auchmeddan

For the first time since January, Jules will be in paid employment as of tomorrow. Hooray!!

Jules working will not just have an impact on us, but also on the pair of ducks that live around our apartment block. Jules has been feeding them bread and muesli every day, and I think they have come to expect these regular handouts now. We spotted them outside this morning hanging around the grounds and when we opened our kitchen window to throw some bread out we almost ended up with the female in our kitchen. I guess she was hungry since she flew up to us as soon as she realised food was on it’s way.

We’ve also finally got around to uploading a few photos of our apartment today. They are available here.

For now, here’s a photo of me playing the Xbox 360 on our lovely 50″ TV.

We finally have broadband access at home again! Hooray!

Not having internet at home is incredibly hard for me, especially as very restrictive policies at work mean I can’t check personal email there.

We will start updating the blog and responding to emails again shortly.

I start work on Tuesday for Axon Computer Systems in Wellington, and We found an apartment near George and Emma which we move into this weekend. We went out yesterday and bought some essentials for the place - fridge, bed, etc. It’s the first time we’ve owned furniture since 2000, so it was a strange experience to be in a store choosing appliances, especially since we took out Credit for some of the appliances (which is shockingly easy to get).

We’ll update some photos once we move in.

After 4 flights (two of which were delayed) and around 40+ hours of travel we arrived safely in New Zealand yesterday. We’re both a little tired, jet-lagged, and still getting our heads around the fact this is not a vacation, but so far things are OK and we feel fine.

Now we need to get down to the serious stuff of finding jobs, a place to live, and starting this new life properly. Fortunately, we have George and Emma here to help guide us in this. It certainly makes things easier.

Having been among the last people on Earth to read “The Da Vinci Code” I was very interested when Jules suggested we take a trip out to Rosslyn Chapel before we we left. Jules, my mum, and myself headed out there this week and spent a fascinating couple of hours wandering around and taking pictures. The Chapel isn’t a large building, but it has so many points of interest and incredible carvings that I wasn’t prepared to leave until I’d burned out my camera battery.

If you ever get the chance to go take a large memory stick and spare batteries!

A couple of pics below from the Chapel - The Green Man, and the Apprentice’s Pillar.

Jules and myself took some time last week to get around a few places we wanted to see before we go. We managed to get in a climb up the Scott Monument, a walk past the Art Gallery, up through Lady Stairs Close and on to see the tribute to Greyfriars Bobby, a visit to Bobby’s grave in the cemetary, and a quick trip through the National Museum of Scotland. By the time we’d finished we were tired and hungry, so we ended up with a good lunch (and a couple of beers for me) in a bar on the Mound.

We ended up the night out with friends and came second in the pub quiz before getting home and eating re-heated Haggis around 2AM. Does it get any better than this?

Photos below of Bobby, and the view from the Scott Monument overlooking the Castle and the Art Gallery.

We are definately into our final days of catching up with people now. We just saw someone that we haven’t seen since 2002, and my aunt and uncle called from Canada tonight to have a quick chat and wish us well. Have a few more nights to organise, then we’re off. I’m sure we’ll both be wiped out by the time we get to NZ.

Managed to get down to Easter Road on Sunday with Malc to watch the Hibs vs Rangers game, and was very happy I went! I think I’m a good omen for the team as I’ve been to ‘the Leith San Siro’ twice this year and both games have been 2-1 victories. Having been to the Hibs supporters bar before and after the game I was in a very good mood Sunday night, but unfortunately my luck didn’t extend to the Miami Dolphins who suffered an embarassment at the hands of the Bills and notched up their 2nd defeat in a row.

Oh, and I’m taking the fact that both Hibs goals were scored by Kiwi Striker Chris Killen as a good omen.

We haven’t updated for a while as time has just started to slip away from us now. In three weeks time we’re going to be in New Zealand. Scary!

The Edinburgh Film Festival ended pretty well for us with “The Oh in Ohio”, an interesting documentary called “The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief” and Kevin Smith’s “Clerks 2″ which was one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen. I love Jay’s Buffalo Bill/Silence of the Lambs bit, but the deconstruction of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy was probably the biggest crowd pleaser.

Now that Edinburgh has calmed down a bit with the end of the Festival I’ll need to try and get around the town to take some pictures and visit a couple of places I just couldn’t face in a huge crowd of tourists. It will be nice to spend some time in the city before we leave, revisiting some old haunts.

We’ve been lucky the last few days and haven’t seen a bad movie since “Destricted”. We’ve had a good run with “Neo Ned”, “Colour Me Kubrick” and “12 and Holding” on Saturday, and “Wristcutters: A Love Story” and “The Treatment” on Monday.

Saturday was especially fun for me as we got to see good movies AND hang out in the Cameo Bar all day. “Colour Me Kubrick” was quite funny and was full of well known British actors in various small roles - spotting them was part of the fun. There were also a few clever references to other Kubrick movies, and a show stealing entrance by Jim Davidson which was one of the film’s highlights.

In the evening we watched our 2nd feature starring Jeremy Renner, “12 and Holding“. An interesting coming of age drama revolving around a trio of 12 year olds, this was entertaining and disturbing in equal measure.

Monday we caught “Wristcutters: A Love Story” at the Cameo. Jules really enjoyed this movie, while I thought it was pretty good but not one of my faves. In the evening we caught “The Treatment“, which I really enjoyed despite the fact that the lead actor was previously in “The Gilmore Girls”. Ian Holm had all the best lines as a sadistic psychoanalyst but my favourite performance was from Famke Janssen who, given the chance at a serious role, turned out to be a great actress.

Shannyn Sossamon and Patrick Fugit in “Wristcutters”

An incredibly simple love story about two star-crossed lovers who meet in a mental hospital : a neo-nazi who was involved in a hate crime and a young black girl who believes she has Hitler’s soul inside her.

Making you laugh out loud one minute then choking back tears the next, Neo Ned is now our favourite movie so far in the film festival and maybe even the best film I’ve seen so far this year. The film is carried by two incredible leads who you find yourself emotionally attached to in no time at all, and deserve the credit for making this film so accessible. Jeremy Renner’s performance in this film is out of this world and Gabrielle Union is superb.

There was a Q&A at the end of the movie with the Director (Van Fischer), Producer (Mark Borman), and Jeremy Renner present - all of whom received resounding applause from the audience. It’s just a shame Gabrielle Union wasn’t there to ogle at

Jeremy Renner was so good in the film that we bought tickets for his other movie in the Festival, “12 and Holding”, which was showing later on the same day.