One journey ends. Another begins.

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Apologies in advance. This isn’t your typical travel blog but I have been meaning to get this blog written for over a year now. We started blogging our travels around the world in 2006, and our last blog was about our long journey back to New Zealand after nearly five years of travel and life in the UK. It was a whirlwind time and happily we made it safely back to our friends and family with a lifetime of memories, a bizarre rash and a couple of very smelly sleeping bags.



On arrival we had a lot to do. There was five years of catching up to be had. There were the agonising ‘why did we come back here?’ times as we came to realise that it doesn’t matter what side of the world you live on, the grass is always going to look greener on the other side of the fence. The feeling of being a stranger in our own country actually took nearly a year to shake! We didn’t have too much time to dwell on this however, because we had a wedding to finalise and only 10 weeks in which to do it.



We decided to do something a little different to celebrate our wedding and return to New Zealand. From a backpackers hostel in Cairo almost 9 months prior, we had booked our wedding on board ‘The Ipipiri’ a vessel that cruises the Bay of Islands in Northland, New Zealand. We have always been a couple that enjoys being out on the water, so a boat and island based wedding in the area we grew up was just perfect.

The photos say it all. It was a perfect day spent with our friends and family in a fantastic location. While the wedding party was being photographed on the beautiful Motura Island, the braver guests were snorkelling and swimming near The Ipipiri.



The boat sleeps 60 people in 30 ensuite bedrooms so there was no need for sober drivers and transport issues. We partied till the wee hours and enjoyed a fantastic breakfast and scenic cruise around the Bay of Islands the next morning. Two highlights had to be the stunning sunset during the speeches and dinner and the huge pod of dolphins that we encountered the next morning.

Thanks to our guests who travelled from all-overs to join us on our special day!

Oh yeah, a few people who read our blogs from 2006 to 2011, may be wondering why we don’t blog anymore. Well, the answer lies in the little bundle of cuteness that entered our world four months ago. Little baby Isla has curbed our travels for now but just wait until she’s a little older. We’ll be getting her a backpack and setting off to explore our own backyard once she learns to walk. Hello travel with a little one, it’s going to be quite a different story!

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Photos

Signing the marriage certificate
Bay of Islands, New Zealand

Bridal party having fun on the island
while the rest of the guests went swimming and hung out on the boat

Comments

[Home and Away]

It's always wonderful when a couple who I have been following on their trips all over the world...
come home and get married. Congratulations! Thanks for posting this blog...it's great to see the end of one story and the beginning of another.