Finally Got Our Boy's Settled In The British Army...

Finally we are a lot closer to emigrating to NZ now our boys have chosen a life in the the British Army !! We can now concentrate on the finishing touches of our lives and a career in the RNZAF, we travelled to ITC Catterick in Yorkshire for a family day which involved most of the family members taking part in one or more of the trade stands they set up. Basically they make it easier for you to understand how your sons 24 weeks in soldering skills are broken down, things have even moved on for me in the 21st Century since I was in the Armed Forces, they now have a chance at honing their skills in the (DCCT) Dismounted Close Combat Trainer. For those of us who are not worthy to ever have the chance to play on one, this system has now replaced the small arms trainer and is basically a Virtual Classroom but giving you the chance to play with the real Mc'oy the SA80 (B) all the action of the ranges with actions that feel the same but saving on ammunition with no ejection of a real round. In the 4 weeks our boys have been adopted by Her Majesty's Forces they have conquered where most parents tend to fail getting their point acroos "Getting them to listen" The Army have achieved that, and we can now settle and have peace of mind for the moment that they will achieve a great deal and become better people for sense of their own achievements. They have made us proud so far and will go on and achieve great moments in their lives and we do hope they get time to read this post wherever they are sometime in there training. Hopefully down the NAAFI having a few beers, They have so much to learn and this they will and we are grateful that the Army have agreed to fly them home to NZ for Christmas so we can be together again even if it is for such a short while, we are so proud of you boys and keep in contact with your trainers with your progress throughout the week. Now its time to travel down to London and Dad's turn to Attest in the RNZAF which is Monday with seven others who are also going out on the same date with others to follow. Its been a busy year with lots happening but at least the biggest hurdle was getting two boys settled knowing what careers they wanted and now that is done !! Take boys see you at Christmas.

PSS International Removals

Finally the men from PSS arrive and do a grand job over two days packing and wrapping and loading onto a 20ft container seabound for Auckland and with an arrival date of 08th October which even beats our arrival date by one day. So fingers crossed and hopefully no horror stories as were told by the driver who loaded our container onto the articulated lorry bound for Southampton, the unlucky customers who's container ends up on top of the freight ship are more than likely ever to see said contents ever again due to rough seas and percentage of containers end up on the sea bed floor due to roll off and spillage due to rough seas.

Not the conversation you need on a wet and blustery day, and money spend overseeing your worthy goods packed into some ISO container and sealed to potentially meet its fate on some seabed floor due to severe gales somewhere en-route to the southern hemisphere. Oh well all our worthy goods in the lap of the gods no doubt see you on the other side........

Having done this journey once before back in 2003 and I hear you say out loud they should be used to all this packing malarky, you are so wrong I can tell you !! How can you miss the lawnmower grass box ?? We did and it now resides in the garden shed screaming to be attached to the body of a Flymo but alas this will never happen...... I could always try and flog it on Ebay I suppose. How could I also forget the BBQ gas bottle that had been carefully purged of gas beforehand and certificate obtained for MAF.... This too sadly resides in my garden shed with only the Flymo grass box to keep it company day and night, so let that be a lesson amongst you avid BBQ fans amongst us, what good is a Gas BBQ without its sole mate "The Gas Bottle".