Other Poms sometimes ask me if it’s safe to drink the water here. Well, of course it is. Not that it tastes very nice. A lot of people buy filters – not to make the water safe for drinking – but just to make it nice for drinking. Or they buy bottled water in the supermarkets.

A tip for the frugally minded is to do what I do – boil up tap-water for five or ten minutes, leave it to cool to room temperature, then put it in the fridge to make it nice and cool for drinking. It should taste pretty good.

At this time of year I drink as much water in a day as I did in a week before we emigrated.

Unlike most of the UK, the water here isn’t fluoridated so it’s important to make sure your kids brush their teeth if you want to prevent tooth-decay.