Hi there

Just a few pictures of us during the latter half of the year so that you can see how we have all grown up [or older] and let you know some of the things we have been doing.

Here we are on the shores of Lake Wanaka in New Zealand. We enjoyed it here so much that we kept going back and spent plenty of time looking in Estate Agents. Unfortunately NZ is not as cheap as it was a few years ago, but it would still be a wonderful  place to live. Wanaka is a delightful little town with friendly people, some great restaurants and some superb skiing close by!

David and Catherine at Treble Cone, our favourite ski field. Not only was the snow excellent, there were also exciting slopes for Clive and me and beginner slopes for the children. There was even a creche which we used on a few occasions. This field has to have the most spectacular view too.

David did amazingly well on his little skis and by the end of seven weeks of skiing every other day he could zoom down really fast in a very wide snowplough, singing "Wheeeee" at the same time - much to the amusement of people on the chairlift. He was able to go down blues and easy reds, and use tow and chairlifts easily.  I wish my skis were that short!

Catherine tried extremely hard and made real progress towards the end. She could go down the gentle slopes turning a little at the end. She found it difficult to get up if she fell, which made it very hard work picking her up again!

When we were not skiing we spent a lot of time hunting for film locations for Lord of the Rings. We had a guidebook and GPS, but most sites bore little resemblance to the film. Aragorn's Cliff was a classic. In the films he falls off the top of this rock and disappears into a ravine with a raging torrent at the bottom. In reality it's 2 metres high with a patch of grass for a soft landing. The river he fell into is 20km away. However it made us realise how cleverly it was all done and the scenery was fantastic.

We visited this deer park near Queenstown and David adored feeding the animals. They were so tame and we spent all day there feeding ostriches, goats, pigs and even bison.

We spent 7 weeks in this Maui campervan - it was absolutely brilliant as New Zealand is so geared up for travelling around. This site had 2 jacuzzis and a sauna, a TV lounge, internet access, children's play area BBQ area and the usual kitchen and washing facilities - what more could one want?. We kept going back and even asked for the same place so that we could have the best view in the morning. Much to the amazement of some of my colleagues, we didn't even think of booking into a hotel.

The children loved sleeping in the bed above the cab, I loved being able to pull over and brew up for a cup of tea anytime, anyplace, and Clive loved the tip tiptronic gearbox [each to his own I guess - although I have to say it made it very easy to negotiate some treacherous slopes up and down to the ski fields.

We stopped of in Singapore on the way to and back from NZ. Visited plenty of touristy sights and it was great for the children. We managed the Night Safari, Sentosa Island, the most fantastic Zoo and Jurong Bird Park. The children are standing in front of the biggest man-made waterfall in the world at 100m high AND it was inside an aviary!

We returned to Abu Dhabi in mid-August after a memorable summer. Catherine started school in September and she was 4 in October.

Mum and dad came for their usual visit in November and during Ramadan we took a trip up to the Mussandam Peninsula in northern Oman for a couple of days. We took a trip out on a dhow around the Straits of Hormuz. The scenery was spectacular, and we enjoyed some excellent snorkelling.

A school of dolphins surrounded the boat - a magnificent sight.

We also spent a day in Dubai - grandpa particularly enjoyed the wave pool at Wild Wadi.

We are now preparing for Christmas and the calendar is full and double booked some evenings. The children are also busy at school. This is David trying on his Christmas concert suit. He is in Year One Silver [obviously]. Year One Gold, Bronze and Pearl will wear the appropriate colours too!

And finally, this is a Christmas wish from us all. We hope you are all well and that the New Year brings Peace on Earth and a healthier exchange rate [for us anyway!]