All's quiet on the southern front. Things are settling into something like a normal pattern here now, no major news or adventure to report, just day to day stuff. We've been biking into work for a few weeks now, it's a pretty nice ride along the river bank for most of the way, avoiding the traffic. Malc's work is really well equipped for it, with a bike lockup just round the corner and a shower in the office.

The weather is behaving a bit like a typical English spring, with wild swings from boiling hot to pouring rain. One thing that is really starting to kick in is the infamous Canturbury 'Nor-wester' wind. This is a foehn wind, like the Chinook wind in the US. As the wind comes accross the Alps from the west it looses all it's moisture, and heats up as it descends down to Canterbury. It's hard to describe what its like, the wind is very strong and gusty but really warm and dry. We found ourselves sat outside in it at 9.30pm the other night with shorts and t-shirts on.

Last weekend was pretty good fun. We had a surprise visit from Dan and Clare on Sunday as they had decided to go on a last minute trip to LA to see Dan's mum. They flew from Nelson to Christchurch and then had all day to wait for their international flight, so we took them around a few of the sights and then dropped them back at the airport. Then Sunday night was the city fireworks display off the New Brighton pier. It was another of these surreal, out of season experiences, sitting on the beach in a t-shirt watching the fireworks. Pretty awesome display, and we were really gratefull to be locals and not have to sit in the traffic for 2 hours aftwerwards.

The arrival of Annies mum (or 'Nana-geddon' as it has become known) is on us this weekend, and the week after we are taking a week off to do some travelling, looking forward to being tourists again.

Thanks for reading, check back soon!