T minus 30

Well it is now 30 days until we (my wife, Maureen and I) leave Helensville, New Zealand and head off to the other end of the world to the Outer Hebrides off the North West coast of Scotland.  This all came about as a result of one of the Vets from the "Southern Isles Veterinary Practice" getting in contact with my practice "Vets North" and proposing a job swap.  (The names of the two practices are both ironically wrong.  It just goes to show it all depends on your perspective).  So now I am off to the island of North Uist and he is coming to the town of Helensville.
This trip has been at least a year in the making and several people have asked me why??
I have always been keen on the outdoors, and the idea of working in remote places has always appealed.  Back in the 1980s just after the end of the Falklands war I applied for a 2 year vet job on the Falkland Islands.  I was quite happy to take my wife and kids there, I reckoned it would be a great adventure.  Unfortunately I didn't get the job.  Don't get me wrong I love living and working in Helensville, and I don't want to move to these out of the way places, I just want to go and live there for a while, try and get to understand the place and the people who do live there.
So we are off on Waitangi day, the middle of a warm, dry New Zealand Summer to arrive a week later in a cold, damp, dark Scottish Winter.  But the weather will improve, the days will get longer and Spring will come.  If the Outer Hebrides are all about the weather you might as well see the best (or worst) of it.
The part of the Outer Hebrides that we are going to is the central island grouping of North and South Uist and Benbecula.  The three islands are joined by causeways and have a total population of about 4000.  The islands are connected to the mainland by ferry service and flights to Glasgow (1 hour).  I will be living is the local vet's house in the village of Clachan on North Uist.