The first month here

Can't believe we've been here for a whole month already...

So this is what we've been up to so far.

I was straight into work on my first day of arriving. It was a bit of a surprise to have to go into work on the first day, but I couldn't really say no, when they've been paying me since we flew out from the UK. The first week was mainly meeting lots of people (including the Governor, who's now back in England meeting ministers to try and persuade them to go ahead with the airport). My first bit of work was setting the fuel prices (luckily the price went down!). I'm now working on the electricty charges. I get all the popular jobs!

3 of us are taking it in turns to drive to work. It takes about 15 mins to drive there and about 20 on the way back (uphill!). We're generally finishing about 4 so it's nice being home early. As you drive back from Jamestown it's amazing how quickly it gets cooler. Jamestown is very hot and sunny, while it's a lot cooler up where we live.

Tom started school - it's about a 20 mins walk away. It took him a while to settle in, but he's made some friends now and seems happy.

Clare is enjoying life here so far (not working!). Her first weeks have involved finding where all the shops are. Whenever the ship is in, everyone rushes around stocking up on fruit and veg while it's around. Clare and Milly are going to a couple of toddler groups and so Clare has made some friends through those.

The stuff from the container all arrived safely on the same ship as us. Unfortunately, Phil and DT's stuff has been lost en route from Sydney with no guarantee they'll ever find it. To make matters wose, DT is a coeliac so had lots of her gluten free food packed up. They're obviously pretty gutted about the whole thing.

So in our first month our highlights have been:

- Walking up Diana's Peak, the highest point on the island - spectacular views as you'll be able to see from the photos
- Visiting Jonathon the 175 year old giant tortoise at Plantation House
- Snorkelling in the sea

I've managed to keep up to date with the footy back at home. There's only 3 TV channels here but one of them shows live premier league games, so I watched the Everton v Liverpool league game. Unfortunately, they didn't show the FA Cup replay but I was keeping up to date via the internet (without interruptions from adverts!) and at the same time as Evertonians back at home we're celebrating, there was someone in the middle of the South Atlantic joining in the celebrations.

Talking of football, the vast majority of football fans here seem to support Liverpool. Even when we were in the Namibian desert we stopped to pick up a South African tourist who had become stranded who turned out to be a Liverpool fan. Unfortunately I was out voted and we had to give her a lift back! Fortunately on the ship, a member of the crew was a Scouser who supported Everton, so we shared a beer on the way over at the news of Everton's results.

That's all for now. Get posting on the blog! Back in touch when I turn 40!