Ireland...

Our catalyst to travel was James' brothers wedding, which was the most beautiful occasion! After getting our £8 return flights, we spent over a week in Ireland before the wedding helping with wedding prep and keeping the special two sane. The Stag night was a blast, after a Karting session (the Karts hit over 50kph), and a Gourmet Burger Bar, Ian had the first of his 10 challenges - which included a life size whoopy cushion costume, busking, mooning a bus and getting a kiss from the barman! He survived and completed all challenges (minus gargling a raw egg). The wedding day was superb! Ian & Jen both looked stunning and they are a match made in Heaven! James & Mark (the brothers) shared the best men honours and even Amy jumped into the scene by singing with the worship group. After the ceremony which included a performance from a gospel choir Ian is a part of, we headed to the reception at a stunning country estate. Great food, great family time and the best mens speach went down a treat! The day after the wedding we had a low key newly-weds BBQ, and game of Ultimate Frisbee to try and work off the abundance of food!

After the wedding festivities, we headed away with James' parents for their first family holiday in years, exploring southern Ireland. We visited so many castles, and historical buildings - Amy was quite blown away by the history of it all (as all Kiwi's are). We also found time to watch the All Blacks in the local pub, visit Tipperary (it's a long way.............from New Zealand) Races (our first horse won a 1 Euro bet at 39-1) and spend quality time with family - including James' beautiful neice - 2 year old Gracie who we have only just met for the first time! It's so lovely to see Amy with the family and see them bond, as it's the first time they've really been able to spend quality time together (our own wedding was a stressful time). Although it rainined/showered most days, we liked Ireland and hope to visit again before we return to NZ. A few of our photos are below, including James' Mum & Dad, and his sister, Mandy, and her family. More of our photos can be seen on our Facebooks.

Welcome to England...

After all our travelling we were ready to settle down and catch our breath. We were met at the airport by Amy's Dad (yep - that's right - he's a Kiwi). John and his wife, Marianne, have been living and working in England for over a year now, having a parents OE/GAP! We spent a few days with them in the beautiful historical town of Oxford before heading up north to spend time with James' family. It was lovely to see friends and family who we hadn't seen for over 4 years and a good excuse for some social catching up. Our first priority was to find work and help pay for some of the travel we've done. We both signed up to Teaching Supply Work (James as a teacher aid) and as we'd already got our police checks done, Amy got straight into teaching at a couple of schools in Hull. Loved it - not too different from teaching in NZ and the everyone was fascinated by the accent. The Hull accent is quite, err, how would we describe it, 'northern', so a teacher aid had to translate a few words, like "don't" to "doughn't" and "Sophie" to "Sooophie"! James didn't have any luck finding work in the first few weeks, but was kept busy sorting out his old room, applying for jobs, and preparing for Ian's Stag and the Best Man's Speech. Also had a chance to catch up with some of James' old school friends, with a Facebook organised Reunion out on the town. Nobody looked too different to they did as 16 year olds - and it was so lovely to see what people are making of their lives - even though everyone is now 30! May the good times role on...