Hi fisheress,

Welcome back! No way is your report too long - we all love to hear how you are getting on (and anyway, you should look back to the length of some of mine. :icon_rolleyes: ).

Glad to hear you are settling down, though it is taking time ... when you think about it, starting a new life will take time as you have to rebuild your friends/acquaintence network that has taken years to develop in the UK, as well as getting used to differences between NZ and the UK. Once your network grows, and your knowledge and experience of living in NZ grows, I am sure your confidence will. 'Chilling out' and accepting the differences certainly helps.

Know what you mean about school camps. :icon_rolleyes: You were lucky you [i:c8d7406a91]had[/i:c8d7406a91] a bus. In our case, the kids had to be driven, or boated, by parents - those that were not working provided transport and/or stayed on the camp supervising the kids. The stuff we had to provide too!

Also know what you mean about the safety of our kids - my eldest would not even go into town alone in the UK; here he is more than happy to do so. If crime is the same here as in the UK, as some reports would led us to believe, it certainly does not feel like it.

You know what you will have to do next - change your 'location' on your message profile(!)

:icon_biggrin: