My first mangrove swamp

So, I had a lovely weekend.

I flew to hamilton on Thursday afternoon and we flew past Mount Taranaki, a dormant volcano sticking up through the clouds! I met George for dinner and then drinks afterwards and it was lovely to catch up.

Friday we went to Raglan, which is a pretty little coastal town with a very nice beach. We wandered around the shops and then went back to hamilton for dinner, drinks and some very interesting conversation! George is very intelligent and knows about everything so my knowledge of the Crusades and Inquisition were improved that night :o) Also, we had dinner at an amazing chinese resataurant and had the world's best pork dumplings!

Saturday was Auckland with one of his colleagues at the Uni of Waikato and her husband. We went to a couple of marketsd which were fun, had an amazing lunch at a tiny Mexican place. Then we met up briefly with Adam, who was in Auckland for the Edge film festival, at a forum for people to pitch their documentaries. It has lots of big an important TV people from NZ and Australia. He won best pitch award! This is for his documentary about Kiwi wrestling. He's obviously delighted, he got lots of interest and business cards. I'm really, really happy for him. The evening was a fascinating conversation over wine about science, maths and religion :o)

Sunday was the Coromandel peninsula. We drove nearly all day and got back at 11.30pm. We stopped at a few little towns and the drive there was amazing, it's an utterly beautiful place. We also saw the Cathedral Cove, which is quite an iconic Kiwi place. Photos to follow! Also, can you believe that the Coromandel is sub-tropical and has mangrove swamps?! Amazing...

It was really lovely to see someone from home and catch up on the London gossip. Apart from that, George is great company and I'm very grateful that he took a whole weekend out of his very busy schedule to show me around.

Thanks George!

Tonight I'm going over to Adam's to cook him a celebration dinner.

On a slightly sadder note I suffered a bit of homesickness again today. I think it was a combination of seeing someone from home and then having to say goodbye plus a chat with my mum and Holly this morning, it just set me off a bit. Especailly talking about Alfie and how he'll likely be upset by Holly and Peter moving home. He'll be alright though I expect... I just miss him.

Sorry to have a slight moan! I know, I'm incredibly lucky to be over here living the life I am and I do appreciate it really :o)

xxx