Please return soon and I shall have some pictures of my family as well...

I come from a family of five living in Gore, New Zealand. Gore is at the bottom of the South Island nestled between some mountains beside the Mataura River (population : 9000 approx.).

Brother

My brother Chris, is 25 years old, and married with 2 kids. He's been married for 5 years and they live in Ashburton, New Zealand. Ashburton is on the East Coast of the South Island about half way up the Island.

My sister-in-law, Emily, is also 25 years old and is a home executive (commonly known as a "house wife"). My niece is 6 years old and my nephew is 3 years old. Chris works for the Ashburton Guardian Newspaper. He's been working there for about 3 years as a printer and absolutely loves it.

Sister

My sister Rachel, is 24 years old and has been married for nearly 2 years. No kids on the home front yet! Her husband, Paul is 27 years old and works on the family farm at Dipton, New Zealand. Dipton is about an hour north of Gore.

Rachel works for a department store called H&J Smiths. She has been working there for about the 3 or 4 years. She is a qualified Nanny but decided to take a break from that to expand her horizons!

Mum and Dad

Both of my parents are 47 years old and have been married for nearly 27 years, doing really well in this day and age! They are both on the Invalids benefit due to being sick. They both have M.E. (Tapanui Flu : explained under my medical page). Dad has had it for about 30 years or so and Mum about 20 years. I really admire them for the struggles they've had to go through adn for keeping going!

Dad is an entreprenuer at heart. Has many ideas that get thought through. He was in the trade business. He worked at John Edmunds in Gore which was a Trade Store dealing in building equipment, garden equipment etc; anything to do with the home. Sickness put an end to that but he is a good handy man.

Mum is a home executive (commonly known as a "house wife") but has plenty of time for herself now that all the kids are gone. She does a lot of knitting which keeps her occupied. My parents names are John and Averil Ibbotson.

Levi

Now this is the section for my dog Levi who is definately part of the family. His is a fox terrier crossed with we-don't-know what but he's a lovable dog who has a distinct personality. I've had him for about 4 and a bit years. He'll be 5 in Febuary 2000.

Very cool dog!