The gathering of friends...

We have met up with lots of friends from the UK this week – its very strange to see people out of context, and on the other side of the world!

We met Joel and Marie on a beach at Castlepoint on the East Coast – a wild and windy headland with a lighthouse – seemed like the kind of place people meet on Hitchcock movies. We had an excellent weekend, staying in Greytown in the Wairarapa region (New Zealand's answer to France's Provence). Joel and Marie had to leave for the South Island ferry on the Sunday, it was sad to say goodbye but I knew they would have fun on their tour.

We were excited to see Jo from our church in Glasgow – who was on holiday and staying with her friend Jo, who emigrated from the UK last year. Not to be confused with 'researcher' Jo (see below)!!! Karen had a fun girls night out with the two Jo's and some others. I came along for the beginning of the evening because I was intrigued to find out what girls talk about – however I soon felt out of place when I tried to strike up a conversation about beer. So I left them to it, they had a nice meal and probably talked about the various inefficiencies of men.

Happy to see Alice from Northern Ireland again (she moved here three years ago). Alice was en-route to the Queen Charlotte Track and the Nelson Lakes. We had a great dinner and a general catch up on life in New Zealand.

Attended a NZ social research conference this week. I was impressed to hear Helen Clarke (the NZ prime minister) talk – she seems like a very determined and successful woman. A bit like Tony Blair - she has led Labour to three successive election victories. The conference had several Maori speakers, including a 1 hour opening ceremony involving the haka, tribal welcomes, singing and a 'hongi' - where everyone presses their noses against each other as a greeting. I did the hongi with a short lady beside me, so I had to bend over almost to 90 degrees! At one point I looked across and saw a researcher from Scotland that I recognised (called Jo). As far as I knew she was still working for the Scottish Executive – but as it turns out she and her husband moved here last year. We agreed to meet up for dinner, and the coincidences continued when I found out she lives round the corner from us in Karori.

Alongside the fun of meeting friends, its been a bit stressful looking for a new place to stay (our place is unsuitable because it has cat hairs embedded everywhere and Karen is allergic to them). We also need to find a tenant to move into our place so we can escape our existing contract. Karen has had three job interviews this week – and she has others lined up for next week. So all in all its been a bit of a AAAHH! week.

To relax we visited the Karori wildlife sanctuary today. It is a large sanctuary area surrounded by a predator proof fence – so that no possums or rats can get in and kill the protected birds such as Weka and Kiwi. These native birds evolved on their own in New Zealand over millennia and are hence rubbish at defending themselves against the rodents that humans brought with them. We also saw Tuatara - an ancient lizard that has lived on in NZ since dinosaur times – and cave Weta (a species of insect that is so repulsive it made me want to throw up!).

I think things should be a bit more settled next week..

IAN