Nous sommes arrives!

WE ARE HERE!!

You soon realise how far we live away from Europe when you go through the trip we just went through. All up, it was 42 hours of ferry, taxis, flights and waiting in airports in foreign countries. So pretty much sitting on our respective arses for a long, long time.

It went something like this

1/2 hour - ferry from Matiatia to Auckland
1 hour - taxi from Auckland to Auckland Airport
2 1/2 hours waiting at Auckland Airport
3 1/2 hours - flight from Auckland to Brisbane
1 3/4 hours waiting in Brisbane
17 hours (!!!) - flight from Brisbane to Dubai
2 1/2 hours waiting in Dubai
6 1/2 hours - flight from Dubai to Paris
3 hours waiting in Paris
1 hour - flight from Paris to Biarritz
1 hour drive from Biarritz to Salies de Bearn

Apologies to all those nerds that just added that all up and disagree with my 42 hour calculation. I calculated the 42 hours by using my watch which I left on NZ time and worked out the times above by memory. Yeah, that means you Crutter

Chris and I got no sleep at all - thats nearly 2 full days without sleep. J and B caught a few hours here and there. Near the end (in Paris) they were falling asleep everywhere - even standing up! Its the tiredest I have ever been. I should have taken a photo of our respective eyes. Pack of smashed Jaffa's anyone?

Well worth it though because what we arrived to, as you can see below, was beyong our wildest dreams - hello Salies de Bearn. It is more beautiful than I ever imagined. Beautiful and old! The house next to us has 1601 on the outside. Makes you feel all young and New World. We just spent our first day here, all a bit tired but very happy. We walked around the village and went to the supermarket. All you foodies out there will appreciate that this was always going to be a highlight. Supermarkets in other countries are awesome.

We have unlimited internet access from our house so will be on the computer a few times a day so please email us! We are also able to telephone NZ whenever we want for as long as we want which is cool.

Must go, got nothing to do!

au revoir mon amies et ma famille, a bientot

Love Jason and Chris

Talk soon