I have arrived back in NZ.

There aren't too many places in the world where you can disembark from an international flight and catch the smell of sheep in the adjacent field. Palmerston North 'International' Airport however is just such a place. The arrivals halls has the feel of a cattle pen and the town itself, at 130am, is disconcertingly tranquil. Got on a bus the next morning for the 2 hour ride to Hastings.

Prana Yoga - that is the place to do ashtanga in Hawkes Bay. While I have been away two of my friends here have begun to set up an ashtanga space. The room is large, bright and warm with a firm floor and a pleasant feel. All that remains is to develop a proper timetable, which is being done, and it will be up and running. It's in Hastings and there are already a solid 12-15 people per practise which is a good start. It will easily grow - there is plenty of interest and demand.

We have 'a travelling yoga teacher' coming here from Feb 28th for a 5 day workshop - early morning mysore style and a couple of lead classes for those who have never tried this yoga. Go Hawke's Bay!!

I have heard that, in a further example of the popularity of ashtanga these days, the shalas in Mysore have stopped enrolling new students. There are just too many people. Is it just a dirty rumour put out by Bikram?

This evening I become officially 50% Kiwi when I attend my citizenhip ceremony. On the invitation it was mentioned that national dress is encouraged. I wondered what that was in NZ until it was pointed out that they mean the national dress of one's home country of course. What is that for England??

Posting will be brief for the moment as I have no www connection at home but for those of you in email contact, feel free to let me know how things are going - it would be good to hear!

So, back in the Noosa groove.

This morning Helen and I went for a bodyboarding session pre breakfast. The water was glassy, a little cloud cover took the sting out of the sunshine and there were perfect 3 foot sets rolling in. Helen is learning and this was her 3rd day in the water. So far she is going great, learning to paddle for the waves, read the surf a little and catch a few gooduns. We even got the same wave at one point, she went left and I right. So much fun! Waves are taking over the holiday, which I 100% approve of. I need to book a few surf lessons now I think – conditions here are perfect to learn and we still have 10 days left.

It’s been a while since the ‘why don’t I buy a campervan and travel around Australia’ thoughts entered my mind, but they are back! And while I’m about it, why not South Africa too eh? It is sooo tempting.

Now we have a little downpour, tropical style, intense, warm and short. The air is full of warm, round eucalypt scents and the Kookaburras are laughing. We are snug in our deluxe cabin and have a DVD supply to get through.