The engagement!

On holiday in Santorini in the Greek Islands Mike proposed (and Gel said yes). Here are some pics of the momentous event.

Sunset in Oia

Me on rock beforehand

The ring!

Us after

Night at the Waxworks - Mme Tussauds

In celebration of academic achievements by the College I work for, we were thrown a party at Mme Tussauds and had the place to ourselves for the night! It was great fun, although tricky after a few drinks to recognise who was a waxwork and who wasn't . . .

A UK wedding

In November we got invited to the wedding of a guy I work with. It was freezing, but other than that a lovely day. The ceremony was in their local cathedral, which was beautiful, and the reception at a country house/barn.

Amsterdam

Last weekend I went to Amsterdam with a bunch of other kiwis. It was great fun - so much to do and see, and the weather even stayed dry most of the time! On the Sunday we went for a bike ride through the country in the sun and met the crazy farmer who runs the clog and cheese farm. Charming man.

Alicante

We went to Alicante in the south of Spain to get some sun and escape the dismal English weather.

Kidney Research 10K walk

A couple of weeks ago a group of us from work went on a fundraising walk for Kidney Research (I know, I'm such a doer). Unfortunately, the day of the 10k turned out to be a wet one, so it was a long walk in the rain. Well, it's all for charity isn't it.

Here's me near the Globe Theatre, and the team from BPP (minus the photographer).

Majorca

Mike has been looking for a new job for a while. I got a bit bored waiting to go on holiday, so went with a few girls from NZ for a long weekend to Majorca. While it was raining and pretty cold here in the UK, it was 30+ degrees in Majorca. We spent most of the 3 days laying round in the sun on the beach or by the pool. It was awesome. I also had a wee go at driving on the continent (that is, on the right hand side of the road, in the left hand side of the car!). It wasn't as hard as I thought it might be, although judging where the curb on the right hand side was proved to be tricky once or twice (lucky there were no cars around at that stage!).

Here are a few pics from Majorca. As you can see - beautiful beaches, hot sunny weather, everything the UK was lacking at the time. We did manage to fit in a trip to some caves, a boat ride (which ended up nowhere - long story) and a couple of nights out, one with the Jackson 5.

End of season netball do and Race for Life

This weekend we had our end of season netball do at a bar in town. Loads of fun!!!

A couple of weekends ago we did the Race for Life in Hampstead Heath. Here's the team.

Work dos

My work netball team hasn't had a lot of success on the court, but that doesn't mean we can't have fun in the pub! We've been out for a few post-match drinks during the season.

Also, our captain Cathy left to move to the States (noooo!). Here are some pics from her leaving drinks (sob!).

Netball Brean tour
In May my netball club went on a tour to Brean in Somerset. We stayed in cabins, played lots of netball, and dressed up for a 'school daze' party on the Saturday night. Such a shame it was cancelled on the Sunday morning because of torrential rain!

Motorbiking adventures

Pics from motorbiking trips and Gel's new leather jacket!

Barcelona

Not long after I got back from NZ Mike and I went to Barcelona for a long weekend.


Gel in guard post on top of Montjuic - Castell de Montjuic



Gel in front of National Art Museum in Parc de Montjuic

Mike in front of Sagrada Familia

Gel's trip home part 4 - saying goodbye

On Chrissie and Aps' last day we went to Day's Bay for a picnic.

We went out to dinner on my last night, and then some of the family came to the airport to say goodbye. No one cried. Honest.

Gel's trip home part 3 - my adorable niece

I finally got to meet my niece (and god daughter) while I was home. We spent lots of time together going to play centre, music group and supermarket shopping. Her dad was very good at sharing and I even got to babysit a couple of times (well sort of anyway). She is very spoilt (but that's not her fault) and she made it very hard to come back to the UK.