Okay so the reason that I haven't posted anything for a while is that we have been preparing for our large holiday. We both managed to get five weeks off work (yippee!) and we headed round the world.
Stage 1 (skiing in Vail, Colorado) is now complete. We had great weather for the entire week, but alas the snow was not quite what it could have been. The first couple of days there was glorious sunshine and because of the recent snowfalls, the conditions were pretty good. After this, however the sun stayed out too much and melted all of the snow. This meant that we ended up with that icy in the morning slushy in the afternoon situation where the 30 minutes around lunchtime are about perfect :-) Still we had a great time and if you haven't ever skied at Vail (or Breckenridge, Copper, Keystone, Beaver Creek which are all close by) I would highly recommend it. The best accomodation by far is the Musson Residence located near to the Cascade Village lift. Available for rent at http://www.pruvail.com.
We are now in New Zealand, South Island, and I am writing this from an internet terminal in Lake Tekapo (pop. 295!). The scenary is spectacular and this place really feels like I imagine England about 50 years ago (albeit with a bit more American influence). Anyway, I will post again soon as long as Sauron doesn't see us...