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The stag and his best man!
Just before Kenny jumped from the Skytower - fearless daredevil that he is!We’ve had an absolutely manic month - catching up with friends (many meals/drinks out :-)), finishing work, going to hen/stag parties, visiting Great Barrier Island, attending and helping at Kenny and Luke’s wedding… There are lots of photos for you to enjoy, and a wee bit of writing, but as it’s after 11 in the evening here and I haven’t yet packed my bag, I’m going to (try to) keep it short.
Finishing Up
We both finished work at the end of last week, and both of us were very sad to leave colleagues and friends that we have made over the past 7 months. We both had a good few nights out with colleagues and friends, and we were both given a good send off. To all our new friends in Auckland - we’re going to miss you! For a city that we weren’t all that sure about when we first arrived, we are very sad to be leaving and we’ve had a great time here.
Hen/stag/wedding
New Zealand being the liberal, progressive place that it is, has just passed a Civil Union law, which means that gay and straight couples can register their union legally
and have the same rights as married couples. Kenny and Luke have been looking forward to this moment for a good few years, and we were so happy to be able to take part in their celebrations.
The hen/stag nights were on the same night - Kenny’s was the stag and Luke’s the hen, incase you were wondering. Graeme, being Kenny’s best man, organised the stag night, and we now have conclusive evidence that Graeme
can organise a piss-up in a brewery! They started with Kenny jumping from the Skytower, and visited many pubs and a restaurant before stumbling home in the wee small hours of the morning. The hen night was a little more sedate, but we still managed a late one!
The wedding was yesterday, and what a fantastic day it was. It was held at Luke’s sister Lisa’s house, which has a huge deck and sunken lawn and was the perfect venue. The sun shone, the bubbles flowed and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house as Kenny and Luke exchanged vows. There followed a huge celebration with excellent food and fantabulous music (of course, I had a hand in the play list!!) and
dancing. The happy couple are now away on their honeymoon and Graeme and I are staying in their house (thanks guys) before we leave Auckland for the rest of our travels.
Great Barrier Island
In between the hen/stag nights and the wedding, we spent a peaceful few days on Great Barrier Island, which is administratively part of Auckland City but is 90 kilometres and about 25 years from the city… We took a 4 hour ferry to the island, found a nice camp site and pitched our shiny new tent. In typical Kiwi style the heavens opened about an hour later and it rained for pretty much all of our stay- at least we know the tent is waterproof! Luckily we had hired a car so spent lots of time driving round the island’s twisty gravel roads admiring the view (when it wasn’t hidden in cloud) and doing a few nice walks in the forest. We also spent quite a lot of time in the pub… Well, what else is there to do when it rains?! When it was time to come back to the city we flew home in a tiny 8-seater plane, which was fantastic as
it was at sunset and the views of the city were amazing. We collected our hire car at the airport and are now (nearly) ready for the next 52 days of travelling. We can’t wait!
Till the next time
Jo and Graeme x
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