Travel Update

Today was the last day of our holiday together as Karyn left London and David leaves London tomorrow as does Julia Rose - everyone off in different directions!

Last night we had a lovely dinner at Zuma in London with Lydia's partner Mitch's mother and stepdad who had arrived on Sunday, also for a four week European adventure.  It was a lovely evening as this is an extended family that doesn't have the chance to get together too often!

Karyn left the hotel at 1.00pm and as we write, she is still sitting in Heathrow almost six hours later due to a flight delay to Florence - with another three to four hours to wait.

Shall we name and shame the airline?  Well why not - Vueling - terrible communicators but hey - at least they have found a nice place (Karyn, Lydia and Mitch) to wait and sip a wine or three and update the website travel log!

David heads to France tomorrow and is really looking forward to inspecting the yearlings at Deauville - we are hoping to buy one or two so if you are keen to embark on a European adventure with us, do let Karyn know ([email protected]).

After David has signed off at Deauville he will be driving with his colleagues to Baden Baden for the German sale there.  We will keep you up to date with his progress!

Julia Rose meanwhile is off to Palma in Spain tomorrow for a few days as two of her friends from Waikato Dio are there working on super yachts and the owners have said Julia is welcome to stay on board as they are not there themselves.  Obviously Julia is terribly excited and one of the yachts is actually taking the girls out on the water for 2-3 days - what a great experience she will have.  As will Karyn, Lydia and Mitch whenever they eventually GET to Florence and then Montepulciano a few days later!

At home the team continues to do a super job - Jason, Pam and Tommy have our NZ stable humming with our horses ready to hit their straps for the new season - gee we have an exciting team for Taupo on Monday, can't wait!

Mark, Gus and our Singapore team also have another full on Friday and Sunday of racing and we look forward to trying to keep the opposition at bay on the Singapore Trainers' Premiership (click for the latest standings).

At Te Akau Stud Sam, Luke and Dayna and the team keep everything humming along with our horses, sheep and cattle - as does Robyn assisted by Marice in the office (also keeping an important eye on Karyn's canines).  It is a cold and tough time of the year but we all love seeing how well our horses have spelled at the farm, that is a souce of pride.  Of course we also eagerly await the first of our foals - the first arrivals are not too far away!