Two weeks left at College

The entrance to the stadium


I have got two weeks left at the college. There is a big exam at the end which will be tough, but i have been doing lots of study. The time is going fast and it does not feel like i have been in NZ for two months now.

I went to my first football match in NZ last week. It was at the Westpac stadium in Wellington. It is a good stadium and is 32,000 all seater. The game was between Wellington Phoenix and Perth Glory in the A-League. There was a crowd of about 12,000 and they made a good atmosphere. The phoenix won the game 4-1 and it was good entertainment. As for the standard, well i reckon i could have got a game at right back for the Perth team!



Just over a week ago there was a volcanic eruption at Mt. Ruapehu. That is where i went skiing a while back. One person was seriously injured by the flying boulders. There was a big mud flow, or Lahar as they are known. It went straight down the ski field! Following on from that, there was an earthquake here in Wellington on Friday afternoon. It was only a small one, but it shook the building. It was a very strange sensation.

Everything else is going to plan. The container holding all our household belongings is due to arrive in Auckland next Sunday. Fingers crossed!

My nice furry jacket and Bushmaster hat!

A Quiet Week

The Beach at Titahi Bay

Sunset on Thursday night


It has been a quiet week after the last few weeks of fun and games. The week was spent in the classroom. I have managed to get out for a couple of walks and the weather is starting to get warmer. Only four weeks left here now.


The house is coming along nicely and should be finished well before we move in on 20th October. We have got a football match this week against a Kiwi team. I am glad it's football and not rugby!

Me out in the hills today

It's true, there are millions of sheep here!

Advanced driving course, birthday and skiing

The Beast!

Another great week here in kiwi land. I started the week with my advanced driving course. It's not quite the same as the driving courses i have been on in England. Lets just say that they are a little bit more laid back about the rules over here!

I got lucky for once and managed to get drawn in the brand new 3.6 litre Holden Commodore SV6. It is a beast and looks the part too. It's rear wheel drive, which is different to most things i have driven before. On Thursday we went to New Zealand's main race track. It was a good chance to give the cars an absolute thrashing. We got a full day on the track and had some great fun. I passed my exam and confirmation drive on Friday.

Giving the marked cars a good caning!


It was my birthday on Wednesday and our whole group went out for a curry in Wellington. Thanks to everyone for all the cards. I had them all put up in my tiny little room. My first birthday in New Zealand!

All my cards and my new Argyle shirt

A group of eight of us decided to head north to the Ruapehu ski fields on Friday for a weekend skiing. It is a four hour drive north from Wellington. It was a cool weekend, even though the weather was not very kind to us. We got a full day's skiing in on Saturday, but Sunday was storm bound, so we headed home. Mount Ruapehu is an active volcano and was featured in Lord of the Rings. It was a shame we did not get great views, but i have put a few pictures here for you.

At the top of the ski Tow

Looking across to the Pinnacles

Lots of nice snow!

Another tough week in the South Pacific!!

Team 2 after qualifying with the Bushmasters

I have completed another week here at the college. I am now qualified to use a Bushmaster assault rifle. It's a lovely gun to use and much more accurate than the Glock handgun. I have also been to a car auction on Saturday and bought a Honda CRV for less than £2000. What a bargain! It is my birthday on Wednesday and a few of us have planned to spend next weekend at Mount Ruapehu Ski fields. It is really cheap to ski and the conditions are perfect at the moment. Hopefully i will get some good pictures for you all to look at.

I am doing my advanced driving course this week, which should be fun. At the moment the course has been all fun, shooting and driving fast cars. The boring bit will then start as i will have five weeks in the classroom studying law! Nice.

Our new car

One week down!

I have survived my first week at the Royal New Zealand Police college. It has been great fun. I have just passed my qualifying shoot for the Glock 9mm handgun. We had a week's training on it and we ended the week with a qualifying shoot. I am training to use a Bushmaster assault rifle next week. Should be fun!


I have been training hard and have been running/swimming/cycling every day this week. I should start to see the positive effects of it all soon! There are some great mountain bike trails and walks in the surrounding mountains. I have already been planning some routes.

The view from my accomodation block

Flight to Auckland and first day at college

Mt. Taranaki

I flew from Auckland to Wellington yesterday. The weather was great and as we flew down the country we passed next to Mount Taranaki. I managed to get a few pictures. The landscape is very different here compared to Auckland. It is very hilly and it is a lot colder!

The Top of south Island

We had our first day at college today and it was a nice early start at 0545hrs! We have all been measured up for our kit, which should arrive within two weeks. The kit includes a nice bush hat and traffic jacket which has a nice furry collar!

I am starting my firearms course tomorrow for two weeks before doing my driving course. It should be fun. The setting for the college is stunning. I will try and get some pictures over the next few days. The accomodation is a bit old fashioned, but does the job.

Coming in to land at Wellington

Laying Foundations!

Our new house!

It has been an incredibly busy week. I have been out on patrol with my new section for a couple of days and also spent loads of time trying to find us somewhere to live before i fly to Wellington on 26th August. The weather has been great all week and it feels like English summer time. It's great!

We went over to Wahike island on Wednesday. It is a beautiful island just off the coast. Loads of rich people live there. It takes 45 minutes by ferry, but we went over on the police launch and did it in under 15 minutes with the mad driver!

Miami Vice!

Our transport

The City of Sails (Auckland)

A beach at Wahike Island

We had a bit of a drive around the West coast the other day. We went to a place called Piha. This is one of the best areas for surfing. It was very pretty and the beaches on the west coast have black sand, due to being volcanic.

Piha Beach

Today i managed to sign up to a house in Pukekohe. It is about 40km south of Auckland city and is in a rural location. The house is still being built and has just about had the roof put on! It will not be ready until 15th October, which fits in perfectly for the date i finish at the college in Wellington. I will be picking up the keys on 20th October. It is a brand new 4 bedroom detatched house with double garage and en-siute master bedroom. I have looked around another house which is identical and they are stunning. All i need now is for our container of furniture to turn up on time!

I am flying to Wellington tommorow to complete and eight week course in Firearms, driving and law. Should be fun! Speak to you all soon. Keep in touch.