Kiwi McLeods

First day of school!

2008-09-30T20:04:00.001+13:00

Olivia's 5th Birthday

2008-09-30T19:56:00.003+13:00

Olivia had a Princesses, Princes and Knights in Shining Armour party! There was feasting, jousting and slaying of dragons. We had a great day.

Olivia settled in to school immediately and has made friends. Hopefully she will be just excited about starting back again after the holidays. She is in Room 6 at Havelock North Primary, and her teacher is Mrs Fergus.

Fruit bowl of the country

2008-03-04T16:20:00.003+13:00

The lemon tree on our property has at least 3 years worth of lemons - now I have a fridge full of lemon curd!

New House!

2008-02-27T11:57:00.004+13:00

Finally - an update. It's been very busy down here in the bay. We are settling in and are a few boxes away from unpacked. We are enjoying the pool, gardens and great weather. Ross is doing well with his new job, and the kids have settled in to their new daycare extremely well. We visit the Farmers Market each week and get all our fresh fruit and veg - all sorts of different varieties of things - it's very stimulating. Here are a few pics.

If it's pink it's good...

2007-04-18T15:45:00.000+12:00

As a reward for copying her own name at Bear Park today, Miss O gets her face painted and joins the revered wall of face painted faces.

Easter

2007-04-10T12:02:00.000+12:00

What a great Easter. We made Easter Bunny cupcakes (Olivia's seemed to suffer from a touch of calesi (?) virus or mixamtosis (?!)). The weather was pretty good and the roads quiet. Nana and Grandad were up from Te Puke and it was like having no kids!

On Easter Sunday, Olivia and I went to church with Granny Di, then it was home for the annual Easter Egg Hunt and Egg and Spoon Race. Ross had mowed the lawn with racing lanes. And last year's title was snactched from Grandad by Dad, even though Olivia was convinced she won. No love lost for little kids in that race! Too much chocolate, lots of lazing around - just right. Angus was moved on to a bottle, and even tried a spoonful of pumpkin mash mixed with baby cereal.

The Christening

2007-03-30T17:00:00.000+12:00

Here are some photos from Angus' Christening and a trip to the zoo recently. Godparents are Gael and Suresh Nagaiya, Russell McLeod and Arabella Brawn.

A Star is Born

2007-02-10T15:22:00.000+13:00

This morning Olivia started ballet - she loved it!

Summer Holidays

2007-02-10T11:14:00.000+13:00

After Christmas in Palmerston North, a quick trip to Te Puke for Ross' Birthday. Olivia, Angus and I headed to Waiheke with my mother. The idea was to do as little as possible and to try and get Angus a little more settled. The Moates came to visit for two days, and Olivia was thrilled to get some company. Ross came over on the weekends. The weather was great, we got out for two lunches, a few trips to the library and park, a visit to Planet Ceramic to paint mugs and plates, plenty of trips to the beach, and out to dinner for my birthday. On 1st Feb Angus rolled on to his tummy (13 weeks old). We had a great time, and when I got home after two and a half weeks, I couldn't remember where things were supposed to go in the kitchen cupboards, and I thought Ollie was my Mum's cat every time he walked past.

Santa delivers

2007-02-09T18:02:00.000+13:00

Olivia was thrilled that Santa fulfilled her request for a "roller for my play doh". This year Olivia had no trouble wading through all the presents, including a trike. Angus was smilarily spoilt - not with a trike though!

We certainly wore out great-nana, but it was wonderful to show off our new arrival to her.

A Whole Month of Christmas

2006-12-21T20:23:00.000+13:00

We in the McLeod household have been going hard out with our Christmas spirit. Olivia is ripe for all the hoopla, so Friday 1st Dec Daddy had to pull down the Christmas tree and all the decorations from the roof. Having kids is the perfect front for reliving all your childhood dreams or persisting with your childhood ways (I'm sure Olivis thinks all adults have a teddy just like kids...), but am I ready to relinquish control to Olivia? I strung my new gorgeous christmas decorations from Prague on to red ribbon, and Olivia hung them on the tree... all on the same branch at 3 year old eye level. Ross laughed as I hopped around rearranging all of Olivia's handiwork. Maybe next year Olivia can have her own tree... Over the next week or so, I coerced Ross into putting up Christmas lights on the front of the house - well around the window, where it's easy for a clumsy person to safely reach! Di felt there was a certain tacky westie look to the whole presentation, but she obviously hasn't seen the Indian house up the street.

I have taken Olivia to lots of Christmassy things: sat her on Father Christmas' knee, gone to the Henderson Santa Parade, Carols in the Park (Parrs Park Henderson); and Di took her to some Christmas Spectacular display of Christmas trees. Daddy's been singing carols to her and threatening non-appearances of Santa. And Angus just likes to stare at the tree with its twinkly lights.

In amongst the new baby mayhem, crying baby afternoon sessions etc. etc. I am enjoying the Christmas season. I do miss all the choral music, but sure love watching Olivia discover the excitement and wonder of Christmas... what will her adult memories of our Christmases now be?

Christmas lunch with Di and Granny MJ kicked off the present and eating season, and we fly to Palmerston North in two days to do it all again with Ross' family.

Merry Christmas everybody!

Introducing our Halloween Baby!

2006-11-08T20:02:00.000+13:00

Here is the newest addition to our family - Angus James Russell McLeod. Born 11.27 pm on Tue 31st October 2006. Angus weighed 7lb 9oz and was 53cms long. He is a cute wee thing we reckon. Here are some pictures from the first few days...

A New Bedroom for Miss O

2006-10-06T08:05:00.001+13:00

Slowly over the last couple of months we have been setting up a new room for Olivia in the spare bedroom. Baby will get her old room. Olivia now has a new bed and lots of lovely furnitue. It's a lovely room. On the night before her birthday, Ross and I carried everything through to her new room. When she woke up in the morning, she came running in to my room "My books are all gone, my shelf is gone!" She had to wait until Daddy was home after work before we could reveal her new room. She is enjoying it.

A New Bedroom for Miss O

2006-10-06T08:05:00.000+13:00

3rd Party Dispatched and Enjoyed: The Garden Party

2006-10-06T07:42:00.000+13:00

Well, we didn't quite get the day we wanted for the party - it was a bit wet, so we set up camp in the garage with huge tissue paper flowers, trestle tables and all the bits and pieces to make sand saucers and to pot strawberry plants. Nana and Grandad, and Aunty Jess, Bax and Izzy all arrived early to help with the preparations. Little chicken meatballs, macaroni cheese and mini pizzas for lunch, followed by cake and fruit and lolly platter for dessert. Then it was back to potting plants and decorating the saucers - such creative little minds. Pity, Mummy didn't take nearly enough photos :-( Goodbye, everyone - off home with their Olivia Gaden Stamped Goodie Bag and Strawberry Plant. Thanks for the presents and a great day everyone.

Yes, I had to gloat

2006-09-28T17:11:00.000+12:00

It was just one of those moments when your offspring met another milestone! Olivia's first smiley face - I just had to share.

The proudest Mummy ever!

Birthday pictures and info to follow soon...

Campervan Pics

2006-08-24T12:33:00.000+12:00

Couldn't get these photos to upload into the post below:

Before we set off...

Fish and Chips in the campervan

Camping in the Hawkes Bay

2006-08-19T16:40:00.000+12:00

Last week, Olivia and I set off in a campervan to visit the Soutar-Barrons in the Hawkes Bay and celebrate Baxter's 3rd birthday. Olivia and I had been very excited about this trip, fuelled by many virtual viewing of our campervan to be on the internet. Ross dropped us off at the hire place out by the airport on Thursday morning (Olivia threw up in her car seat just as we pulled up outside the hire place! Only the 3rd time in her life, and luckily all water!!). After a short wait, I was given a very speedy tour of how everything worked as Ross and Olivia packed all our gear into the van and strapped in the car sear.

At 9.15 we lurched off on the Southern Motorway, with High-5 on the stereo and an anxious driver behind the wheel. Even though our van was small (but with onboard toilet for pregnant Mummy) it felt very long. Olivia was very impressed with the on-board toilet so requested a number of toilet stops en route. We got to Taupo by late lunch time, Olivia falling asleep 20 min out of Taupo. We made a quick stop at the AC baths for a swim in the hot pools, before refuelling and heading on to the Hawkes Bay. I thought Olivia would have a sleep after our swim, but she was full of beans the whole way - lots of kiddie music, toilet stops and are we going to see Baxter, are we going to see Izzie, are we going to see Jessita, and are we going to see Gerald... Hmm, what a long drive! The van was a manual, so quite hard work on my ailing pelvis. Obviously I was just too excitited about the campervan that nobody pointed out the possible comfort constraints to achey pregnant me! Never mind. As we headed past Napier just before 5, I called Jess to see if she was heading home from work soon and whether I could tail her home to Otane - good thinking - she was just on the road, so pulled over so we could catch up and got a personal guide to the front door of the Otane Homestead. What a lovely big house and property - just marvellous, and great for kids and animals. It was great to see Anna over from England, and fun to see Olivia and Bax playing together. Gerard's parents arrived soon after me, and it was a great big family meal around the dining table together - very homestead! Weary kids in the bath and off to bed. Very cold noses in the campervan over night, so Miss O and I had to snuggle up. She woke up bright as a button: "Baxter awake?".

Friday was a mass of errands for the party, lunch in the sun in the garden and another big meal around the table for dinner.

Saturday turned out brilliantly for the country party - crisp winter day with lots of sunshine. After a birthday breakfast we opened family presents - Olivia had a tough time understanding all the presents had to go to Baxter, despite Jess having a wee something special wrapped up for her! Never mind. What a lot of loot - car things and music things, and lots more car things. After breakfast we decorated the backyard with bunting we made, arranged hay bales, made sandwiches and party food, set up our coconut shy and got the sacks ready for the sack race. The kids did us proud with a big sleep before the party, then it was dress up time and guests arriving by 3.00. Knowing Olivia not big on trousers or denim, I made her a pink gingham skirt with fluffy petticoat - Aunty Jess provided a pretty hat and beads - and she looked just like a 'Miss Alabama'. Baxter looked the part and so did lots of the guests. The games were a great success - and the dads entered into the spirit of things with special enthusiasm for the 'catch the train' dress up relay race. The kids all did well with the coconut shy and pin the tail on the donkey. Cake and present time next- my that was tasty cake - really top notch diabetic food! As the day wore on and more people came and some people left the bbq and brazier were lit, and I flopped in the lounge exhausted in front of the fire. I rang Ross and said cancel Olivia's party - I've done enough toddler partying! (Don't worry I wouldn't dare cancel - I've organised too much already!). Another fantastic dinner - roast lamb, bbq chops, salads etc. and a very nice carrot cake. Crashed into bed and fast asleep in no time.

On Sunday after breakfast and a bit of a tidy up, we headed into Hastings for the Farmers Market - I stocked up on some lovely sauces for Christmas gifts. Jess, Anna and I then headed into Napier with all the kids for some Hell Pizza for lunch - yum, yum! Then it was time for good bye, and Miss O and I made tracks for Taupo. We had any easy drive in the sunshine, and arrived at the Taupo Top 10 Holiday Park to park up our campervan just before the rain started. The park was really well equipped, with underfloor heating in the bathrooms! Miss O and I headed back to the AC baths for a much more leisurely swim, then headed to our favorite takeaway bar just around the corner for fish and chips! Then home for our last night in the campervan.

Monday morning we had a great breakfast at Repleat, checked out some of the shops, refuelled and then headed down to the Huka Falls to watch the speed boats scaring the tourists - Olivia loved it. A longish trip back up to Auckland, with a quick break for a late lunch in Cambridge. Made it back to drop off the campervan at 4.45, and were both very pleased to see Ross there to pick us up.

What a great adventure!

The Ladybird Party

2006-07-20T13:02:00.000+12:00

Olivia was very excited to be giong to Amelia's 2nd Birthday party - she is very fixated on birthdays at the moment: she vowed to blow out the candles at Amelia's party... and she did. It was a fun party, and we really didn't want to leave. Here are some photos.

Miss O's news.

2006-06-08T16:52:00.000+12:00

Me at Easter having my first Easter Egg Hunt. We also had the inaugural Easter Egg Spoon race - Grandad won despite my holding my egg on my spoon and my Mum smashing the base of her egg so it sat snuggly in the spoon.

Mummy and I at the St Francis Kindergarten Autumn Festival. We made little boats to float in a pond, acorn necklaces. It was great fun. I go to Kindy 3 days a week now.

Belated holiday pics

2006-06-08T16:20:00.000+12:00

Well it's taken ages to get on to this - sorry to anyone still perservering and checking our site. I promise to be better when the new baby comes!

Dubai

Dublin

Oxford

My godmother Chrissie with Olivia in Chester

Prague and the Old Town Square Christmas markets

The rebuilt Checkpoint Charlie in the distance. Berlin.

Paris

Hamilton and Olivia dig in to their Christmas Gingerbread House made just for them by Cathie.

Pics from Ireland: Anna and us in Dublin. Glendalaugh

2006-01-14T07:09:00.000+13:00

Christmas in Chester

2005-12-31T22:04:00.000+13:00

On Christmas Eve we headed from Swindon up to Chester - very easy traffic, so we were here in record time and in time for lunch with Michelle and Hamilton (3 yrs). Olivia and Hamilton had a great time playing together, and we spied Olivia trying to copy Hamilton pee in to a bucket out in the back yard! We had the Roaf traditional Venison Stew for dinner then board games before heading to bed.

Christmas day lunch was a real feast - here's the menu:

Stilton Soup
Isle of Lewis Salmon and Asparagus with Hollandaise
Roast Turkey and Roast Goose with all, and I mean all the trimmings
Sorbet
Chocolate Tarte, Christmas Pudding with Custard and Fruit Salad
Cheese Board, Coffee and home made Christmas Cake and Christmas Mince Pies

Tom, Cathie's son was Santa and handed out the masses of presents from under Cathie's beautiful Christmas tree. We played Scattegories in the late afternoon, and barely managed a sandwich for dinner. A fantastic day.

While staying in Chester we have visited Portmerion and toured around North Wales, visiting Carnaferon Castle and LLandudno, Liverpool and Oswestry where Chrissie lives. Will head back to Swindon On Wed 5th Jan after New Year's celebrations.

Berlin and Paris

2005-12-30T22:57:00.000+13:00

On Sat 10th we headed to Berlin from Luton Airport. Long queue to check in at airport - Easyjet has a different system at every airport without fail - I guess you can't complain, because it's a budget airline. The drive in to Berlin took us past lots of appartments with Christmas lights in the window (I could even see the Christmas lights from the airplane as we landed). Our own appartment was once again very nice - unfortunately not a non-smoking one - a great set-up though. The Old Town Apartments representative gave us some good information about closest supermarket and u-bahn etc. so we were up to speed very quickly. It's amazing how tiring a 1 1/2 hour flight can be once all the transferring and waits is taken into account as well!

Sunday we did a hop-on-hop off tour (hard to keep Olivia quite and settled on these tours!). We hopped off at Ku'damn street for lunch at the Movenpick restaurant and a look around the Christmas market in the square. Not quite as nice as Prague though. Ross took Olivia back to the appartment for an afternoon nap, and Di and I continue on our bus tour. We sat on the top and had a great view. After the bus we headed to the Reichstag (German Parliament) to walk around the new glass dome. The building was built between 1894 and 1894 and paid for by the French as war time reparations. We waited 45 minutes outside in the dark and cold - it was freezing! We then went through tight security before we could take our trip up to the dome. Mummy suffered from Vertigo, and as we spiralled up the pathway on the inside of the dome - Mummy's legs got further and further apart as she sunk closer to the ground! She looked like Ollie going nervously across mesh bridges and cattle stops! We were only inside for 20 minutes - fantastic views of the amazing buildings in Berlin - lots of modern architecture.

On Monday, we headed to the Checkpoint Charlie museum. This museum bought all the wall memories back for me. It is very difficult to imagine now what Berlin was like with the wall up. The taxi driver had pointed out the longest remaining stretch of the wall on our way into town, now in the city if you keep your eyes on the ground you will see a narrow line transecting the city where the old wall used to be. Ross spent ages at Checkpoint Charlie doing an audio tour, while Mummy and I skipped on ahead to visit the Jewish Museum opened in2001. This building, which is becoming quite famous for its provocative architecture, was designed by Polish born Jewish architect Daniel Libeskind. The builidng is quite interactive and sensory and we really enjoyed our visit. Even Olivia felt the impact as we were shut in to the holocaust tower, in the cold dark with only a sliver of light to feel the 'unbearable loss at the heart of German life' it is said to represent. As the door shut Olivia cried out - only a few seconds and the room had created a feeling in us. I really enjoyed exeriencing this museum. In the afternoon we headed to Ka de We for lunch and some shopping. The had a creche for shoppers, so Olivia got some time to play with other kids and I shopped with a pager on my bag if they needed me to come back - excellent! We took goodies from the foodhall home for dinner - it took us an hour to manage the crowds and get what we wanted...

On Tuesday Di and I wnt to Potzdammer Platz and the Sony Centre then a bit of shopping in the Arkaden shopping centre before we met up with Ross at Ka de We - he had taken Olivia to the zoo! Too difficult to shop at Ka de We, so we returned to the Arkaden so Ross could do some shopping while Mummy took Olivia for an ice cream sundae. On the way back to our appartment, Di was hauled off the U-bahn for travelling on a child's ticket (unknowingly!). The young official was very stern and unforgiving and Di had an instant 40 Euro fine (about 70 NZD). At 10.00 we flew out to Paris.

Our paris appartment was very small but very Paris chic - it looked out towards the eiffel tower, which was most exciting as it was all lit up in the evening and did a little shimmer routine on the hour!

On Wednesday we spent most of the day getting to the offices of Parisian Home to pay the balance of our accommodation, so we felt we had been cheated out of a day in Paris. Thursday we headed out to Paris Disneyland. We had a great day, and Olivia really enjoyed it. She loved It's a Small World, the two parades and the special Mickey Mouse and friends Winter Wonderland Show. We were there from opening time till closing time, and Olivia walked alot of the time and was very well behaved. On Friday Di headed off on a city tour, and Ross, Olivia and I headed to the Ille de la Cite to look through the flower markets and then Notre Dame Cathedral. We walked up to the Pompidou centre, and Olivia took quite a shine to the brightly coloured sculptures in the fountain pond next the to centre. We did some shopping on our way home, and then it was out to dinner to a restuarant written about by Julie Le Clerc and Conde Nast. Quite nice - Mummy had the best dessert ever she reckons (currant brulee)! On Saturday we shopped mostly, taking in the fantastic window automated displays at Printemps. Fantastic displays for kids, with little stands for the children to get a better view of the windows. We walked along the Seine around the flower market area, and popped into a pet store where they were selling all manner of dogs - up to about 2,400 Euro! On our way home in the evening, Mummy and I walked down towards Bastille picking up the yummiest treats from shop stalls on our way. A great gastronomic feast for our last night in Paris. All our meals in Paris (& Berlin) were excellent - from average cafe to upmarket bistro.

Beautiful Magical Prague

2005-12-10T10:10:00.001+13:00

The day before we headed off to Prague, we drove from Swindon to Woking to visit our second home exchange family - Ian and Eva Law and their three children. They have a lovely home and were very friendly. It was great to have the opportunity of meeting them before they headed off to New Zealand. Their kids are bright and lively - I hope they have a good time in New Zealand.

On Monday 5th Dec we arrived in Prague - what an amazing city. It is just beautiful. It was everything people said it would be and more. There are just so many amazing buildings. We arrived in the evening and all the key buildings were lit and the place just looked like magic. I had arranged an appartment for us, and it looked directly out on the river, and was across the bridge from the well known modern 'Dancing Building'. We tried lots of Czech food, visited the markets, rode the trams, visited the Castle - St Vitus Cathedral, Franz Kafka's house on the Golden Lane, saw the old town, new town, Prague Venice, Jewish Prague, the astronomical clock and more. We were just spell bound the whole time. The Christmas markets were great, and I did lots of shopping - I have lots of little things for all the kids. Unfortunately there was no snow which would have made the city look extra special, but it probably did make it easier to get around - especially with a stroller! Miss O did not always appreciate 8 hour days out in the pram. Ross enjoyed the beer and searched high and low for a genuine Czech beer hall, and he wasn't dissapointed. We were sad to be leaving three days later, and would have loved another day at least.

Rochdale

2005-12-10T10:10:00.000+13:00

Di arrived from Dubai on the 29th Nov and I collected her from the airport. Anna S met me out at Heathrow and we were pleased to see Granny Di come off the plane safe and sound. I think that Dubai had been a strange experience for her - we really count ourselves lucky that we had friends we could stay with and who could show us where to go and what to see.

The next morning, Ross and I were off to Rochdale, and Granny Di had to look after Miss O for three days! Hope she wasn't too jetlagged... In Rochdale we were visiting the Council, which had put together a fantastic but intensive programme of meetings, presentations and visits for us. We were staying with the Chief Executive, Roger Ellis. It was a great visit - very busy and exceedingly tiring but we both learnt a lot. We had some great meals out with Roger and his wife Tracey - they were very generous to us. We headed back to Swindon on Sat 3rd Dec.

Irish Craic

2005-12-04T08:26:00.000+13:00

On Saturday 19th November we headed off to Ireland for 9 nights. Even though the flight from London to Dublin is short, it was a long day transferring from Swindon to Heathrow by coach, waiting for our plane, plane being delayed, the actual flight, picking up our hire car, and then driving to Wicklow, just south of Dublin. So once again, it was fantastic to be meeting up with friends and enjoying home comforts. We spent three nights with Anna and Pete in their home in Wicklow. They have a lovely home with lovely photos taken by Anna and heaps of gorgeous nick nacks from all their travels. Of course we also loved their doggies - Jessie and Matilda. Olivia loved them, and them her. After the best night's sleep yet despite hacking lingering colds, we set off to tourist 'must see' Glendalough, which is a little further up in the Wicklow mountain area. There is a beautiful lake, edged with mountains that reflect in the lake like a mirror. The scenery was stunning. The doggies, joined by their brother for the outing, lolloped along as we walked out to the ruins of an old miners settlement. It was too cold for Olivia, and she cried all the way back to the car. She perked up with a late lunch and a walk around the tourist wool mill shop. In the evening we relaxed and watched a DVD - we were very impressed with Pete's huge movie screen! The next day we visited Dublin, taking the DART train which follows the coast round in to Dublin. We had lunch at Bewley's - a local institution - then did the hop on hop off tour around the city. A visit to the Guiness Store House museum was all we could fit in - and a good option it was. Fantatic interpretive displays on how the kegs were made and their advertising over the years etc. You work your way up to the top of the building (shaped like a Guiness glass) to the bar on the 7th floor which has floor to ceiling windows 360 degrees around. The weather was lovely so we got a prime view of Dublin.

Next we were on to Galway for 3 nights where Ross was making a Council visit to our sister city. It was a slow trip across from Dublin in pea soup fog! Galway City Council put us up in a lovely appartment in the centre of town, so that made life with Olivia really easy. The senior staff at Council all seemed to be called Joe, so it was easy to remember who was who when we were taken out to dinner one evening. One of the Joe's provided us with his daughter as a babysitter, so it was lovely to be able to join Ross for dinner with the Council staff. As our dinner wound to an end (approaching 11pm!) it started snowing!! Not cold enough to stay on the ground, but pretty none the less. We visited the Cathedral of our Lady Assumed into Heaven at St Nicholas (!), which was lovely, but that was about all the sightseeing we managed in Galway.

We spent the next 3 nights driving round the south of Ireland through the Burren to see the Cliffs of Moher which were exceedingly windy but a wonderful day's drive; overnight in Killarney in a lovely histric hotel which advertised music in the adjacent bar (dissapointingly not Irish); on to the Blarney Stone (Ross had a smooch); stopped to watch the All Blacks play Scotland; and overnight in Waterford (got some Jasper Conran wine glasses which I have been admiring since I saw them at Kirk's in Wellington years ago); then overnight at an airport hotel in Dublin ready to fly home in the morning. All in all, I didn't find Ireland Irish enough! Not enough red heads, the accents weren't as strong as I had expected, and I didn't get to hear any traditional Irish music. Ross enjoyed it though and managed to hit some pubs in the evenings, so he caught a bit of music. The scenery was lovely, and we would have like maybe an extra day or two to do a few more things.

Swindon, Oxford and Chester

2005-11-18T11:38:00.000+13:00

From the heat to the cold in 8 hours. Very nice to be met at the airport by our home exchange hosts - Stephen and Penny Lake (www.homebase-hols.com HE16441) - with a little sign "McLeod". Got settled quickly in Swindon - the roundabout capital of the world - and enjoyed a fabulous 3 course dinner or curried parsnip soup, roast beef and trifle. Slept well, but Olivia woke around 3ish, so there were 3 in the bed! Took off the next day to visit the Swindon outlet centre for some discount shopping, and then we drove to Marlborough just south of Swindon to meet with Anna Soutar. Very exciting to meet up with friends again. Marlborough is a very pretty town and we had a coffee in a stylish pub and then ventured forth to Avesbury to see the standing stones. It was windy and wild and quite atmospheric. We made a dash for the pub that sits alongside the stones and had a quick reviver before heading home for another fantastic dinner. It is interesting talking to Stephen and Penny about their plans for NZ and all they hope to squeeze in.

The next day we were off to Oxford. I did not remember it at all after being there when I was 13, and it is a rather spectacular town. The buildings are very impressive, especially with all the student's bikes leaning against the walls. We had traditional cornish pasties for lunch, then walked up the main shopping street before finding an Irish pub for Ross to watch the NZ - Ireland game. While Ross did that, Olivia and I did the Oxford Story - a sensory ride through the origins of Oxford - all a bit much for Olivia who cried through most of it. She was much happier when we did the city tour on the double decker bus. It was mighty cold on the open top of the bus, but Olivia loved it and it gave a great view of the beautiful stonework on the histoic buildings. Ducked into Marks and Spencers to pick up some food for dinner and went back to our B&B to meet a very happy Ross - the All Blacks had won.

The next day I dropped Ross off to Templeton College for his residential course on stratgeic leadership and Olivia and I carried on up to Chester, stopping on the way just out of Birmingham to visit Cadbury World and another scarry ride. Bought lots of choccies and then carried on up to Chester. Finally arrived in the Welsh side of Chester at the home of Cathie and David Roaf with a big welcome from Chrissie, Cathie and David. Have spent the week here shopping at a mega Ikea store, mega Toy'r'Us and mega designer outlet store. I now have problems getting all my shopping home! Both Olivia and I have come down with colds, and she is teething as well. We are getting the best of care though, and Olivia just loves Chrissie, Cathie and David. This afternoon we wrap up warm to go and see the turning on of the lights in Chester for Christmas, and then tomorrow we head back to Oxford to collect Ross then back to Swindon before flying on to Ireland for some craic.

Arrived in Dubai

2005-11-10T16:00:00.000+13:00

We made it! 22 hours of flying and 2 stops for refueling. Emirates was great and Olivia was absoutely fine - slept 7 hours on Sydney to Bangkok leg and 4 hours on the Bangkok to Dubai leg - yipee! Awesome to be met at airport by friends Dave and Fiona, but boy was it hot. 21 degrees at 6 in the morning. After getting settled and washed at D and F's we headed out to see Dubai. What a city - it's really putting itself on the map as the center of the world. There is just so much construction, so many big buildings and so many malls! There are all sorts of nationalities here and we have been enjoying great ethnic food. Ross and I are in Haloumi heaven! We have been to the Dubai Museum set up in the historic Al Fahidi Fort. It traces the history of Dubai back to 3000BC and particularly the latest boom of development since the 1930s. We have walked alonside the creek, through the textile souk, a few malls, the Grand mosque, the race track and to the camel market - what fun! Tonight I will head for the gold and spice souks, then tomorrow morning we head for London - respite from the heat I'm sure!

8 Sleeps to go...

2005-10-29T12:24:00.000+13:00

Welcome visitors to the McLeod Blog. It's nearly time for us to head off on our trip, so thought I would give you a low down on what's happening.

We are leaving on Sun 6th Nov and flying to Dubai (22 hours). We will be staying with friends, Fiona and Dave, for three days. They will show us some of the sites - the Gold souks and lots of duty free shopping hopefully. There is a real chance that I will have spent all my spending money before we even get to Europe! I'd like to see a camel up close too though, and try some authentic cuisine.

From Dubai we fly to London (8 hours). We will be picked up at the airport by the Lakes who my mother is doing a home exchange with. We will stay with the Lakes for two days while we get our time clocks readjusted. We are very excited about our home exchanges - we have two organised - one with the Lakes who live in Swindon, and one with the Laws who live in Woking. I found this fantastic website: http://www.homebase-hols.com/ , which you can join and list your home. Then you go 'shopping' for someone to exchange homes with. This gives us the chance to have a home base for our holiday, where we can relax and enjoy the comfort and convenience of being in a home rather than a hotel. We get to make new friends too.

After 2 days in Swindon, we will make our way to Oxford where Ross will be attending a week long intensive programme for senior managers in public sector organisations. Ross will be living in at Templeton College, Oxford University! He is very excited about this course. While he is studying, Olivia and I will be heading up to Chester to stay with my godmother Chrissie (she gave the reading at our wedding). Ross finishes on the Friday, and on Saturday Olivia and I will head back to Oxford to meet up with Ross, and the next day we head off to Ireland.

We spend 9 nights in Ireland, starting off with a couple of nights with Anna and Pete up in Wicklow north of Dublin. I am looking forward to meeting the dogs and taking a luxurious shower in Anna and Pete's new bathroom - I know it's flash 'cos I've seen the pictures! We then head over to Galway, where Ross will make a visit to Waitakere City Council's sister city. After a few days there we will fill in the rest of our Ireland trip scooting around the coast and south of Ireland. Then we fly back to London.

Granny Di arrives from Dubai on the 29th Nov, and we will pick her up from the airport and stay at our home exchange in Swindon. The Lakes will be on their way to NZ to stay at Di's house by then. Ross and I then drive up to Manchester to visit the district of Rochdale, where we are being hosted by the Chief Executive of Rochdale Council for a few days. Both of us have a full schedule of meetings and visits to look at the fantastic community engagement work the Rochdale district has carried out. This will be a highlight of the trip for me and will hopefully see me enthused with ideas for Right Relations! Granny Di will spend an exhausting 3 days adjusting to the time zone and looking after Olivia... She will be looking forward to hooking up with Nana Anna (Anna Soutar) to share the grandparenting burden. When I get back to Swindon, I will head over to Woking to meet the Laws - our second home exchange family.

On Mon 5th Dec, we fly to Prague with Di for 3 nights. We are hoping for snow, which would make the city very pretty in deed we hope. We will be visiting the castle there, Franz Kafka's home and many other things. We are most excited about the Christmas markets which are a very old tradition in many European countries. This is most likely where we will be getting little trinkets to bring home for all our kiddie friends.

After Prague, we try and squeeze in some London sightseeing and visits to friends. At this stage we will be staying our second home exchange in Woking. On the 10th Dec we head off again with Di to Berlin and Paris. I am really intrigued to return to what's left of the Berlin wall and to visit the Checkpoint Charlie Museum which absolutely enthralled me when I visited as a 13 year old. There will be more Christmas markets (around 13) in Berlin. And in Paris, we will take Olivia to Paris Disney alongside many other cultural and educational visits of course!

We return to Woking, London on Sun 18th Dec and get ready for Christmas with Chrissie and her sister Cathie's family up in Chester. We will stay with them through till New Year. We are really looking forward to their always generous hospitality. In the new year, Ross, Olivia and I hope to make it up to Scotland. Ross has some ambition to 'go home' to the McLeod castle - Dunvegan Castle on Skye. I'm sure I will capture a rendition of "O Flower of Scotland" on video for those who have heard Ross sing it with passion so many times before! It will most likely be very cold up there.

On Fri 6th Jan we will head from Chester back to Swindon, and Di will head to Rome for a few days en route home. I will make sure that I have purchased all I possibly want and more at the January sales before jumping on the plane on Tue 10th Jan for a direct flight home to Auckland which will take us two days!

We will be home on Thursday 12th Jan, tired, broke, travelled out but with great memories I hope! Wish us luck

xxx
Kiwi McLeods on Tour

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Olivia taking a bath at Waiheke.

Bananas in Pyjamas

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What a lovely outing with Miss O! Arabella's mum invited Miss O, Granny and I to accompany Arabella, Amelia and herself to Bananas in Pyjamas at Sky City Theatre. I was very nervous that Olivia would cry the moment the show started, but I had nothing to fear. She loved it! They sang lots of songs and Olivia clapped, waved her hands and even climbed down the stairs to the edge of the stage. Amelia enjoyed the 55 min show too, with lots of bobbing and waving arms. I think the Grannys had fun too!

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September

Thank God for Mummys

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Have just spent several lovely days in Waiheke with my Mummy who helped share the care of a "terrible two" year old. Thank goodness senior Mummy knows how to have fun... pictured here at MJ's 90th Birthday last month.

Helper in the kitchen

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For Olivia's 2nd Birthday (umpteenth celebration) I was making a bus cake for Olivia. While seeing Gerard and Baxter off, Miss O went in to the kitchen and attacked the cake - just out of the oven. I took a photo - one day it will be funny...

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Planning the Trip

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With 6 weeks to go, everything is just about organised. Just got to sort out a carseat for Olivia and get the house organised for our visitors. We hope Olivia will travel well, especially on the plane for 22 hours!