Arriving in the UK and the first month

   Wow!! We’ve been in the UK three weeks today and it has been wonderful. The sun has shone, not just a bit, but almost every day and it has been hot!      

                                           

We’ve been in Llanelli, Blacko and Edinburgh, spent lots of time with friends and family and taken the children to places old and new. However, as ever really, the kids have taken the prize for the stars of the show as they have charmed friends and family alike. From Freddie gently walking his 95 year-old great-grandmother down the steps to the house, the kids coming into the house in Blacko one day and announcing “where are the aunties to play with?”, or Eliza’s burgeoning friendship with Ruth Turner during her birthday party, the special moments are too many to count. So if that’s all you need to know stop here, because I do have 3 fairly packed full weeks to try and cover in the rest of this entry…..

We left off at Singapore Zoo. The next day we went to Wet Wet Wild and sent the kids flying down water slides to prepare for the night flight to London and it worked a treat. The highlight of course being Eliza’s giant inflatable unicorn!! And the kids were then absolute legends on the flight to London despite the grumblings from the seats behind. Of course, arrival time is always special and it was wonderful to see the kids (followed by Holly, and then myself) run into the arms of Gareth and Jane in Heathrow. Fred then entertained Gareth and I on the drive to Llanelli with a “Championship” of maths, rhyming and space questions. No need for a sleep, “I’m never tired Daddy!!”. Then arrival in Llanelli to the realisation that the kids packing was obsolete, it turned out that Jane had been doing a bit of shopping – new toys and clothes galore to keep them entertained. The rest of the weekend was filled with the Edwards and Warlows and thoroughly enjoyable as the jet lag swiftly subsided.

We then shipped off down to the caravan on the Gower Peninsula for a few nights (one of them kid free….. J) for some time on the beach exploring rock pools, discovering jellyfish, shrimps and anemones. A bit of body boarding too and the sea wasn’t even too cold for Ellie. Holly and I then had a lovely evening to ourselves whilst Ma and Pa took the kids off and spoilt them further. Ultimately our time in Llanelli was so special for the time spent with great grandparents, grandparents, grunty’s, gruncles and cousins whilst the sun shone. Though not to forget the kids new bikes on Llanelli beach front, the breakfast of cockels and bacon and a delicious meal at Y Polon.

Then to Blacko, where the numbers always swell a bit at Fully HQ with the aunties, their other halves and all those invited to Eliza’s birthday party…. Once again it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the generosity of our friends and family with their presents for the children and a special mention to Trishy F who hand cleaned the Lego electric train set – 25+ years old and it still worked!! Though despite the hype I think I might have been more excited than Freddie….. The party was wonderful and to quote one of my best friends Richard regarding my parents: “they really do put on a bl**dy good spread”. A great time was had by all and it was lovely to see so many friends and family, especially Paul and Richard, my best man and groomsman, Jane my aunt, and of course thanks to Gareth and Jane for making the long journey North. Especially special was seeing the kids engage beautifully with Harry, Ruth and William, but also seeing how polite and engaging they were with so many adults who they may have met previously but certainly wouldn’t have remembered.

Since then it has been a busy two weeks in Blacko interspersed with trips up to Edinburgh. Days out have included the beach at Lytham, Bolton Abbey, Barley picnic site, Billy Bob’s Parlour, Skipton and Clitheroe Castles all of it in ongoing glorious sunshine. Freddie has been tearing it up on the bike track in Barrowford and Eliza taking some tentative rolls as she gets to grips with a balance bike, all performed in a new dress every day (or even several in the same day!). It’s been great to spend time with the Aunties, getting to know Sean and Lisha better, and to see Mary’s new house as it nears completion.

We’ve also squeezed in two trips to Edinburgh to see old friends, plan for our year up there (including 130 quid spent on festival tickets!) and for Holly and I to have some time out again. Special mention to Baz and Rachel for putting us up, and fantastic to see Holly’s university friends, Kat (and Tony), Sharisse and Janine with their expanding families. Perhaps the most important moment in Edinburgh so far was taking Freddie into George Watsons College for a visit where he met the class he will join next year, gave a big hug to his new teacher and behaved beautifully in the company of the head of the junior school, George Salmond, including challenging him to a race!! We’re sure Freddie will have a fantastic year there and it was lovely to see Holly being greeted so warmly by old faces and hear the kind words spoken of Gareth’s legacy at the school. Freddie ended his visit with a sprint around the Grandstand pitch – hopefully the first of many! We’ve also found time to take in the delights of somewhere new: Dishoom, for a colonial Indian style breakfast, and somewhere old: Papillo, for some classic Italian hospitality, where even 4 years from our last visit we were warmly welcomed and looked after.

Perhaps the loveliest thing about the last few weeks has not been the weather, or the days out, or spending time with friends and family, but has been saying good-bye and see you soon knowing that it will be hours, days or weeks rather than months or years before we see them again. There are lots of reasons why we have taken the opportunity to come to the UK for a year, both professional and personal, but if the next 12 months live up to what has gone so far I’m sure we will return to NZ, which we miss already, safe in the knowledge that we will have had a truly fantastic O.E Part 2.