Drain Problems

Hurry up and connect us to the Mains Sewerage System!!! We're having trouble with our septic tank. Although we emptied it last year it seems to be unable to drain the liquid out into the filter pipes so had to have it emptied again. As you can see from the pictures John has had to dig up around the tank and the drainage pipes to try and sort the problem, not a fun job.



We've been told that the tank will fill again in just 2 weeks if the pipes haven't been cleared. Keeping our fingers and everything else crossed otherwise it could be a costly expense to sort something that's only needed for a short time.

Making the Most of Leftovers

In clearing up the garage, John dug up some left-over wood flooring from when we did the lounge and over the weekend we made use of it and re-covered the floor in the small guest bedroom.

Although the puppies kept an eye on John's tools, they weren't much help with anything else.

We finished off with new skirting boards which I painted and now the room looks really smart. Ready for our next guests to visit.

Another View

John has created us another view from the garden. At the weekend he took down a very large pittosporum tree next to our veggie patch and has now openned up a beautiful view towards the lake, stunning.

A Kiwi Wedding

John and I headed up to Pauanui in the Coromandel last weekend to attend our first Kiwi Wedding. My cousin Stefan was marrying his long time girlfriend, Sabina (who is from Germany) at the Puka Park Lodge in Pauanui.


It was a beautiful and sunny day as we all sat out on the balcony watching the bi-lingual ceremony, followed by a reception and dinner with speeches.

It was a very special time for me as most of my extended Kiwi family, the Darke's were there, so gave me chance to catch up with them all again.


It was a very beautiful day and meant alot to us to be a part of the celebrations.

Wonderful News!

John and I are more than overjoyed to announce that we are expecting a baby in August.

We had our 12 week scan today and as you can see from the photo, little one is just perfect, it was stretching out it's legs and waving it's arms around.

We were delighted that my mum could also come and see the scan, sharing this very special moment with us.