Not sure how regularly I’ll be able to update this beast in the future: finishing work tomorrow and so bang goes my 8-hours-a-day free Internet connection. Will of course endeavour to seek out Internet cafes wherever I am and keep updating but it won’t be quite so, erm, regular. Hopefully, though, this will mean I’ll get back to writing a “Travelblog” of things that happen as we actually travel, rather than what happens as we stay put in one place for five months…

Sue’s sister, Amy, arrives in Auckland on Monday after a nightmare non-stop journey from England. She’s apparantly bringing three bikinis despite the marked cooling down of the weather as us Southern-Hemispherers lurch into Autumn. Hope she won’t be disappointed! We’re taking her up to the (kind of sub-tropical) Bay of Islands first which should still be lovely and warm and we’re also meeting up with Helen who’s spending her last few days in New Zealand with us. Hurrah! Will be really good to see her again: can’t wait to rekindle memories of Helen’s porch exhibitionism, drink lots of beer and fall asleep in pubs. Again.