March & April 2007 Update

elcome back !!

As you can imagine we've had alot of exciting things going on in the last couple of months - what with moving from SF to London - so needless to say we've been extremely slack in updating our blog. But we're in London, settling in and have decided to get this up to date - so please accept our apologies if this is old news for some of you.

March
This month we were still in San Francisco and anxiously awaiting news of the visa.

On the 11th we went to see a show called the "One-Man Star Wars Trilogy" - it was wickedly funny, although a smidgen confusing sometimes - we really had to draw on our Star Wars knowledge to follow the show. He did this summary of Episodes IV, V & VI over a 1 hour show - worth seeing if you get a chance to, but brush up on your Star Wars before you go to make the experience even better.

After the show we met up with friends and had dinner at John's Grill - apparently the setting for a famous book - The Maltese Falcon. The significance was a little lost on us unfortunately but it did have alot of famous patrons over the years. Very nice steaks and cocktails although a tad expensive.

Manu's work was busy as usual and he went to Pittsburg in Pensylvania on a 2 day business trip.

Early in March Manu rang the consultate in the UK and was told they'd sent us the result of our application but it was sent to the wrong address (sigh). Finally, on the 16th of March we received the letter from the UK and hooray !! our HSMP application was approved ! (it only took 4 months !!!)
But we weren't out of the woods yet - we still had to get one more approval before we could officially start moving. That involved sending our approval letter off to the UK consulate in LA (along with passports). Luckily these folks seemed to be uber efficient and we got our passports back by the 21st and could officially say that we were on our way to London.
The very next day Manu resigned from his job, giving 3 weeks notice and we started booking flights, movers etc.

Not long after we found out we were leaving, Manu found out he fractured his wrist during the Consultant ski trip in January. The niggling pain has sent him to a Doctor and then an Orthopaedist. Fortunately the bone had healed but there was some scar tissue which was causing some discomfort. For awhile there the Orthopaedist had us panicking over whether he'd need surgery or not, which sent us into the whole conversation of where he'd have surgery - did he have enough time to get it in SF before we left the country (where it was covered by insurance) or would we have to go to NZ and get it done (expensive) or even London (pre-existing condition = expensive). Luckily the Doc got an MRI and determined that no surgery was required, instead Manu will need to put up with a bit of pain every so often and use wrist guards when snowboarding.

April
While Manu finished his last couple of weeks of work, Anita completed selling anything that wasn't nailed down and prepared to ship everything else to London.

Meanwhile Roxy and Elisa organised a farewell dinner for us in North Beach (at Mangia Tuttia Restaurant). In attendance was Bryce, Georgina, Roxy, Cisca, Simone, Marty, Ginger, Jeff, Holly, Dan, Erik and Elisa. Lovely night was had and we got a lovely parting gift - a comic strip of amusing pics and comments - which we will proudly display on the Blog once our Mac arrives from the US.

A few days later (Wednesday) was Manu's last day of work, the movers arrived Thursday, the cleaners came Friday and we flew to NZ on Saturday - phew!!! So farewell to US and A - it was a great experience and we were very sad to leave our lovely friends and the very charming San Mateo County.

Auckland, New Zealand

On arrival in NZ (at 5am in the morning no less) we were greeted by Anita's parents and Manu's mum. We stayed with Anita's parents for 2 weeks, went to Wellington for a long weekend then stayed with Manu's sister for 2 weeks.

One of our first trips away was a relaxing trip out to Rakino Island. Manu's Mum has a bach (holiday home) out there. It's about a 1 hour water taxi ride from the city, so Manu and his Mum made their way out on a Friday morning and the next day Anita, her parents, her brother and his girlfriend - sailed out to the island on Anita's parents boat (it takes about 4-5 hours by yacht especially when there's no wind !).

We had a fantastic time on the island walking to the various bays and we even managed to have a swim. The water was amazingly clear although it was a little cold and required some getting used to (it is winter after all). On the Sunday we made our way back to the city and Manu sailed back with Anita and her family. Manu got to skipper the boat all the way home and did a fantastic job of manipulating the boat through all the wakes of the launches, who were also making their way home after a lovely weekend out.

When we got back to Auckland we spent the week wining and dining with family and friends. Also managed to squeeze a mountain bike ride at Woodhill Forrest with Anita's Dad who loves riding his bike and is so bloody fit we can never keep up with him !

Wellington, New Zealand

We spent a long weekend in Wellington visiting friends. We stayed with Lisa (Anita's friend from work and Bridesmaid) and managed to squeeze in a rugby game at the cake tin (the Westpac Stadium) where Tana Umanga was having his last game with the Wellington side. They lost the game but it was still really neat to be there for Tana's last game. It was typical Wellington weather though - the wind could blow you off your feet !

Had a fab time in Welly, that place is just the bees knees and it's changing so much.

Well that's the first leg of our trip away - next update covers the next month of our trip and the settling in when we got to London.

Tune in next time when Manu says..... "'ullo 'ullo 'ullo fancy a cuppa tea ?"

Luff and big Manu hugs
Anita & Manu
xx