Back to school

We have been having a play with Google analytics for a couple of months now, and its nice to see that there are on average 400 visitors each week having a read of this blog in over 30 different countries. So hello to everyone!!

We are settling back into our routine now that the mad busy spell is just about over at the Mount. Yesterday was Waitingi Day which is a bank holiday to mark the anniversary of the Maori leaders being coerced into signing the treaty to asign their lands to the British before the French came. The nice weather is holding out this year and so we had a very busy day.

Most of the schools have started their new terms now and Georgia had her big day of starting Intermediate school on Monday. She was a bit nervous and arranged to meet her friend at the gates so they could go in together. As usual though, the best laid plans don't always come off and they were waiting at different gates! After waiting a few minutes Georgia asked if I would go in with her. I was a bit surprised at this as I would have been mortified if my Mam had come with me on my first day at secondary school but of course I was happy to go in with her. We soon saw some friends in the yard from her junior school looking just as nervous so we hung around with them chatting until the bell went. It is on occasions like that that you realise how family orientated New Zealand is. There was no embarassment from the children that their parents were with them and I was quite surprised to see lots of parents standing in the yard with the pupils.

Well, anyway, her first day was a huge success, she loved it and couldnt wait to go back. She said her teacher was old but really cool. Everything is new and exciting with a trip to an adventure park next week then camp for three days at the end of the month. She even doesn't mind the uniform and clumpy school shoes now.!