Happy Birthday !!!!

Hi there Grandma !!!!


Just wanted to wish you a wonderful birthday , from way down under on Waitangi Day .....









Lots of love and speak to you soon

Reece & Sian xxxx

Big Day Out Special

Hi there everyone .... This little blog is dedicated to the weekend and the Big Day Out at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland - so no piccies of the little uns this time around although they did protest at not being able to come - "we're big enough to see the Prodigy dad !" - not bad for a 6 yr old - hmm ... let me think that one through again ...

Well the weather was there for us, the 40,000 who turned out were in great spirits and the line up was more varied than I could recall for years. The scene was set for what would turn out to be one of the best BDO events for years ….

Here’s a few snippets I took from the day and some little awards that I came up with ….. Things did get a bit more blurry as the as the day unfolded, so bear with me if some of it sounds a bit vague :)

First band up I saw was a new one for me “An Emerald City”, who took to the stage with their all seeing eye in tow - see what I mean. An Auckland 6 piece as the programme stated (glad they told me) felt very Celtic / Hippie to me ..would never of guessed they hailed from NZ shores … very infectious… A wonderful start and it wasn’t even mid-day.














So, where to now ..... I moseyed on over to the Green stage to catch Salford’s favourite garage pop duo of the moment - the Ting Tings . Katie White was in fine voice - :“This is our first gig in New Zealand” received very warm applause. A tight 45 min set with very energetic renditions of "Shut Up and Let Me Go" and “That’s not my name” capped things off a treat. Should be interesting to see what they come up with next after such a great 1st Album …. The North West of England did themselves proud.













Moving on. Ok..1st award up for the Biggest Surprise of the Day …and this goes to Pendulum. 3.30pm slot on the main stage isn't exactly what you would call a prime position ..... what happened will go down as a Big day Out "Remember when" moment ..... the crowd was the biggest of the whole day beating the headline acts that came later, 1000's of sun drenched fans punching the air and stretching all the way back to the hill at the other end of the stadium (I was there, sat in the beer area! - great spectacle - pretty good beer as well) ... I have never seen it like that before . Seems that the idea of dance anthems with live musicians is a bit of the trend this year ...and it works.










Here's a snippet to give you a birds eye view of the proceedings - can you spot the tribute to The Prodigy?? - more of which to come ....

After the energy of Pendulum , TV on the Radio really had a hard act to follow - they accounted for themselves rather well. Just couldn't help but thinking how much better they would have been if they had been on one of the smaller stages - would have had far more impact me thinks ... anyway time for a change so it was off my backside and over to the Boiler room to catch Zane Lowe who many of you would know as a Top Radio 1 DJ - + he is from Auckland, so he was playing to his home crowd if you like. Not bad ...particularly liked the mix of "smells like teen spirit" by Nirvanna ..... showing my age yet ?:)

It was the next act , Simian Mobile Disco that I was most looking foward to and they didn't dissapoint - "The Hustler" was one of my favourite tracks of 2008. As you can see lots of blue and smoke :)

They were also responsible for the ringing I still have going on in my ears - couple of moments when I thought this is a bit much (then again more signs of old age?)



Get your walking shoes on, as it was back over to the main stage to see the pride of Sheffield (No, not Sheffield United) but the Artic Monkeys .... who, I've got to be honest just didn't do it for me today. Trying several new songs is never a good idea when the majority of the audience will more than likely just have a general appreciation of you - do the odd one or leave it to your own tour. As a result they took a while to settle down and get aquainted - things certainly picked up though when the favourites got an airing ..... all in all not convinced they have got the sound it takes to command the main stage. ah well.....

I always thought of Auckland crowds as pretty straight - had to re assess my views a wee bit based on the fashionistas that turned out today. Particularly liked the fella dressed as a green giraffe and loved the guy that looked straight out of easy rider (see below) - on second thoughts I reckon he dresses like this every day - great if you can get away with it ….BTW - the T-shirt he had on was Elmo from Sesame street.












It all went so fast . So to the finale …. There was lots of talk before the day about whether or not Neil Young belonged at the Big Day Out - as it happened all the doubters where wrong and it proved a bit of masterstroke by the organisers. I’m not a big fan myself and didn’t catch the whole thing but what I did see was brilliant …. “Rocking In the Free World” and the Beatles cover “ A Day in the life” was a fitting end to the show on the main stage…..
















Right next door in the Boiler Room it couldn’t have been more different ….. Apparently the crowd was 20-30 deep outside the big top tent all craning their necks to get a glimpse of the commotion coming from inside ……we were sweltering about 25m from the stage - all to witness 1997/98 revisited - The Prodigy reborn , Keith Flint mad as ever and the noise just went through you - yes, they played Firestarter and we all sang along .... it was all a bit mental really and left me hanging out for the trip home ..... thoroughly tired out.....














So to round up, all in all a fantastic day - best $125 I will spend all year ……. No trouble to speak of as well , really nice crowd as these things go .... Looking forward to next year already !!

Hope u enjoyed the read ....... :) P

Hi everyone ……… Hope your 2009 is starting well !!

Couldn’t believe the last update was way back in November ….

The Hughes household has been pretty active over the last few months ..new year sort of crept up on us really … it all started in November when mum and dad made their second trip of the year down under (very impressive….) chasing the sun. I had set the scene that it would be chucking down with rain, albeit cold and blustery ; totally wrong on my part - summer came early ….













A mammoth 24hr + trip all the way from the UK and no sooner had they arrived at Auckland airport then a few days later I had us on a plane down to Queenstown in the South Island (Sian, Reece and Debs left holding the fort)…. It was well worth it. Had never been before - don’t know why I left it so long ..its up there in the top places we have been to anywhere in the world …I know dad was impressed. I'd also forgotten what a lord of the rings fan I was, scenes were filmed all around this area … actually became a bit of a “ you know that scene from x was filmed here “ nerd - all good fun though.






























To top it all the All blacks were staying in our hotel … so I think mum and dad had a few stories to take back. Strange in a way as their presence was low key compared to the mania when Beckham came to town ..!! Sir David and his LA Galaxy played an exhibition game in Auckland vs an Oceania all stars team. The standard of the teams was a bit questionable - certainly wouldn’t want to watch the Galaxy week in week out - tactics are dead simple …get the ball , give it Beckham !! It was great fun though …..

Xmas and New year was spent split between Auckland , Papamoa and Rotorua - a bit of variety from City to Beach to geysers & mud pools ! Reece and Sian had a blast - think we have a budding boogie boarder in our midst….my job is just making sure I keep up and hoping Deb doesn’t freak when Reece catches the big ones - not easy …





































No January update would be the same without reference to the annual biggest music event to hit NZ - the Big day out …. a real mix this year …a few new bands to check out but it’s the headlining Neil Young that’s got the tongues wagging !! Should shift the age of the crowd up a few decades at any road to make me feel more at home :) Personally I’m looking forward to the Ting Tings and the Prodigy ….















Anyway wanted to keep it relatively brief ….have a great start of the year ……

:) P - a final word from the xmas Angel - Happy new year !!!

happy birthday grandad!!

happy birthday Grandad ......21 today !!!

see you soon

love Reece and Sian :) XX

The clocks go forwards ..............

Hi everyone

Well summer is officially here ! The clocks changed last weekend …… so just thought I would let you know we are now exactly 12hrs ahead of the UK, 20hrs ahead of Los Angeles and Vancouver …. And a good old 3hrs ahead of Sydney ……now all we need is the weather to go with it - although to be fair we have a good week….

So, a bit of a milestone is fast approaching , no not my birthday - it’s 2 more months and we will have been here 4 years - must have a bit of celebration - especially when you consider that when we embarked on the this little adventure Deb and I made a commitment to 2 years irrespective of the ups and downs that might come up…. Not sure where all the time has gone - The fact we have 2 pommies and now 2 kiwis in the family probably explains some of the blur …..

What’s in the news down here you mayask ? Well if you cast aside all the column inches dedicated to the financial mess in the US the main thing here is the General election coming up - on Nov 8th . Going to be a tricky one I think. On one level you have a nation feeling that we need change , on the other hand you have a national party (read conservative) in the last few weeks that have dropped some real gaffs that suggest you just can’t trust a word they say behind the glossy billboard advertising. ..... The only other option worth considering is the Greens - which given that we will more than likely have a coalition govt wouldn’t be a wasted vote; they have about 6% of the vote in NZ which is significant enough to influence some policies ….. Their campaign certainly says it all (see below). Couldn’t imagine Gordon Brown or the Mr Cameron with such slogans ….. Quite refreshing …….

Not sure If I told you but I am in training at the moment for the Auckland Ocean Swim. There is a series that runs around the country through the summer months - so I signed up for the 1st one on Nov 16th - its 2.8km across the harbour which works out at about the equivalent of 112 lengths of a 25M pool …. Should be interesting as I reckon I’m a half decent swimmer but I have certainly never swum this far …. - had one nervous moment when I realised I had entered a time of 1hr 15 mins to complete the swim , and then realised I didn‘t have the faintest idea as to how long it would really take me. I'm glad to report that I should make it.

Last thing I wanted was to be the bloke that was pulled out of the water by the rescue boat and televised on the TV3 news !!! - have to confess it took a bit of persuading Deb , she was convinced I was going end up as shark food or like one of the seals that those killer whales “play” with on those David Attenborough docos (Orcas are relatively common in these parts) ….finally mangled to persuade her it was ok and my life insurance covered it ! …last fatal attack was 1920 anyway !!

Reece has just started school holidays this weekend so its day trips for the next 2 weeks - top of the list so we have just been told is 1) The Farm 2) The Zoo to see the baby tigers with Sian 3)The jungle (read the bush) to hunt for dinosaurs …..

Speaking of the Bush ….News today is that where we live “the Waitakeres’, has achieved national heritage status which is another way of saying that extra policies are now in place to protect the natural area that we live in - limiting roads and new housing projects that damage the natural bush - doesn’t sound much I know but this campaign has been running a number of years so to get this status will no doubt have some people dancing in the streets (sorry leafy forest footpaths !)

Anyway …that about does it for this instalment …. take care everyone …… let us know what your upto …..:)

Before I go though this little update wouldn’t be complete with our mention of Liverpool and the fact the are joint top of the league - staying up late at the weekend to watch Torres put Everton out their misery was a joy to watch …after me everyone Torres Torres Torres !!!!

A Day off at last..............................

Hi everyone

I finally managed to take a day off from work recently (was planning on a ski break but the windy weather conspired against me).... not to worry though the alternative gave me an opportuntity to get the camera out and head out to the west coast about 25-30mins from Auckland....so backpack & boots and a 4 hr walk later ....

I thought you might be interested in some of the photos I took - all around Piha beach and into the bush of the Waitakeres....

Hope you you like em :) P

Spring is on its way ...maybe

Hi everyone

Another little note from down under that hopefully finds you all well, just as the kiwis (and pommies) are looking forward to spring ......... been a while since we have let you know how the little un's are doing , so what better way to start..... Reece is cracking along at school .... had our second parents evening the other week and all seems like he's doing well. Reading is really improving which gives dad a rest as now Reece can read me stories after 5 years of the other way around!. Wait a sec ...... Reece is sat next to me and asked me if he could share his favourites with you :)

Favourite Team - Liverpool. (Reece did ask me who Man Utd was so I felt I had to introduce him to the concepts of what's right and what really is just plain wrong :))
Favourite Colour : Red
Favourite Band : U2
Favourite Animal: Lion
Favorite TV Prog: Ben10

Latest thing he is picking up at school is Maori - impresses me and Deb , as all we know is Kiora and Harea Mae.....little clip enclosed.





Sian has just started to go to Kindy a few days a week so a big event really .... she appears to be enjoying things so far.In the next few months it will be more of a full time thing .... have included a few piccies taken the last week or so .... glad to report both of them are getting on really well and compliment each other - even defend each other when one of them has been upto no good :)!


Anyway was just a short one - ta ta for now

:)P