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Happy New Year everyone!

We've been a bit lazy on the Christmas emails the last couple of Christmases, so here's a Happy New Year 2009 state of the nation for you. We're celebrating 2009 by making a move even further Northwards to Burley-in-Wharfedale, West Yorkshire.

The move is primarily aimed at seeing more of each other, as 2008 saw Ruth heading eastwards each Monday morning to Reading / London, and Andrew northwards to Leeds for work ... we're hoping the move will mean we have more than just a weekend relationship, which will be novel! It's also very near the Yorkshire Dales and Lakes District (see google maps in satellite to get a feel for the location) - so we're planning a lot more walking this year!

2008 was a busy year for us - both travel-wise and work-wise. We've both received promotions and are enjoying the challenge of work.

We celebrated the 2008 New Year at the Edinburgh Hogmanay street party, with friends from Bristol, plus Janet & Lyndsay (Janet was agood school friend of Ruth's from age 5!).

After a month back at work we decided it was time for a month off and headed back to NZ for two weddings and some travel. Our first weekend saw Ruth's brother Ian turn 20 (when did my baby brother get so old?!) and the celebration of Gareth and Helena's wedding (Gareth is an old school friend of Andrew's - Ian and Leili were also there from the US - it was a great day / evening). As well as catching up with friends and family in NZ, we headed over to Australia to drive the Great Ocean Road in a campervan with our Aussie / Brit friend Kate who we met in Bristol. It was a great week, with good scenery, company and wine to be had. On our final night we went to a vineyard for a fancy dinner - and were regaled with stories during the wine tasting about rotten mushrooms and mistakenly opening a dozen bottles of the wrong wine (therefore of course the barwoman had to drink it herself!).

Back in NZ we joined Bruce (Ruth's Dad), Ian (Brother) and Murray and Jan from HVTC to climb Mt Tapuwae-o-Uenuku and scatter some of Judith's (Ruth's Mum) ashes. It was an excellent few days - although we didn't quite make it to the top, we found a saddle about 300m below the top where you can clearly see Wellington (and we could - though it was wet walking in and out, the weather was perfect on climb day). Judith's journey continues - with ashes also in the Eastern Bays, Hawkes Bay, and later the UK.

We finished our stay in NZ with the wedding of Aimee and Chris (cousins and friends, who are also currently in the UK) in Taupo - a beautiful ceremony outside (rain had threatened earlier in the day but luckily cleared), then dancing the night away in the marquee.

Back in the UK our travel bug continued, and we spent the next five months or so going somewhere at least every 3 weeks ... it was tiring, but fun! First stop - Dublin.

Ruth had a course in Dublin so we elected to stay for the weekend - it was also the deciding match of the six nations, so lots of Welsh supporters joined us in the pub on Saturday afternoon to watch a well-deserved win and grand slam for Wales! The Guinness factory was the highlight of the trip - though a day on Guinness (as much as she loves it) made Ruth feel a little ill.

Easter saw us in chilly Barcelona - being on the Med, we had expected it to be at least mild, if not warm, and we hadn't quite packed to deal with the cold. Gaudi continues to amaze - if you go, we definitely recommend the open top bus tour - it's a great way to get round all the sites. We also saw an Easter parade, which was spectacular.

Into April - inspired by Aimee and Chris, we surprised each other with birthday weekends away. Andrew took me to Prague, which was on the top of my 'to-do' list whilst in the UK. Aside from the throngs of tourists, it's an enchanting place, with gorgeous buildings and, most importantly, cheap beer (outside the touristy bits anyway!).

The first May Bank Holiday we went to Milan and spent lots of money on designer clothes. Well, not quite - we spent extortionate amounts on coffee in the fashion quarter, and marvelled at all the ostentatious cars and designer clothes around us. The Duomo was stunning, and had recently been cleaned so the marble was sparkling. We spent a long time on the roof admiring the statues and views of Milan.

For our wedding anniversary we headed off for a week in Egypt. After missing our connecting flight in Amsterdam, and spending a night there, we spent a day in Cairo - first to the Pyramids, and then the Islamic quarter. The romance was spoiled by the constant badgering by hagglers - being independent tourists we were ripe for the picking. Having read about the scams, we were probably overly cautious - but the one time we let our guard down we regretted it! On the coast, the Dahab Hilton (aren't we going up market?! It was an excellent deal - not one we're likely to repeat!) was a welcome change. Andrew celebrated by getting sick, and being bed-ridden for a couple of days with a drip hanging from the bedside light to keep him hydrated. After recovery we spent a few days diving in the gorgeous red sea - the highlight was our final day deep (ish) diving in a Canyon and the Blue Hole. The Blue Hole is a hole (ha!) in the reef - you enter the outside of the hole through a 30m chimney, and then glide alongside a 300m sea cliff with stunning coral and sea life. Up over a saddle and into the Blue Hole - if you look away from the reef wall, you lose all sense of direction, staring out into the blue. Beautiful!

The second surprise birthday trip - Andrew's this time. Ruth managed to royally spoil the surprise less than 24 hrs beforehand - speaking with a work colleague on the phone with Andrew beside her, she was asked where she was flying to for the weekend, without thinking "Berlin" popped out of her mouth ... followed by a round of expletives, for which she apologised profusely (luckily the work colleague is also a friend therefore just laughed at the outburst!). We managed to time our arrival at the converted brewery (our hostel) with the end of the Euro 2008 quarter final, where Germany had just beat the favourites, Holland - we were slightly taken aback with the drunk, singing Germans, and sped hastily to our room! Berlin is a great city - both historical and modern Berlin are spell-binding. The fat bike tours come highly recommended - a guided tour of Berlin's key sites, with lunch and a couple of pints in a traditional beer garden (everyone was far more gung-ho on their bikes after that!).

A couple of weeks later we were on the ferry from Poole to Cherbourg with the Bristol crew to meet an ex-Bristolian who had quit his job and headed to the South of France to learn to speak French and surf. It was an excellent week - again, good scenery, company, BBQs and wine (cheap wine too - I think our average was 3 euro a bottle - and that was when the pound was still strong!). Highlights included surfing, canoeing, cycling and buying wine in a troglodyte cave. Lowlights included a bull fight (why on earth did we think that would be a good idea?!) and a detour through Paris on the way to Calais – Andrew still claims that was the "quickest" way.

It was then time for people to visit us! First Bruce visited for Uncle Ross' 60th birthday and walking on the South West Coastal Path and Offa's Dyke. We joined them for a couple of days - scenery was stunning. He also visited Carol in Glasgow, and spent a couple of days chilling in Bristol with Ruth (and at Dave's birthday party, where he was introduced to one of our Saturday night rituals - pink sparkly stuff, lager, and pictionary!). Dad's final weekend included the anniversary of Mum's death (strangely spent watching the Dark Knight), and his birthday, which was spent walking near Chequers, the prime minister's country house, with Ross and Tina, and spreading some of Mum's ashes on one of our / her favourite walks in the Chilterns.

In September, along with Dave and Emma, we met Aussie / Brit Kate in Riga, Latvia (she was over for another Kate's wedding in Italy). Saturday was spent on a walking tour of Riga. We were surprised by all the wooden buildings - although very common in NZ, it was the first time we had seen a concentrated number of them in the northern hemisphere. On Sunday, we're afraid to say, we ended up just spending the time in a "traditional Latvian" restaurant, eating and drinking the afternoon away until it was time to get our flight.

Andrew's Aunty Marie then joined us to see the sights of Bristol - kite flying, and our friends drinking! This was part of an extended tour in the UK and Ireland.

Our next trip (yes, I'm afraid there's more - though I think this is the penultimate one) was to Oslo in Norway for a long weekend. We got a 72 hour pass, which included all public transport (including ferries in the sounds) and entry to museums. We had a great time - highlights included Munch's Scream, the Viking Ship museum, Holmenkollen ski jump and the 100 pound lobster (don't ask). Definitely recommended.

Sorry I was wrong - penultimate trip was to Geneva - well, more precisely, Grindelwald. Our hotel looked out over the north face of the Eiger - we took a trip up the Jungfrau which, though expensive, was well worth the effort. Andrew was like an excited child and the 1500-odd photos of the Eiger help demonstrate this. It was a great weekend - chilled out, amongst beautiful scenery. We didn't get as much walking done as we had planned, but we figured sitting at high altitude was exercise enough.

In November, Chris and Aimee joined us at Millennium Stadium to watch the All Blacks beat Wales. The stand off after the haka was great to watch - the crowd absolutely loved it! Kiwis across the world I'm sure were happy to see a win after our last abysmal performance on that ground.

After a Bristol Christmas Extravaganza with our mates, Christmas day was spent with Ross & Tina, Catherine (Uncle, Aunt, Cousin), James (Catherine's husband), Joseph and Henry (easiest to call them nephews, though that's not the technical term) it was great to have family around - not least as it meant Ruth wasn't the only one excited at the prospect of Santa, Reindeers and snowbells. Andrew was too. Christmas here was a beautiful crisp day with lots of yummy food and sparkly stuff.

On boxing day Dave and Emma picked us up to go to an airport (can't remember which one!) - to commence our skiing holiday in Sauze D'Oulx, Italy with them and Em's sister Sarah and future brother-in-law Stu. An excellent week - skiing every day with some picture perfect weather (and some snow as well). Andrew bombed down anything, whereas Ruth picked her way carefully so as not to fall (that fear of sliding hasn't gone away yet - slightly strange holiday to go on with that phobia!). Lots of Pizza, Pasta and Wine, and sore muscles - all in a good cause! A great way to see in the New Year!

That's about us - we're looking forward to 2009 - the move is exciting (though sad to leave our home and friends in Bristol) and we're looking forward to a slightly more sensible dose of travelling ... next stop - New York and the Bahamas!

Hope this finds everyone well and happy - look forward to seeing you all soon!

Ruth & Andrew xoxox