Thanks for the welcomes.
All in all it's fairly nice here apart from the light pollution which is dreadful. I have no idea when I'll be back home though, maybe when the kids are a bit older we'll come back and enjoy the southern skies.
Al, If it's the same Merlin66(Ken) I'm thinking of I have met him not too long ago and bought a mount off of him. A very knowledgeable and nice person too.
And yeah the weather is -7°C and dropping as I type, not as bad as further east but cold enough for me. Very little snow though.