Summer holiday

Yes, as you might have guessed, we are on a little trip to NZ at the moment!
It is such a luxury, to be able to just "pop over" when Nathan can get a week off, and not have to plan the trip a year in advance. Of course, everything is relative, but for us - a two-sector flight of 6+3 hours is not very long, comparatively.

We came here early Sunday morning, and have been visiting our friends Alex & Ulrika out at their farm, near Hamilton. They live in the UK half the year, where he plays polo, and here half the year where they run a stock farm.
It was seriously in the middle of nowhere, or as you say here in NZ: Out in the sticks! About 50 minutes from the nearest little village, and 30 minutes of that trip was on gravel roads that just became narrower and narrower until our last way point "the big yellow letter box"!

Their house was lovely though, so calm and peaceful with a great big garden and all the sheep and horses just down the hill. The most wonderful views, with big rolling hills and great fields as long as your eye could reach.
We went to visit Raglan, a famous surfers spot along the coast, and just enjoyed each others company. It was really nice to visit their home here, and good to see the whole family again!

Now we are at Grandmas house, waiting for Granddad who is showing up today.
The weather is absolutely superb, gorgeous summer weather with all day sun, but not too hot or sticky. Yesterday we had dinner outside, with a little breeze coming through. Lovely!
We have been doing some shopping, mostly for Christmas, but also some other small things that we have missed in Brunei. It is always cool to be in a "new" place and shop!