Christchurch!

It's very cold here. For all their green-ness, Kiwis seem to have completely missed the revolution that is insulation. Or central heating.

Anyway, that aside things are going pretty well. R and I made our way down here from Hopewell, where we've spent May being super-cleaners. Not a hard task when the place is nearly empty most of the time, so that meant we got to spend a lot of time in front of the log fire. Oh yes indeedy. And baking (see previous post).

We came down via Hamner Springs, which is a thermal resort. There's something wonderful about going for a walk in the crisp coldness and then spending the afternoon/early evening soaking in hot pools. Top it off with a tasty dinner and some lovely wine, and you've got a perfect weekend.

Now, though, it's time to get job hunting and looking for a place to live. Currently we're at R's cousin's place, which is cool but we're thinking that a bit more independence would be good. However, flat-shares are much cheaper, so who knows. Depends on what kind of jobs we get, I suppose.

In other news, today was the day of blood tests and things to decide whether I actually have developed lactose intolerance. Crippling stomach pains at the orchard (when we were eating a lot of yoghurt, milk and cheese) would suggest so, as would the fact that the pains have stopped since I've cut down on those foods. In any case, I'll find out early next week whether I'll have to give up cheese for good (sniff).

And that's that, for now. Off to get CVs updated (our apple-picking credentials might land us that perfect job) and then get them sent to temp agencies, so that they can ignore us in favour of actual Kiwis... I'm so optimistic!