - Nordstrom. And as she suspected, here is where they could be found. And the first one she picked up turned out to be an almost perfect match for her dress, as evidenced by this photo.

As for the wedding itself, after the crappy summer that the UK has had, the happy couple could not have asked for better weather. It was a stunning day and the bride and groom looked blissfully happy. And they scrubbed up pretty good too ;o) See the photo album for proof. They were particularly pleased with the wedding present we provided them with - several bags of Cheetos! At special request of course!


Ian has got his head together with a couple of the ladies out here and they are now aiming to run the New York Marathon next year! If they can get in of course. So training has started just to start building up some miles and fitness. Ian has worked on the training plan, Vicky is looking up diet and nutrition, and Wendu has her action as well. Annalie is sure that Ian is just using this as an excuse to buy some new trainers ;o) It does mean that his Nike+ application is getting used in anger finally. He's bought himself an iTouch so that links up with the device in his trainer to record distance and time, plus minutes per mile, and keeps a training log for him. he's already seeing some improvements in his times.


It also means Maddy is getting a bit more exercise too. Although for some reason she doesn't seem to be losing much weight. Part of that might be the treats we have to give her as part of her own training regime. Ian did use the Nike+ on some of our regular walks with Maddy and we're averaging around 2 miles on some of our favoured local routes. Ian has also been taking her out on his bike so he's forcing her to run more, because she can be a lazy pooch at times! Her recall is getting better though, but as she's a beagle, it's definitely better when there's food involved.


And finally we thought we'd share some great pics of the Glastonbury area from a different perspective. Ian took a camera up on one of his flying lessons so you can see how green the surrounding area is, and how big some of the houses are! For those of you who have visited, you might just about recognise this place...

The whirlwind begins

Well, its been a pretty hectic couple of weeks, hence our lack of blogging, but we thought we'd better make time to put something in writing. But before we go any further, we have to tell you that you must register with this site otherwise you may not be able to come back and view it.

The first major bit of news is that Annalie has received her Masters result and has achieved a 2:1, despite scoring Firsts the rest of the way through the course. Her dissertation was a 2:1 due to the lack of primary research - but that's hardly surprising considering the amount of trouble she had getting JetBlue to respond to her emails, let alone arrange anything for her. Still, it's an excellent result, achieved alongside a full time job. The Graduation date has been set for Friday 27th November so we will be heading back to the UK for that. Luckily it is Thanksgiving Friday, so Annalie doesn't have to take any extra time off work - which would have been tricky considering all her holiday is going to be used up for New Zealand :-D

Ian has been carrying on with his flying lessons where time allows. His instructor is very popular so Ian sometimes struggles to find space in his diary. But he's still managed to sneak a few in. He's now doing pre-flight checks on his own and various maneouvres, like turns whilst changing altitude, approaches, taxiing, turns to headings and he is progressing well according to his instructor, who is very impressed. He claims it's like a duck to water!

A lot of our activities have been doggie-based lately as we've tried to get out and about and get Maddy even more settled. First there was the annual Dog Swim organised by the Wethersfield Dog Park. Annalie's friend Jenn introduced us, and Maddy, to her lab x Great Dane Isabelle, who is a gentle giant. Maddy was extremely uninterested in the swimming part of the dog swim, instead attempting to escape on numerous occasions to investigate a quieter part of the lakeside.

Then we went to "Bark in the Park", a doggie themed night at the local amateur (or semi-pro) baseball team, the inappropriately named (for this event at least!) New Britain Rock Cats! Maddy wasn't very interested in the game, but definitely showed a liking for our hot dogs! We also bumped into her lookalikey again, Chase, as he was there with his parents too. I don't think Maddy and Chase remembered each other though. There were some interesting dogs on show, including some that we recognised from the dog swim. One such dog was very recognisable, a young harlequin coloured Great Dane, or miniature horse! Here's a picture as proof - and it's not even fully-grown!

We've also had a visit from a dog trainer as we intend to start taking Maddy to obedience training once we get back from New Zealand. Jenn recommended some classes that are linked to an adoption charity so they are very cost-effective and do a lot of work with recent rescues. The trainer was pleased to come to a house where the issues are very minor compared to many new adopters who have severe behavioural problems to deal with. We have no such problems at all with Maddy and even the trainer suggested that she would make a great therapy dog as she's so calm and people-oriented, so we may look into that. We'd love her to help people out in some way. Anyway, we've got some homework to be getting on with before we start obedience, just to prepare the ground work. She doesn't need much work, but being a beagle, her recall skills aren't exactly spot on, so we're going out armed with plenty of treats to work on that one!

For instance, Annalie and Maddy went for a (very) wet Sunday morning walk down at Cotton Hollow. After some good recalls on the lead, Annalie got brave and let Maddy off. She was doing fairly well, stopping when called, but then she took off and just ignored Annalie's attempts to get her back. She'd spotted a person! It turned out that Veronica and her Spaniel, live right around the corner from us, so they joined up for the remainder of the walk. Even though Maddy was off the lead for the whole time, she managed to stay with us most of the way.

We've also played a little bit of golf lately. Annalie has been going to the IAE golf league a few times and we caught up with our mate Danny for a round at Minnechaug. We had to get some practice in as we were taking part in the annual IAE Charity Golf Day at Wintonbury Hills Golf Club. Although it is all fun and in the name of chariddeee (mate ;o) we didn't want to let the side down. Plus, one of our foursome had never even hit a golf ball in his life before that day! So we felt we had to make up for the (literal) handicap. Luckily our friend Andy lent us his brother-in-law as well, which worked in our favour as he was the best golfer of the three of us. Tom was also a really nice guy so we had a good laugh as well as playing some good golf. Ian was gutted though as we took the "Longest Drive" hole pretty early on, but he monstered his tee shot and easily took the lead. Unfortunately it wasn't there at the end though and he ended up clearly out-driven. There were some very good golfers out there though. Still, we enjoyed it.

For some strange reason, Annalie has decided to take up football/soccer again! Well, now that her group personal training has finished, she needs something to push her along! She has joined an indoor 7-a-side mixed team that some of her colleagues play on. The first night she turned up they lost power after 13 minutes so she didn't get much of a run out. The problem was that on week 2, the had a double-header, which meant two hours of football back-to-back!! Thankfully it's unlimited roll-on/roll-off subs, so she could grab a rest when needed, but it still hurt for a few days afterwards! She has decided to join up for the next session, even though she's not around for much of it with all her travelling.

When Annalie went out for the regular Girls' Night Out, Ian volunteered to look after Joe so that his Mum, Vicky, could come out with us. The two lads went off to Haddam Neck County Fair to see some real redneck activities like truck pulling! Boys and their toys ;o) Meanwhile the girls went for a change of scenery to West Hartford, a slightly more cosmopolitan and lively area. It was mainly the non-parents who turned out for this one (with a couple of exceptions of course!) and Annalie got back way past her bedtime ;o) Still, it is a long weekend as we have Labor Day on Monday, so there's plenty of time to recover.

Ian takes to the skies

As part of Ian's extended sabbatical, he has decided he wants to use the time (and cheaper options!) to learn to fly. It helps that Rolls-Royce provides a partner education allowance that will contribute towards his lessons. So this week, after finally getting his clearance to fly (being an alien and all that) he finally took to the skies.

The photo shows Ian and "his" plane, a Cessna 172. The plane that he's using is a bit older than the one that Cessna is depicting on the website, but it achieves the same objective - that is getting him into the sky and back down to earth again - safely!

Ian's instructor is the same guy that took him for his taster flight last year, although now he's with a different flight school, so at least they already know each other. On Ian's first lesson, Terry was very impressed with his progression and even had him doing lesson 2 maneouvres on his first time out. The visibility was pretty poor as it was a very hazy day, so Ian lacked a horizon to pinpoint his movements, but he did very well all the same. The skies were much clearer for Ian's second lesson, giving him more visibility. However this lesson's challenge was the strong winds that buffetted the little plane. Still, he held his own and is advancing well. It's hard to wipe the smile off his face at the moment.

The week held a surprise in store for us when, on Monday, one of Annalie's friends from UTC offered her a free ticket to see the Yankees vs Red Sox at the new Yankee Stadium. As we'd been looking for an excuse to go to the new stadium, this seemed to be the perfect opportunity. Ian promptly found himself a ticket on Stub Hub and we made preparations for our Thursday night out.

As we were planning to come back to CT the same night (the others were staying downtown) we had the choice of train part of the way or driving to NY. A quick look at our usual parking service on Manhattan showed that we were better off driving into NY to park for the princely sum of $22! The train would cost us $60 plus station parking and would take a lot longer too. So the decision was easy.

So off we trotted to NY in the hope that we could see the Yankees beat the Sox for the first time this season (going in the score was (0-8). Our first visit to the new stadium proved to be extremely successful as the Bronx Bombers trounced their nemesis 13-6! It was a great game with an exceptional 4th innings that saw the Yanks score 8 runs.

Our observations on the new stadium are that it is a very nice ball park but the cost of anything inside is excessive. Annalie bought a hot dog, packet of crisps and a beer and paid $23! Maybe we'll take a picnic next time! Or definitely eat elsewhere. And stick to soda - although that's still $5 a pop! Worse than Old Trafford or the Emirates ;o)

With such a high-scoring game, it went on quite late. We left after the 8th innings but that was still going up for 11pm. We had to catch the subway back into Manhatten and then pick the car up and drive home. It was gone 11.30 by the time we left the car park and just over two hours later we arrived back home. Not great for a school night! But Annalie had a lie in until 7pm before getting up to walk Maddy.

Speaking of the pup, she is coming on well and still an absolute sweetheart. But we did hear her bark for the first (and currently the only) time on Friday night when we visited the local Wethersfield Dog Park. In CT dogs should remain leashed so in some towns they have specific dog parks that allow you to unleash your dogs for play and exercise.

We knew that Maddy wasn't too fussed about other dogs and seemed to be more interested in people but this just went to prove it. While all the other dogs were getting to know each other and playing together, Maddy just wandered around introducing herself to all the other owners and getting lots of loving! On two occasions there were friendly dogs introducing themselves to her and she started to growl, which has been known. But then she barked as well, which came as a total shock to us as we weren't sure that she actually knew how to! Still, it was good to know that she can when she wants to, although it might not always be necessary!

Having Maddy is doing us the world of good because it makes us get out and walk and also to explore some of our local area. On Saturday we headed up to Castle Craig in Meriden. We'd seen the castle from the road on a few occasions and thought it might be worth the walk. So looking it up in our hike book, it said the trail was "moderate, with a few challenging sections" - well, that was an understatement! As the castle is about 1,000 feet above sea level, it was a bit of a climb. Maddy had to do her best impression of a mountain goat on a number of occasions, but managed it with enthusiasm.

The views from the top of the castle, and from the route along the way, can be seen in the new album (for those that don't realise, the photos in the top right of the blog that says "View Gallery" will take you to our new photo website where we will be storing all our photos from now on). When we arrived up there we found an almost double for Maddy, just a younger version. A 2 or 3 year old male beagle mix called Chase. The resemblance was fairly uncanny but it made for a good introduction! He was a lot more hyperactive than Maddy though, but maybe it's something that comes with age!

For the route down we decided to take the slightly easier passage down the road instead! It was probably a lot quicker because it was a steady downhill, rather than the up and down of the original route we took, and it was a lot more stable under foot! Still a good 3-hour yomp though in total.

Unfortunately we've had one of the down sides to dog ownership as well. Maddy has been ever so good in the toilet department since we got her, so we knew something was wrong immediately when she had an accident in the house. When she had her second within a couple of hours, and with the appearance of what looked like blood, we thought a trip to the doggie doctor was in order. We'd already planned to take her on Monday for a normal check up, but we managed to get seen on Saturday morning to try and rectify her little issue.

The vet had been recommended to us by one of the other Rolls-Royce dog parents, and she was on the money with her recommendation. A great guy who is straight talking but with a sense of humour (which is remarkable for an American ;o). Bladder infections are common in female dogs so it doesn't appear to be much to worry about. He also did a quick MOT on her and found an ear infection that will also be easy to clear up with the ointment he provided - and probably nothing unusual considering she spent 7 months living in a shelter. Other than that she's a healthy pup. He was very complimentary about her behaviour though, claiming beagles aren't usually so easy-going. And he also thinks that she may be a true beagle because they come in so many different shapes and sizes, she just doesn't fit the breed standard for showing. Finally he confirmed her age as around 5, and also that she's lost a little bit of weight since being with us, so that's all good.

After a quick overhaul, nails cut and a good inspection, we left as relatively happy pet parents, although $150 poorer! ;o) Still, all worth it to know she's going to be just fine. We were quite nervous about taking her in as you never know what health problems a rescue dog will come to you with, so it was a relief to hear that she's not got anything major to worry about. So another lucky strike for Maddy.

A not so Windy City

Well, it seems like there's plenty to update you on this week, but then we have neglected the blog for a couple of weeks. Sorry about that but it's been a busy time!

As you can see, we've had to set up a new blog site as we've just found out that our old site is shutting down. So we're sorry to make you all register again. Hopefully it's not too inconvenient though.

The biggest, and best news, is that Ian has finally managed to get rid of his "Probie" label at the fire house after receiving notice that he passed his written exam with a score of 83% - well done Mr B :-) Annalie can now brag about her status as married to a fireman! So he's now fully fledged and a respected member of Company 2 Glastonbury Fire Department. Talk about making dreams come true!

Annalie has not got the benefit of finding out her formal result until September when the university exam board meets. However, her tutor has assured her she has nothing to worry about. Still, it would be nice to know what the final score is!

We managed to get away for a weekend to visit a place that we've both fancied going - Chicago. It wasn't such a Windy City this weekend though, with temperatures well into the 80s and bright blue skies. We flew out Saturday morning, arriving at Midway Airport at around 8.30am. We only had hand luggage so it was straight onto the Metro into downtown. For anyone who's watched a film or TV series based in Chicago, you will recognise the familiar image of the metro trains elevated above street level. Just the ride into town was our first activity ticked off the "to do" list!

We headed straight for our hotel to drop the bag off and get changed into some more appropriate (lighter) clothing and headed out to try and tick off some more activities. First was an architecture river cruise that had been recommended. All the tours had sold out for the day, so we bought tickets for Monday morning's cruise before we set off home. Then we took a walk to Millenium Park and booked ourselves a Segway tour for Sunday evening.

From there we walked to Navy Pier, a touristy location that draws in the crowds. We were in for an extra treat though as the Budweiser Clydesdales were in town. They dressed them up in all their finery and took the drey for a ride around the pier. We were equally impressed with the calm Dalmation that took a ride on the drey as well!

On Navy Pier we managed to get in a game of mini golf but we weren't tempted with any of the other rides. We then took a walk to the John Hancock Building. Instead of paying to go to the Observatory, we decided to cheat and headed to the Signature Lounge on the 96th floor for a cocktail instead - getting a great view of Chicago into the bargain. The John Hancock isn't the tallest building in town, that's the Sears (sorry, Willis!) Tower, but most guide books recommend the view from the John Hancock as being better. And it didn't disappoint.

After a pre-dinner cocktail it was back to the hotel to check in and freshen up before dinner. And being in the Mid West, there's nothing more appropriate than steak! So we headed to a well-recommended steakhouse and had some fabulous filet mignon.

Sunday saw us head over the road to the West Egg for breakfast where we were forced to choose from one of the most extensive, and elaborate, breakfast menus you've ever seen! Then we wandered up to the oldest fire house in Chicago to have a nosy at how the real guys live. And finally, it was time to scrub one of Ian's wishes off the Bucket List. We went to a baseball game at Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs. We got there early to soak up the atmosphere and watch batting practice. During the course of the practice, Ian managed to snag a ball that was hit in our direction - a feat he is most proud of as he beat the guy next to him who was wearing a glove - while Ian was bare handed! So now it is one of his most treasured possessions! The Cubs won 5-2 against the Cincinnati Reds.

We left the game after the 8th innings to try and beat the crowds and make sure we got back downtown in plenty of time for the Segway tour. We had time to spare, so we took a walk to Garrett's - a renowned popcorn maker. We were obliged to purchase some (of course!) but there was too much, even for us. And besides, we weren't sure how the Segway ride was going to go, and didn't need anything to induce illness!

And off we went for our tour. After a bit of instruction, we were left to learn the ropes. Annalie took to it really quickly and Ian got there eventually. But it has to have been one of the most fun things we've done in ages! The machines travel no faster than 12 mph (they're limited) but because you're balanced precariously on two wheels, it feels strange but liberating. We whizzed around Millennium Park, Grant Park and then down to the Museum area on the waterfront. We both enjoyed it so much it is tempting to get one, but for the same amount we could buy a motorbike! But we wouldn't need a licence for a Segway!

We didn't finish the tour until around 9.30pm and still hadn't eaten, so we headed out for another Chicago tradition - deep dish pizza. At the ball game we happened to sit next to a couple who were staying at our hotel and they recommended Gino's East. So off we headed. The pizzas are that deep that they recommend only two slices per person, so - probably for the first, and only time - we ordered a small pizza to share. On top of the fabulous mozzarella sticks we started with, even a small pizza was too much at that time of night! Unheard of, we know!

Monday morning we headed down to the river tour. Chicago's architecture is extremely varied with old and new sitting side by side, seemingly in harmony! The tour itself was extremely informative and interesting to hear how Chicago had developed and grown as a city. It is nearly 200 years younger than Glastonbury - which seems really odd, but completely logical when you consider that the Mayflower landed not too far from us here.

Back home Ian had a trip down to New York to pick up his passport, complete with Chinese visa for our trip to Beijing next month. He has also been out kayaking with his mate Andy again. This time it was Salmon River, a short way south of here. Annalie doesn't know quite what they were up to but the Wrangler came back looking like a true off-roader!

Annalie had an bonus Girls' Night Out with the Rolls-Royce crew. This time someone had suggested, for a laugh we hope, going to the Cadillac Ranch - a line dancing club! It was more an opportunity for a giggle to be honest, although most of the girls at least attempted some moves! No one opted to challenge the mechanical bull though! Probably for the best!

And finally...we'd like to introduce...

Madison. Or Maddy for short. After a long walk around West Hartford Reservoir. She's a beagle mix aged about 5 or 6 we are led to believe. We adopted her from a shelter in Arkansas which, if you know your US geography, you will know is a long way from CT.

We had planned to get her in May, but just before we were due to adopt her, she was diagnosed by the shelter vet as having heartworms. Not having this disease in the UK, we decided to do some research on it before we decided whether we would still take her. After a lot of soul searching, we decided to get her treated by the shelter before taking her when we got back from New Zealand. The treatment for heartworms is pretty hard on a dog and they need around 6 weeks to recuperate from the treatment before they can do much.

Well, she was due to go to the town vet for her treatment on the 8th July. We rang the shelter the next day to find out how things had gone only to be confronted with some unusual news. The town vet had retested her for heartworms just to be sure he wasn't unecessarily treating her. That test, which looks for adult heartworms, was negative. So he did another test which looks for the heartworm larvae and that too was negative. So she wasn't treated and when we spoke with the vet he was very confident she was clear. So at that point we decided to get her to us ASAP.

Now here in the US, there is a severe overpopulation of dogs in the South, while in New England there is much more control. In the South they do not enforce spaying/neuturing laws as strictly as they do up here, and many dog owners believe that neuturing removes the hunting ability. So too many dogs are left free to breed. As a result, Southern shelters are overrun.

The outcome is that many Northern rescues are partnered with their Southern counterparts and ship dogs on a frequent basis. Also, if you live in the Northeast, you can search out these dogs on the Internet and coordinate adoption, as we did, directly with the Southern rescue. And there are several not-for-profit organisations that then transport the dogs on a weekly basis from the South to New England. So Maddy arrived on one of them and we had just over a week to prepare for her arrival.

At 9am on the Saturday morning, we were waiting with lots of other expectant pet parents waiting for the trailer to turn up. It arrived 15 minutes ahead of the scheduled arrival time, so we queued with the others, watching lots of cute fur babies get whisked off to loving new homes.

Then it was our turn. We gave our names and Madison's and were handed her papers, and then this rather confused bundle jumped off the trailer.

We'd been warned she was really timid, but in actual fact she is just very submissive. She came off the trailer and walked a few steps before rolling onto her back - a classic sign of submission. We then got her walking to stretch her legs and we went to meet some of the fellow pet parents. Maddy was so friendly to everyone, but a little wary of her surroundings and all the excitement.

She seemed to settle into the house really quickly, but we got all the trauma out of the way early on as she definitely needed an immediate bath and groom. So we bought shampoo and a fab comb called the Furminator! It was recommended to us and we can see why! We had a large ball of compressed fur once we'd finished - needless to say we did that on the deck!

We have been incredibly lucky with Maddy as we hadn't met her before taking her on, and, in hindsight, that's one hell of a risk. We'd spoken to the shelter manager a few times, but she's going to paint a rosy picture, of course. But we also spoke to her fosterer, who was equally glowing about her, and the town vet said she was very easy going. And she is. We have got an almost perfect puppy. She is possibly the sweetest dog you've ever met. She just wants to please you and her smile is already starting to get wider. She follows us around like a shadow and when she approaches, she sits down and looks up at you as if to say "can I do anything for you please?" She is totally adorable and manipulates everyone who meets her to fall in love with her. She certainly did that with Dan and Fi! And Carla. And Sirrah. Sirrah's mum. And Quag. And Roger. And Wendu. And Lisa. And Suzy. Etc, etc.

Maddy has already acquired her first units as a fire dog! Ian responded to a call that was looking for a guy who had got lost near the river. Maddy was hanging out with him already so she went along for the ride. For a hunting breed though, she's pretty useless! She does like to chase things that move though, and in typical beagle fashion, is pretty stubborn about wanting to go her own way! The CT laws state that dogs pretty much have to be leashed all the time, but with a beagle it's pretty difficult to let them off anyway. Maybe we need to work on that!

She has passed the "cat test" though! While we were in Chicago (we know, not great timing!) one of Annalie's team, Sirrah, agreed to stay over and look after Maddy. Her mum has a 9-year-old Yorkie and a 6-month-old Golden Retriever pup. Plus a couple of cats. So Sirrah decided to take Maddy over to her mum's for some extra socialisation. And when the cats decided to walk past Maddy, she just sat and watched them. That's one chilled out doggie we've got! We're not sure how Bodie and Doyle would react to her though! But just in case, take a look at the humourous addition to the "dog gate" that we've got!

We have already seen a huge amount of progress in the two weeks we've had her. Not that there was much progress needed as she's pretty well trained. But she's definitely grown in confidence. We had trouble getting her into the car at first, but now she'll gladly jump in the first open car door that she sees! She tried to sneak her way into the Girls' Night Out by jumping into Suzy's passenger seat! We think she's now got the message that a car ride usually means a nice walk and new places to explore ;-)

All in all, we couldn't be happier with our new addition. And we think she's pretty happy too!