We made it!!!

Hi, my name is Fiona and I am a first time bogger....and this is our story, so far.

What a journey just to set foot in Switzerland.

After months of preparation, planning and packing, and a huge amount of help from friends and family we arrived with our lives stuffed into three large bags and a bike box (which finally arrived by taxi 24 hours after us). The kids and I certainly wouldn’t have made our flight without the help of Nicky, Andrew and Jr frantically repacking things to juggle the weight limit.

All our flights passed without any dramas and with short transit times we had nothing to complain about. The staff on our Air New Zealand legs could not have been more helpful and made my life that little bit easier travelling 36 hours with Jack and Jess in toe.



It was only after Gerry had text us from Invercargill that we realised we were on the All Black plane.  So we used our transit stop off in L.A to appreicate it in all her glory.

The kids were even offered to help hand out the lollies upon decending  into London. Jack had managed to stay awake for most of the flight…till it was lolly time, then he crashed and burned. Neither Jess or I could wake him. The bag of treats  snuck into his seat pocket made up for the disappointment.

It was so nice seeing Tim through glass doors while we waited for our luggage to arrive in Geneva. Unfortunately we had to wait another hour before we could reunite due to the bike box not arriving and a mix up with the baggage claim office.

The kids were over the moon to finally wrap their arms around their dad. Not a very common scenario to have Tim waiting at an airport to pick us up. Rene and Vera, Swiss friends who we met in 2001 were also waiting patiently to greet us into their homeland…and as backup in case Tim didn’t make it to pick us up. So very thoughtful of them and such a nice surprise to see them again.

Tim had organised us a fantastic wee apartment up in Leysin for the week we are here before we hit the road for Belgium and France. The kids slept all the way from Geneva to Leysin (1hr 30min in rush hour and rain) and crashed out again not long after we made it to the apartment. 12 hours sleep in a bed made such a difference.

Tim and I celebrated our arrival with a bottle of gold medal winning Yvorne Tradition wine. Just like on the last night six years ago when we were packing up to leave Switzerland for New Zealand.

Our first mission here was to purchase a car. Tim had done a large amount of research on line and had narrowed the hunt down to two cars both about an hour away. We headed off for Neuchatel first thing on day one and took the Sliver Subaru Outback for a spin. Less than an hour later our new purchase was signed sealed and delivered. Not that things are usually completed so easily here. We still needed to get the number plates, insurance and a type of W.O.F done all before we could use the car. We came up with a new game plan and managed to drive the car back to Leysin using the dealers plate which poor old Tim had to return very early the next morning before work.

 After 2 days of sitting nude with no plates in the apartment lot we were up and running like locals. Phew.

We have also had our first 'what the..???' moment when Jess poked her head out of a public toilet asking "how on earth do you use this loo?"

That was a wee surprise for her.

The kids are enrolled in the local french school for two weeks intensive french before the end of term, this of course is after a few weeks of intensive sight seeing through France and Belgium.  Once school kicks off again after the summer hoidays they will be doing french lessons in the morning and intergrating into their small classes of 15 or so pupils after lunch till their vocaulary is up to scratch.

Leysin itself seems like a very friendly wee town with a large amount of English speakers. We have had the pleasure of meeting Mick, Sara, Leilani (5) and Sequoia (4) whose apartment we will be taking over in late July. What a lovely family. We are so greatful how everything has fallen into place. They brought their apartment 12 years ago and have managed extensive renovations using good old kiwi ingunity and a bit of 'it's not what you know but who'. The views are simply stunning overlooking the village and 180 degrees of mountain ranges and rolling Swiss pastures.