Final night in the UK with our family.

Locking up for the last time.

Good Morning Britain,

I complained at the time that packing up the house was problematic and really quite an emotional wrench.

However this was nothing compared to leaving behind such fantastic friends and family. If only we could pack them all up and ship them out (although I wouldn't get Robinsons to do it, they would leave a couple behind and pack a few strangers based upon their house packing skills!)

I am confident that we have made the right choice and that our reasoning is correct.

Some people that we have met in passing over the last few weeks have said "I don't blame you, this country is going to the dogs"
I don't believe this to be true, although certainly the UK has it's challenges. We have lived everywhere from Sheffield to London and have enjoyed each place's unique character.

However, our time in Wales will be hard to beat. When we moved from South London to South Wales, we fell in love with the country and the people. People took time with us and were warm and friendly. The countryside is beautiful and there are some places like Merthyr Mawr sand dunes that are as stunning and unspoilt as anywhere we have been.

From my visit previous visit to NZ, I know that we will feel the same way about our new South Pacific home.

We had a fantastic last night with Gill, Mark, Van, Megan and Ffion. There are some photos below. Please note that we do not advocate your child dressing like this to go to the Spar!

Just over 12 hours to go until the plane takes off. Its peculiar that I haven't really been excited about going for a couple of weeks. I think it is the amount of graft that has gone into the preparations and the stress when our plans went awry.

It will be very hard to say goodbye today. We are so close to each other and I know we will all miss each other very much.

Still we will see everyone through the miracle of Skype. If you are not on already, get yourself a webcam and look for "kevinandloo"

Also we will be accepting bookings for the guest room from after Christmas! (Jack and Beth, have already booked Christmas) So save those airmiles and pennies and get yourself down under.

I can hear my hungover wife calling pitifully from the bedroom, I think I need to administer some tea!

I will get Molly to post an entry from the airport later.


Hwyl Fawr,
Kevin.