I moved to NZ from the UK just over 2 years ago and a bit taken aback by the broadband plans on offer to consumers. All of them had some sort of data cap in place, which limited the amount of data that could be transferred in a month. This was a bit of a strange concept to me, coming from the UK. Worse, the data limit applied for uploaded as well as downloaded data.

I’m sad to say that things haven’t changed all that much since then.

Soon after arriving in the country, we bought a house. As part of getting the new place up and running, I took the opportunity to get a decent internet connection. I did a bit of research and in the end decided to go with TelstraClear DSL (there is no cable available where I live).  Here’s what I know about Telstra’s PDQ MAX plan – admittedly some details may not be correct anymore:

• Doesn’t include a phone line – you’ll need one of those from elsewhere. We had a standard issue job from Telecom at around $40/month + calls.
• Any standard ADSL router hardware is supported.
• Internet is nice and fast with Telstra, even if they have a chequered history when it comes to playing nice (peering) with other network providers.
• 12 month minimum term.
• $10 of toll calls were included in the bill – even though I never used them. There was no way to opt out. This sucked.
• Static IP not available.
• 10Gb of data included in the $69.95 monthly cost – additional data packs added automatically (no data cap).

So total cost (including landline and around 30Gb of data) each month ran at around $150. After a year I decided to shop around to try and find a better deal. more…

Don’t worry, this isn’t about to become a baby pics blog, but I just wanted to announce the arrival of our new baby daughter. One week ago Annabelle Rose Brown was born in Wellington Hospital and she is a cutie.

Baby Annabelle Rose

She is very small (3.04kg at birth), but is gaining weight nicely. She has a small amount of hair, wrinkly skin and really long fingers, which I think means she will be a surgeon or something ;)

Annabelle is still in the “sleep when you’re not eating” phase, which we are really making the most of as it will no doubt change all too soon.

With our family now expanding to four members, the existing three are coming to terms with having a baby around – and it’s actually going quite well for all of us. However I am not back at work yet, so the reduced sleep won’t really take full effect until then!

Candi’s Mum is arriving in NZ for her 6-month visit next Wednesday, so having her around will be a huge help and Sophie is really looking forward to seeing her Nanna.

I’ve really liked listening to Elbow’s music since I heard them on BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge show a few years back (when they did a funny live cover version of Independent Woman).

Their latest album is fantastic and after ten years in the business they finally seem to be getting the commercial success to match the critical acclaim they’ve been accumulating over the years.

If you don’t know Elbow at all, watch them perform The Bones Of you live at Abbey Road and you’ll see what they’re all about. 

That track has been constantly rolling round my head for about a week now and I’m still not sick of it.

I’ve had my own domain and website for some time now and my hosting agreement was recently up for its yearly renewal. I have used the same hosting company since 2003, I have been very happy with them the entire time and have no plans to leave.  So just what is it that makes a good web hosting company?

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During the New Zealand summer, hot weather brings the cicadas out in force. They make a noise not unlike a cricket’s chirp, but it’s more or less constant – and loud. You hear a lot of them wherever there is greenery – the sound is very distinctive, but the cicadas themselves can be quite a mystery as they’re often not obviously visible.

Coming from the UK, I had no idea what a cicada actually was – I had heard them in NZ many times but had never managed to see one, until the other day. I was cutting the grass and was getting dive-bombed by what I thought was a black moth. It flew up and landed on the gazebo, so I walked over to take a closer look. It was resting and had some friends with him.

I grabbed the camera and took a pic.

I counted six cicadas on our gazebo – they stayed still and chirped loudly together for a while. Once I knew what I was looking for, I managed to see a whole lot more of them, on tree trunks, branches and even clinging to the outside walls of our house.

If you want to hear what they sound like, I took a short video too. Watch a cicada chirping on Youtube.

I was brought up in the UK, where Christmas is rarely white (in the Bing Crosby sense), but it’s usually cold and gloomy. I recently moved to New Zealand where the seasons are reversed (so December is summer) and I have to say I am having a bit of trouble adjusting to summer weather at Xmas time.

A lot of ‘traditional’ Christmas imagery is oriented towards Northern Hemisphere weather conditions – snowy fir trees, holly, even Santa with his welly boots and warm get-up are all a bit alien when it’s 25 degrees and sunny outside.

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So here we are, starting with a blank page.

I’ve literally wiped the virtual slate clean and started again from scratch – here are links to the rest of my online life. more…