We’re currently enjoying the last week of our time before I start work, and the build up to the Easter weekend. We’ve been staying at the Hotel Winchurst in Devon as the rates are very good, and there are no early morning wake up calls (except for those provided by our beautiful daughter who frequently sits in her cot in the morning chatting away merrily to herself, whilst Mummy and Daddy lie as still as possible in the vain hope she won’t realise we’re awake too, so we can squeeze out a few extra moments in bed!)

We’ve got a few photos that we’ll put up into a gallery when we get a chance (including lunch out with Uncle Clive and Auntie Avril, who have recently added to the number of Winchursts living in Holsworthy, and our trip to the Prickly Ball Farm (a hedgehog rescue centre) where Isabel was more interested in the other children, the toys and the poo than she was in animals that were there (still, Mummy enjoyed the animals enough for both of them!)). So for the time being you’ll have to make do with the photos below which, in case you haven’t looked at them yet, are of … yes, you’ve guessed it … Isabel.

This is a close up picture taken, presumably, by Grandma Pam (given it was on her camera!). It shows the beautiful Miss Winchurst posing for the camera!

You give her a KitKat, then turn your back for thirty seconds and look what happens! We’re guessing she liked it! It took us (or should I say it took Kate?!) the best part of half an hour to clean up the mess, and we were finding nearly eaten bits of KitKat wafer for days!!

Isabel is a very inquisitive child and loves the fact there are five animals in the Winchurst house (not including the goldfish … or Daddy). Unfortunately, not all these creatures are quite as taken with Isabel as she is with them. A certain bruiser by the name of Charles (ginger pussy cat) decided that he had had enough the other day and (just as Mummy had warned her he would) decided to indicate to Miss Winchurst that he wasn’t happy with her proximity. The result: a cut on the nose, a LOT of tears, and the first of what I’m sure will be many plasters over the years to come!

Just wanted to post a quick note to let you all know that, following my interview last Thursday afternoon, I had a phone call on Friday evening to tell me that I was successful and they will be offering me the job.

WOO HOO!!

Earning again. The bank manager will be pleased!

Everything is still to be finalised, and agreed in writing, but I have agreed everything verbally with them and I start on Monday 10th April. (It is just by coincidence that I have since realised that, thanks to Easter, my first two weeks back at work will be four day weeks!) They have kindly agreed to put us up (probably in a hotel initially) for the first month, which will give us a chance to find somewhere to move whilst our house in NZ sells, after which we’ll look for somewhere to buy.

Following approximately 42 hours of travelling, we finally arrive in the Lake District, where we will be staying for the next few days.

Unfortunately, as mentioned in the previous post, Isabel’s sniffles developed into a full blown cold, meaning she is very bunged up and feeling somewhat sorry for herself. This meant the 13 1/2 hour flight from Singapore to London was very, very long and tiring. It was also not helped by the fact that the woman sitting in the seat in front of Isabel had her seat back as far as it would go for virtually the entire leg. This meant that even with her short legs, Isabel couldn’t straighten them so settled instead for kicking the back of the seat causing the woman to look round and frown on a regular basis.

Not having flown with Singapore airlines before we were expecting great things but I, for one, was rather disappointed. I had heard great things about the quality of the customer service but apart from the hot towels (which I have to admit were rather refreshing) and the amenity kit including a toothbrush and toothpaste, I wasn’t particularly impressed. And I have to say although the seats weren’t too bad as far as comfort was concerned, the lack of space between your seat and the one in front was a real pain. When the guy sitting in front of me reclined his seat back (which he did approximately six nanoseconds after the fasten seat belt signs had been switched off) there were only about eight inches between my chest and the back of his seat. This meant it was very difficult to see the screen on the entertainment system, and it’s a good job I didn’t want to use my laptop as there is no way I could have angled the screen to see it.

Still, we landed, at last, at just after 5 o’clock in the morning, and happily made our way off the plane. The Munchkin rucksack, which we’d checked in at the gate, was taken by mistake to the main baggage carousel rather than being left as you get off the plane. A very helpful Heathrow baggage person, though, went and collected it for us and brought it to where we were standing. He then took the car seat up to the baggage area for us, to save us having to carry it ourselves. All this meant that, although we had to wait 10 minutes or so to get the rucksack, it did mean we were then able to head straight to the baggage reclaim, pick up our stuff and head straight through customs and immigration in no time.

The temperature when we left Wellington had been around 18-20 degrees, and as previously noted, was 30 degrees in Singapore. When we landed at Heathrow it was …. 2 degrees!! However, we were both glad to get back to the cold, especially as the plane felt it was about 50 degrees at times (which didn’t help Munchkin’s mood, as she gets quite irritable when she’s too hot).

We left Heathrow and picked up our hire car (good job we hired an estate with all the baggage we had!) and made the journey up to the Lake District, which is where we are at the moment. The journey was extremely straight forward, with the roadworks on the way fairly limited, and proving fairly feeble at slowing us down!

It wasn’t long, and it started raining. Oh well – two degrees, grey and raining. Welcome back to the UK, Winchursts!!!