Adventures of Oman

Hi all!

Its about time I posted something on here - Sorry its been a while (since July actually) that I have posted my own message - I've been hibernating - but now that the summer has hit I've been inspired to blog.

I'll start with my fantastic 'surprise' trip home in October! To cut a very long story short, my best bud Joanne Brown ne MacMillan got wed on the 24th of October and I just had to be there if it was possible. I'd cunningly planned with Calvin, her hubby to arrive a week early and turn up on the doorstep to surprise the bride to be - the plan was going well until she found out 24 hours before I was due to land in Glasgow due to an email from the venue confirming the extra person for the meal! She was, thankfully, very touched that I was able to make it home for her wedding and in true Joanne style she turned the surprise on me and arrived at the airport....bridesmaid dress and shoes in hand! So, after a quick 'fitting' in the airport toilets all was good and the following week Miss Macmillan looked absolutely stunning as she became Mrs Broon! The wedding was amazing and it was so fantastic to catch up with so many friends on such a great day.




I am pleased to say that it felt good to be home. I have a restored faith and appreciation for Scotland and its people, not forgetting it was just so important to spend time with friends and family. Seeing the kids, Hannah, Scott, Emma, Emily and Michael was really special - all growing up so fast! Emily was so funny, at 2 and a bit she knew Auntie Katie and Uncle Steph lived in "Zealand" and she even knew exactly where that was - "over the moon" Such a smart wee girl! Hannah and Scott told me all about their sports and school - Hannah even took me to her swimming class and I think she looked like one of the best swimmers there even though she was one of the youngest. And Scott is quite the footballer - looking forward to Uncle Steph coming home for a kick about! Emma is the cutest wee baby - full of mischief! Michael is only just over two but he's so smart and I think he took a shine to me - such a charmer!



Being home in Carradale was another reminder that home is good! Spending lots of time with mum and getting to see and stay at Bayview for the first time since all the renovations were complete was fantastic. I had to remind myself of all the hard work that went in before I left and the work that my family did to get it to this stage is such an achievement. I think we all agree, that the hard work has and is paying off - we have a really beautiful home that we can enjoy for years to come. And, I was pleased that when I stepped through the door it still felt like home. I was a little worried that it wouldn't, but waking up in my old bedroom and padding about a new improved Bayview felt really comforting. Also treated myself to some things that you don't get over here - irn bru, mothers pride, carradale rolls and square sausage - and photographed it for Steph's benefit!


So now its back to windy welly and work (with a renewed supply of clothes for both of us - courtesy of raiding our loft when I was home). I held my first Grasshoppers Tennis Tournament last Sunday and broke the National record for most participants - yay! On a down side I delivered teacher inservice training a few days later and it was a disaster! Reminder to self - practice the games before trying to teach others how to deliver them to a class of pupils!! On the whole the job is going well, its going to be a great job over the summer and I am getting round the country alot which has been good for seeing new things and meeting some really interesting kiwis.



I've also gained a new friend called Harry. He's 8 years old, 16.2hh, liver chestnut and an ex racehorse. I met a lady from NZ Equestrian Federation and mentioned I was looking to start riding and she said needed a bit of help so we agreed that I would ride a couple of times a week. Its lovely to get back in the saddle - bit sore after over a year!!


Anyway, I should probably have done 3 separate posts rather than one massive story so I hope I've not bored you to tears!

The sun is shining, we are beginning to peel off the layers and duvets! Looking forward to a summer in the city and beginning to plan our final Australasian/South Pacific Adventures before making the homeward journey.

Will write again soon and thanks to everyone I managed to catch up with when I was home :-)

K xxx

Molarious

Movember

From what I hear Movember has already hit Scotland - well it is a big deal here and all the guys at my work are doing it for charity so I thought I would join in. The one time in my life I will probably have a good excuse to have a stupid moustache and I may as well do it while most of the people who would find it the funniest aren't around to have a good laugh at my expense.

As someone who is always happy to laugh at myself though I thought it would be rude if I didn't keep you updated with some daft photos of my progress. Details on how to donate money will appear at some point)

Progress hasn't been that fast and i keep growing all my stubble back in to change my mind about what shape of tache I want but in the next few days i will be posting a photo of my best tache to date (after my next shave.)

In case you didn't know, Movember is all about raising money and awareness for/of prostate cancer and depression in men http://nz.movember.com/about/

trip to auckland

I said you would get more about the trip to Auckland for Lorna's 30th and here it is....

When Katie and I arrived in Auckland I can honestly say that it felt like we were folk from the wee village visiting the big city for our once a year visit. It was busy, loud and exciting and made us realise just how small (compact ;o) Wellington really is. You can be out for dinner in Welly and meet 10 folk you know through work - it felt good to be in Auckland and have the power of anonymity once again. It's amazing how much I have missed that!

Anyway, Katie and I spent the first half of our first day marvelling at the choice of shops, the almost normal fashion sense and mainly at the fact the wind wasn't blowing. We spent the rest of the day and night in the pub with Lorna, Iain, Julie, Paul and anyone else that wanted to join us. Iain and Lorna took us to a bar called the Patriot that catered for all of the British isles and served Tennents on tap. I must say that the long journey hadn't improved the taste much but it was like an old friend paying a visit. (it was still better than the pint of TL in the Clachan though)

We pretty much spent the rest of the weekend having a great old time seeing the sights and staying at Lorna and Iain's "jungle house" - so named cos it really did feel as if it was in a rainforest or something - surrounded by trees and plants. Twas a pretty cool spot - and only 60 seconds from the beach.(which was where it wasn't like a jungle - unless we are talking about a jungle on a tiny remote island where most of the island is a jungle with only a beach separating it from the sea.)

We went out for dinner on the Saturday with Geoff from Iain's work - and his wife Adine - both of whom were really nice. And once again we got drunk and took silly photos which you will now find on flickr.

We also went hunting on the Monday for a karaoke bar - Lorna was keen to give us another rendition of Wired for Sound whereas I was all about some more classic rock with one hand shoved in my pocket. Alas though all the karaoke bars were the type where you hire a private room and Lorna and I really felt that our performances merited an audience so we went for more drinks instead.

All in all, we had a great time in Auckland celebrating not only Lorna's 30th but also new jobs for Iain and Lorna. Iain now has a fantastic job wih the Auckland Blues rugby team and Lorna now has a full time teaching post - well done by the way guys.

I am heading back to Auckland to see their new house in a couple of weeks when I will be in town to see the mighty Pearl Jam. Awesome - cannae wait.

SB.

Macca's birthday

These photos are from our hilarious trip up to Auckland for Macca's birthday. more of the the story to follow.......

Mr. Brown's leap of faith.

I was in Christchurch recently with the kids and we visited a climbing centre. I was stitched up and had to jump off a pretty high log and grab onto a trapeze that when I was up there felt like a mile away. I am not the biggest fan of heights but hey, when a 12 year old lad has just done it you can't really bottle it can you?

Karen this is for your amusement

http://www.catladyfashion.blogspot.com/

if you ever do get bored......

Here's a suggestion - at the top of the page there is a button called "next blog". Next time you almost fall asleep at our chat then push this button and you will be off on a blog adventure through space and time. If you keep clicking the button you will be transported to such essential blogs such as "Cat Lady Fashion" and "Freak of Metal".

There is a comment I could make here about how people will write any old garbage and that people will read any old garbage but I wouldn't want you to think we were talking about our blog..........;o)

The 100th post

Hi everyone,

This - would you believe - is the 100th post! (worth waiting over a month for?)

So in true anniversary style let's take a look back at some of the highlights of our trip so far.............actually - it's a kind of "self drive" anniversary tour where you can look through the archives at your own leisure. ;o)

Suffice it to say that we have done a lot over the last 12 and a bit months - there was the Bed Supper Club in Bangkok, The elephant experience in Chiang Mai, the tour of Sydney, meeting ex-jordanhillers in Australia at random moments, our west coast of Australia camper van road trip, our Koala adventure near melbourne, stalking Stefan Dennis from neighbours, arriving in NZ and all of our house sit adventures with Jack the crazy dog and the cat who liked to get close to the stuffed toy cat.

Yes, it's been a busy old time and I feel that it's actually been ten years not 1 - which is a great thing. Time goes by so quickly blah blah blah but Katie and I certainly do try to fill our time - maybe when we are 50 we will have a lie in and do nothing but until then it's onwards and upwards.

We really miss you all lots and we do think about you all an awful lot (even more so since Katie visited you all), we also now have photos up on the wall (finally) of everyone back home - we've had empty photo frames on the wall for a while - we ordered photos but they went missing in the post but we have them now and it's great to see everyone back home. If you have any favourite photos of yourself or Scotland then please feel free to post them to us or email them to us and they might make "the wall".

Ok, I will go for now but the very impending next couple of posts will be 1) Katie's trip back home 2) Steph's efforts at growing a moustache for Movember. 3) Wellington firework's extravaganza

Watch this space. (please) ;o)

our new hoose

http://www.nz.open2view.com/Property/206358

Check out our ridiculously nice new home.............we're not showing off, it's only for three months and we are paying for it! It'll be nice while it lasts though, especially with our summer around the corner.

;o)