Bad weather is back

It was a grey and overcast morning and the plans made last night for a barbie at Alex and Kathy's were changed when she heard the weather forecast and also realised she had a hangover from yesterday. Instead, Kenny and Helen have invited us all over for dinner tonight.

I spoke with Vicki during the morning as she was complaining that the house was very cold and that there was something wrong with the central heating boiler and neither the tiler or electrician could get it to work. They said they would have to wait for the plumber to have a look on Monday therefore they would be without heating all weekend. I explained what I thought the problem was because the system has been drained and re-filled again. Once the pressure drops below a certain level, there is a safety switch that shuts down the system automatically and this will need to be re-set. I told Vicki how to do this but she was at a party in Huddersfield when we spoke and Lucy was at the cinema with her phone switched off. Shortly after, I got a text from Lucy to say she was home but when I phoned her, Vicki had already passed on the message and instructions and Lucy had the boiler up and running... pleased about that.

I had Lucy checking all the mail as there should be two credit card bills that will need paying around the 7th Feb. We can do this with on-line banking but need to know the amount due so that we don't get walloped with interest. She opened all the mail but couldn't find the bills anywhere. Hopefully Vicki will be able to find them tomorrow and let us know the details.

Kath went with Maxine and Helen to the Botany Shopping Centre and had a girlie day out whilst Darren was at the cricket, watching Harry play for the local team. I was going to go out for a drive but the weather was still overcast and I couldn't be bothered to go on my own. I ate luch and then went up the cricket ground and watched Harry. He took a wicket almost as soon as I got there to bring the opponents first innings to a close but he didn't get a bat as his team hit some quick runs to set their opposition a target of 153 in 20 overs. It fizzled out into a draw but there were some pretty useful young cricketers on display.

Shortly after arriving home, we went to Kenny and Helen's for the evening and had a lovely roast dinner, made with her own fair hands and without a takeaway menu in sight (sorry Helen, it was very good really). We then sat and watched the Aussie Open Tennis Final but as usual, Andy Murray gave a battling performance but wasn't good enough to beat Roger Federer, losing in straight sets.

Plans are to go to Rotorua in the morning but whilst the south island is bathed in sunshine, we are forecast more rain in the north. Even the forecast for Sydney, Australia, our next stop when we leave here on Wednesday, is for thunderstorms. Oh well, could be at home in the cold and going to work.

Photo's are from Harry's cricket match and just for Lucy, Kenny's cat.

Good to hear from Phil Veasey in France who may look in on the blog. If he does, we will have friends in the USA, Canada, Spain, New Zealand, France and the UK looking in on us. G'day to you all from the upside down end of the planet.