Hi all, sorry we haven't blogged much from Oz. It has been a busy time catching up with lots of friends & family. We have posted a link to our facebook photos so you can see some new pictures of Peter. You can see them here.

Will try to write more soon.

Tom, Peter & I have made it safely to Oz. The flight went well with Peter happily eating, sleeping and smiling at passengers nearby.  The stewardesses were all really nice and helpful.

We spent most of our first day back at the local shoping centre doing some admin things and meeting up with friends. The shopping centre is the most amazing place in the entire world at the moment. The wide spaces to walk and the consideration for those with prams/babies is incredible compared to what we are used to. There are amazing baby/parent rooms with change tables, tvs, places to sit and so much more! Much different from trying to change Peter holding him in midair because there is no place to set him down.

The supermarket is also the most amazing place. The variety, the smell of the fresh food, the fresh bread and the ease to buy things is great. The meat section is also AMAZING!

A woman approached me while I was looking at baby things and randomly started talking to me about how it was so hot today (Maybe 21C). I didn't really know how to respond seeing how it is still 26C at night in HK so I smiled and nodded. Really a different world!

It was great to catch up with some old friends and we even ran into Katrina, who works with us in HK and just also happens to be back in town. Small world!

The three of us are heading to Sydney Wednesday morning. We hope to see many of you who are in the area. Hard to believe it has been almost a year since we left. More to come from Oz.

As I write this Tom is hopefully to his final destination in the US. He has headed to the US for a week to attend a special IT (nerd) conference. It should be a good time and a chance for him to network with other IT managers and people working with the same heart. He flew into Newark and is on his way to Indiana.

We have just finished uploading all of our US trip photos. While we were in Santa Barbara we got to head to the Zoo which wasn't the largest but they seemed to make up for size with strangeness of animals. Below you see the Capebera, the largest rodent in the world along with an ant eater, an equally quiant animal.

After another 14 hour flight from San Francisco, Tom and I arrived home to our HK family. We have spent the past 2 days unpacking and trying to get over jet lag. (waking up at 1am sure we have slept the entire night isn't too fun!) Our new home is great and we will put up photos soon once its a bit more in order.

Yesterday we went to a local village where there really aren't any "gweilos" (foreigners) and sat down in a little restaurant. You could almost hear the gasp & fear as they debated who should attempt to speak to us. Finally a customer & her three children came over and asked in cantonese if we could understand her. She was relieved when I said "yes a little" and then we ordered what we wanted. Her kids were very impressed and gave the thumbs up for our ability. It really makes me want to learn more to really be able to communicate and to understand what is being said.

Today I went to the larger area of Tuen Mun to get some things. Again very few foreigners and no english. I did pass another "gweilo" family and thought "wow, they sure do stand out!" I then had to remind myself that I am just the same!

Tom has already been put straight to work and they are rejoicing the Mr IT man is back on site. I will start work next week by working with a good friend who is the PA to one of our directors. (It was actually the first job I had when I came in 2000) I am looking forward to doing this for the next 3 weeks until another person comes full time to take over.

Thanks again to all our wonderful friends in the US who let us stay with them, fed us, drove us around, listened to our stories and took time to hang out with us. The invitation is still open to come and visit. Just email us and let us know!

Tonight we were out driving, it is really -10 here. This is the temperature gauge in the car:

Today I went to my old highschool so say hello to a few of my teachers who have become good friends over the years. I arrived at the front doors to find them all locked. Once let in I went to the office and was told the school is now and will continue to be on complete lockdown. ie: No visitors allowed in and definitely no wandering through the school. It is in response to the shootings earlier this week and I understand the need for security as a result but it was an odd feeling to not even be able to look at the photos on the wall of my graduating class because that was in the off limits area. I was thankful that I was let in for a short time to visit one friend but left reflecting on how much the world has changed in the 11 years since I left school. It definitely is a different world for this small town.

This is our view out the back window of where we are staying when it's not snowing or raining ice. This big white one is Pikes peak.

We have finally arrived in the US after almost a full day and a half of travelling. The temperature has plummeted since our arrival, we are now witnessing the start of the next ice age. The temperature has dropped consistantly below zero and we are slowly freezing.

Here are a few of the hightlights:

Hello all. we have now uploaded our photos of New Zealand which can be found in our photos page.

Here's a few of the highlights:

Tom & I have now arrived in Colorado. The current temp is 0 degrees C and it is raining ice. (You can hear it hit the ground!)

Our first outings today included a big American breakfast and a trip to Walmart. We are now at home staying warm. We look forward to seeing all our friends & family here in the next few weeks.

Photos will come soon. Tom is uploading some as I write.

With only 4 minutes left on the public internet I will make this short. Had a great day yesterday travelling across the island. Even met some people from Colorado! It was exciting.

We depart for Colorado in the morning. Will take 3 flights and over 24 hours I think to get there. Will be good to see all of you in the US!

Goodbye from NZ!

Tom and I made it to NZ after a smooth 3 hour flight. Actually the whole departure went much smoother than expected. Our apt was packed and cleaned and we had some time to just sit and reflect on everything rather than a mad rush to the end.

Today Tom is presenting his thesis topic at this IT conference in Christchurch. Actually he should have just finished.

I have spent my day walkig the city seeing the sights. We are staying next to a big beautiful botanic garden as well as this really cool oldstone university.

Culture shock:

Well it took me a while to come to grips with the differences between Americans and Australians but I have had to start again. I went to Subway for lunch today and couldn't understand a word the girl said to me. I tried to answer her questions but by her face I could tell it wasn't the right response.

I then went to a cool coffee shop in an old house. I orderd a dessert and a coffee. She said "do you want that in a bowl?" Trying to sound as if I knew the lingo I said yep that would be fine.

A few minutes later she brought out the biggest coffee i have ever seen in a bowl! A big bowl! I said "wow, that's huge" to which she replied "yes its in a bowl." Oh well so much for fitting in. =)

Tomorrow I am getting on a train to cross the island on the transalpine railway. It looks really cool. Google it if you are interested. It wil take 5 hours each way but I think its a good way to see the countryside.

Well I am off to meet Tom after his big day. Will be in touch soon.

I have been having lots of weird dreams lately. Most of them relate to travel to somewhere else and a lot of boxes swirling around me.

Last night I had a dream that we were moving to South America and it was such a stressful, hectic time. And also in my dream it was more stressful because all of a sudden someone told me that I had to go there and redirect all our boxes and everything. I wake up relieved that we are only moving to HK!

Another dream involved me going on a big backpacking trip around Asia & Europe and returning to Sydney only 2 days before departure. It was all a bit stressful trying to organise this as well in my dream.

It sure has made reality seem a bit easier and something that we can actually accomplish!

Tom and I are now both back in Oz and gearing up for the final 8 weeks of our time here. It is definitely going to be a busy time and quite a run to the finish. 7 weeks of work, every weekend booked with different events and celebrating both Thanksgiving and Christmas in November!

If you are in Oz, please contact us if you would like to catch up before we leave. If you are in the US, please contact us because we would love to see you in Dec. If you are in HK, we look forward to being back with you there in Jan! For all our friends in other countries/parts of the world, we would love to see you too and hope that one day we will make it closer to where you are. Until then feel free to come and visit us in HK! =)

Tuesday night here. We have made it through the days of wedding celebration & preparation for the big day which was yesterday (Oct 1). All  went really well although we were all completely exhausted by the end. Will be putting photos up later but for now you can have a look at this website for a few. http://www.deejenwhiz.com/photos  You might notice that the bridesmaids all look quite different. Thats because we are wearing wigs to fit in to the cultures we are representing in our outfits. My dress in an Indian style (apparently the "in" fashion at the moment) I still can't get over looking at myself and wondering who that person is!

Tom departs for Oz tomorrow night and I leave on Saturday. It has been an encouraging time and has helped us remember why we are returning to this place.

Tom and I have only been in HK for two days helping to prepare for our friends' wedding on Oct 1. We are completelt exhausted after 2 FULL days of work. It is hot (29+ degrees C) and humid. I had forgotten how much you can sweat in this place and its not even summer!

Just a few random thoughts before I fall over asleep.

You know you're not in Kansas anymore when the guy next to you on the plane eats his salad with chopsticks!

Did you know you can be in the shower and sweat at the same time?

A good cold shower so appreciated and longed for in a warm country such as this.

It feels so good to be "home" in this place.

Chinese Iced coffee is the best drink in the world (ok well its really good)

We've often found that attacks come in different ways trying to get us down.

Some of you may have heard that we are actualy heading to HK on Wed to participate in our friend's wedding. I am a bridesmaid so it is important we get there. =) Thankfully our tickets were covered by some generous donations specifically for this purpose.  A few days ago I received  a call telling me that somehow my seat on the plane was not booked and I couldn't get on the flight. This is pretty crazy seeing how the airline had the money and my name on the system but for some reason it was gone. So, to make a long story short, Tom & I are now booked on seperate airlines departing at exactly the same time! Thankfully there were still seats on a plane to get me there!

Yesterday as I worked on the CRI accounts for Oz my computer shut down and the hard drive died. I couldn't believe it! Thankfully the information is recoverable and being married to an IT nerd is a great help in these situations.

When so many things like this happen it makes us stand guard and prepare to stand against any of those "fiery darts" of the enemy. Please be thinking of us as it is pretty clear he's not happy with us going to HK.

Thought you might like to see some photos from our weekend trip to visit Sam, Tom's brother.

Tom fighting the angry goose. (The goose actually attacked him and tried to bite his shoe)

Sam, Tom & Christy

Tom & Christy with the yellow plane

This was at a plane museum where all these old planes still fly. Some weekends they have all the planes out flying around. Alas we missed that weekend.

The fields are bright yellow with canola. It was beautiful!