5 Mins of Fame

Check out www.tennisnz.com to see me in action. Well, not really, but they did a piece about me for their latest news section.

All going well this week, my cold was short lived and I am off up north on Friday to meet with a potential sponsor so fingers crossed.

Also, Steph and I went along to a Kyoshun Karate club last week as we are keen to try out new things and it was fab. Its great for fitness and you actually do have full contact fighting/sparring, the only thing you are not allowed to do is punch your oponent in the head (you can kick them in the head though) or the back or the groin! Needless to say I got well and truly beaten up by two schoolgirls and Steph was defending himself against the head coach and the current national champion. We were both a bit stiff the next day (and the next) but going back tonight for more punishment.

Speak soon,
K x

It's official - I'm allergic to work

After 8 months on the road and being a lady of leisure I have not been ill once......one week after re-entering the working work and I have a cold - clearly work doesn't agree with me!!

Seriously though, its all going well, I started on Monday and was in Auckland by Tuesday at a 2day team mtg/forum. Seems like a great team and there's lots of interesting things happening in the world of NZ Tennis. As a little intro I was asked what my most embarrassing sporting moment was and I replied that it would be in about 6 hours when we go out to play some tennis! Yes that is right, there was the opportunity for everyone to play at the end of the day and I wanted to appear keen so decided (stupidly) to join in. However, I did feel the need to put everyone in the picture re: my playing ability due to the fact that almost all of the people there (including the CEO of Tennis NZ) were all top seeded in NZ and at least two of them had been or close to turning Pro. As usual, I was completely out my depth but had a smile on my face and played the "I'm scottish and the new girl" card to the full. I was of course disastrous and it was very unfortunate that I had to reveal my weaknesses after two days but hey, they new what they were getting when they offered me the job. All in all - I think I'm going to like this tennis gig :-)

Unfortunately the car we were thinking about buying, a slinky little 23 year old red sports car failed its MOT and was going to cost 3 x more to get fixed than we were going to pay so we decided to hold fire on that one. Mechanically it was totally fine but rust was an issue. I get a car with work which will help us to get out and about.

Not much else to report at the moment, just thought I'd let you know I have survived my first week!

How times change

Hi everyone,

A couple of important updates!

We have been our new house since the 4th of April but we with visitors and holidays and everything it has taken us a wee while to get set up with little home comforts (or life essentials to some people!)

Thankfully we now have internet access at home so no more hanging out at internet cafes with disaffected youth playing video games and getting fat in front of massive video screens (not us, them). Hurrah!!!

It also means that we can now skype everyone back home so if you have a quick connection and you have downloaded skype then my user name is stephbrown8 or if you search for my email address it is stephbrown8@aol.com. Once you have skype it means that if we are at home with the computer on, and skype open then you will be able to ring us. If you want to schedule a skype then just drop us an email or facebook us a time that would work for you and we will try and be around the house to catch up.

We're both hoping that having the net at home will let us keep in touch a bit better than we have been for the last couple of months - and hoping that we don't spend our whole evenings fighting over who has been on facebook the longest (not likely)

Once we buy a new cable for the phone we will also have a home phone line - we will post our phone number as soon as we have it so that people without skype can call us. We might not post it actually I might just email it round - if you want the number drop me an email at the address above or comment on the blog and I will send it through to you.

Anyway, the other exciting thing is that Katie starts her new job tomorrow, I am sure she will really enjoy it - getting out and mixing with the working public will, I am sure, make Katie feel more part of the city life which is one of the reasons we are here in Welly. It will also hopefully mean that I can afford a new pair of socks - the pair I have at the moment are starting to look a bit worse for wear and I am looking forward to having to retire them soon (only joking Mum!)

We are also looking at a car - don't want to give too much away just now but it's a red sports car with flicky up lights and all that - don't worry we've not gone mad - it's almost as old as Katie and is going to cost us $300 if it passes it's MOT. If it lasts us 6 months and doesn;'t fall to bits on the motorway then we will be happy. Will send photos if we decide to go ahead and buy it (it's Steve's brother in law whose Dad is from Queens Park in Glasgow so we're getting mates rates)

Well, I best be off just now - just wanted to give you a quick update - it's great being able to do this from home but we are heading out to get a few things sorted in town. Got to make the most of weekends when you work in a school.

Hope everyone is doing well - we will be in touch with you all soon!

Stephen

Back to Welly and back to School

Hi folks, yep the holidays are almost over - booo!

And Katie starts soon too - fingers crossed with the old visa thing but should have a start date of 4th of May. For those of you who don't know, Katie has a job as Regional Tennis Development Manager and will be rejoining the workforce soon.

I am actually sitting in my office and it's Saturday - I am not doing a whole lot of work though if I am being honest but I did want to upload some more photos to flickr and also add some to the blog.

We will be getting a landline really soon for our house and we will also be all set up to use Skype regularly too so things as they say can only get better!

Here are a couple of highlights from the last month - more photos as I say are on flickr. (www.flickr.com/katieandsteph88)

What a month!

Hi everyone,

I started writing a blog entry last week and never got round to posting it because we have been so blinking busy!!! Sorry the blog has been sparse - this will be fixed once we get internet access in our new hoose. (and photos will be added)

Paul arrived last month and we (as Katie mentioned in her previous post) walked Tongariro which was fantastic - we did a million and one different things when Paul was over - went to comedy clubs, out for dinner, went to whanganui for lunch - moved house, just the usual kind of stuff that everyone does in a typical week. It was brilliant.

Then on the day Paul left, Sam and Emma arrived - just in time to run Paul to the airport! Then we had a great time with Sam and Emma (who are on their 12 month honeymoon for those who don't know) we did barbecues, beers, day trips, a cycle home from my work that nearly killed Sam. (It is seriously uphill) T'was great to see the pair of them and who knows where or when we will catch up next! Somewhere exciting no doubt.

Then - on Sunday just there, Katie and I flew to Christchurch to meet my Mum and Aunt Chirstine and we have been driving all over the South island seeing the sites:

We've been to Willowbank to see Kiwis, we've been on the Christchurch tram, we've went to Akaroa for Lunch. We then went to Hamner Springs for a wee shot in the hot pools and the ladies all got massages.

Then we drove for miles back round towards christchurch then over Arthurs Pass which was stunning and that took us to Greymouth (we'll just pretend the speeding ticket for Steph never happened by the way). We then drove to Westport then onto Nelson and the drive was again, fantastic. We are in Nelson at this very moment and we thought we would have a quiet day today - then we changed our mind and headed off to Abel tasman national Park for a boat trip round the beaches to see the seals and some of the sites. Brilliant - and we are off out for dinner just now then heading on a bit of a winery tour tomorrow - it's non-stop action all the way.

Staying in Blenheim tomorrow night before we head to Wellington on the interislander ferry for a well earned three day rest in our house before Mum and Christine head off to Singapore. (they've already conquered Hong Kong and Sydney)

When the dust settles, we catch our breath and we get on the internet again I will write more but here are a couple of other bullet points of note:

* Katie got a job! Working as Development manaager for Tennis! (mmore news to follow)
* Our great friends Lorna and Iain are now in NZ too - they are in Auckland and Iain has started his job already - a trip to Auckland is definitely in the offing!

Anyway, best be off - will write more soon,

Phew!

SB

Road Trip!

Hi,

Just incase anyone is looking for us in the next few days we thought we'd let you know we are off on a little road trip with Paul. We are going to attempt the Tongariro 1 day crossing - considered one of the best one day walks in the world and thought to be the best in NZ! Also has lots of Lord Of The Rings filming locations.

We are also moving out of our lovely house-sit today (boo!) and getting set up in our new flat (yay!) which means that we won't have a landline or access to the internet for a little while, so incase you were wondering why we're not in contact its just temporary and we'll be back soon!

Hope all is well at home xx

From House Sitting to Furniture Sitting!!

Hello, Sorry it has been a while since you have heard from us! We have been busy setting up home and living a slightly less adventurous lifestyle. You will see from the photos that we have found a fab place to rent which we are so happy about, but we forgot one minor detail - we have to furnish it! Anyway, with Steph working in a school there has been no end of very generous offers and we are now the proud 'caretakers' of a flatscreen TV, a queen bed, a fab leather sofa, some lights and a full professional drum kit (don't ask!) We have also bought the entire contents of our friend's kitchen and dining room (plus bikes and a sofa) as they are moving back to the UK this week so we thought it would be good to help them out while getting some essentials for our place. Its funny, back home I was of the opinion that everything had to be brand new and matching, but I have quickly dropped that attitude as NZ is very much about recycling!! I haven't found any diamonds in the rough of the Salvation Army yet (just fleas and mould), but I hear the Mary Potter Hospice charity shop is THE place to be - we will be taking a trip there soon. Don't worry we won't be getting beds or anything from there so it will be safe if you come to stay!

This week I hope to hear about a possible job opportunity. I have been looking but not applied for anything yet. We felt that it was a great chance for me to take some time to crack on with the masters while we were living rent free, but now that the house sitting is drawing to an end I will have to get out there and earn a crust. Quite looking forward to the challenge actually and prepared to look at something a bit different - as long as it earns a decent wage and not too stressful!

Our reputation as NZ's top house sitters has hit the press! We have been contacted by some past 'clients' for repeat business in April but we have definitely moved on from house sitting for the time being. Its quite funny though, we've been housesitting since December and I have been notified by so many people from the website wondering if we were available that if we had continued to do it we could have lived until August in Wellington just going from house sit to house sit. However, it does have its downsides, like cats, and killing plants (?!) and taping Prison Break for Margaret every Wed evening so we are very much looking forward to our free-time and our surroundings being completely our own!

We are really looking forward to seeing lots of friends and family over the next month. We've got Paul coming in 9 days, Sam and Emma arrive at the beginning of April for a few days as a stop over on their honeymoon, My friends Doug and Pat are on a trip with a stopover in Wellington on the 11th April so we will meet them for dinner and then we fly to Christchurch to meet Steph's mum and Auntie on the 12th April for 2 weeks. And last but not least, our bestest buddies Lorna and Iain will be hopefully joining us for a life down-under soon! So now that we have a place to call our own, if anyone else fancies a wee holiday or something more permanent in NZ you are more than welcome to come stay with us!

Well, we will write some more when we have done something a bit more worthy of telling you!

Byee,
Katie xx

KO on her bike

KO on hers
Originally uploaded by katieandsteph88

Katie and I have both now got some wheels and yesterday we did a huge bike ride round the bays here at Wellington. It was a great day but we were both knackered after the Tour De Welly and had a quiet Saturday night watching crap movies on the telly.

In other news, we are starting to get our house together and we have had offers of 1) A Television 2) A brown leaher sofa and 3) a Drum kit to furnish our new house with. So it should be an interesting (and possibly noisy) place when it is finished.

My brother comes out on the 23rd of this month and we should be almost all moved in by then hopefully although we won't be able to leave the house sit completely until the end of the month.

Hope everyone back home is well - and that you haven't fallen asleep reading our blog recently ;o)

More photos are now at Flickr.

India v NZ 20/20

India v NZ 20/20
Originally uploaded by katieandsteph88

Just thought I would post a quick photo from the recent 20/20 game of cricket between India and NZ (the blackcaps) - Strangely for cricket it was actually an exciting game with it going down to the very last ball. NZ won and everybody was happy - apart from the Indians.

our new place.....finally an end to moving around

Hi everyone, sorry we haven't been in touch on the blog lately but today I was speaking to my cousin Karen via facebook, she mentioned the lack of posts and I have been spurred into action. You'll probably notice there are a few different entries today - if any have disappeared off the page then you can use the "older posts" link at the bottom to retrieve them.

Anyway, yes well the photos above are our new place in Moana Road, Highbury, Wellington - I should mention that we only have the upstairs part and the downstairs will be rented by someone else. Unfortunately we have to pay for this one but it is all ours for the next 9 months which is fantastic. It's got a great view, a balcony, two bedrooms - I can't really do it justice here so you'll just have to come and see it for yourself.

We will post more photos once we get in but for now we need to try and furnish the flippin place (it's unfurnished) which is going to be pretty funny as we will be doing it on the cheap (and on the scrounge ;o) We can move in on the 23rd of March but will be need to finish our housesit first before moving in for real.

Life is going well just now for both of us - We now know where we will be living, Katie has been busy sussing out employment prospects (in between managing to respond to adverts for houses - you have to move so quickly here to get the place you want.) and I have been busy teaching at the school. My job is certainly busier than I would like but I'm sure the pace will settle down soon - still enjoying it though although it is hugely different from secondary.

We are both still managing to get out and run regularly - it's so much more motivating to exercise here cos everyone is doing it. Both of us are definitely seeing a big improvement in our fitness which is great.

Newsflash - it's only just over three weeks before my Bro arrives here in Welly - it is going to be brilliant and i can't wait. Will be great to see the big man again and I am sure he'll enjoy it over here (it's all Hobbits and magic and stuff ;o)

After my bro leaves my Mum and Aunt Christine then arrive which will be brilliant too - we are meeting them in Christchurch and doing a wee tour of the South Island before coming up to Welly for a few nights.

Some other great news that we had over the last few weeks are that good friends of ours from back home have decided to up sticks and move to New Zealand too. Unfortunately they will be in Auckland but it will be brilliant to have them in the same country and I am sure we will make every effort to see each other as often as we can. (they shall remain nameless in case not everyone back home knows already - I'm sure they do, but just in case)

Right I'm off now to fix my bike - the brakes have decided they don't want to work anymore which is going to be a problem what with the steep hills here in Welly.

Will write more soon - and will try to remember to be more dilligent!

All the best,

SB