Martin's 50th

Hard to believe I know - for me especially. Anyway, instead of a party we decided to get away from it all. Five days and four nights travelling by canoe down the Whanganui River in the North Island. Brilliant. Didn't even see anyone else all day on my birthday, and we only capsized three times - twice in the first hour of the first day and almost within sight of the end on day five!

Earthquake!

On 4th September 2010, the Christchurch area was rocked by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake - the same magnitude as the one that destroyed Haiti in January. Perhaps fortunately we were still in England. These photos, taken almost three months on, show some of the destruction in Kaiapoi, roughly 6km as the crow flies from our unscathed house.