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So when we left you last time we had just boarded NZ1 for the 12 hour flight into Auckland. I’m not sure if it was because earlier that day we had endured the worst flight we had ever been on, or whether Air NZ’s long haul service is just really good but that flight was, and still is, the best flight we’ve ever had. The leg room in the 747 was very generous and the seats were the most comfortable airplane seats I’ve experienced which meant it was easy to get comfortable enough for some pretty good sleep (i.e a good 8 hours worth) which made the flight feel like a short trans Tasman hop. The service was great and the staff very friendly and it was a nice welcome home after so long. And the entertainment options were endless. I particularly enjoyed the full match replays of some of the classic Tri Nations, Bledisloe and Lions games of the early 00s. And we had a really nice guy sitting next to us as well. He was from Tauranga originally but moved to London on his OE and stayed for a year before moving to Dallas, Texas where he had been
Ross and Lucy's Wedding
Guys getting ready for the wedding.for the last 10 years running his own construction company. Another interesting bloke with lots of stories.
Going through passport control was, as expected, a breeze and the friendly immigration officer even welcomed us back to NZ. As we rushed out the arrivals hall towards the domestic terminal to get our connecting flight to Dunedin, Emma, without realising who it was, shoulder barged her way past Neil Finn who was waiting for someone off the same flight. One last celebrity to add to the list for this trip. When we left the international terminal building we were hit square in the face by the glorious NZ sunshine and a temperature already in the late teens. It was a beautiful still morning, the birds were chirping happily and the pohutakawas were bright and beautiful. It felt great to be back in NZ.
We touched down in Dunedin at about 8am and were warmly greeted at the airport by Emma’s parents and sister Sarah. When we’d left NZ two years prior Emma’s parents were living in the family home in Otatara, Invercargill but since we’d been gone they’d decided to leave the good weather of Invercargill behind and move to
Ross and Lucy's Wedding
Emma relaxing in the sun, ready for the ceremony to begin. sunny Dunedin. So as we were driving into the city we were passing places we hadn’t seen for at least 2 and a half years and while it all seemed familiar it was quite strange going to their new house that we’d never seen, in a new city. We finally got to the new house out at MacAndrew Bay on the Peninsula and were suitably impressed. It’s a gorgeous homely house with a lovely garden, a nice big deck for all that outdoor living in summer, and a gorgeous view out across the harbour. After catching up with Tabitha the cat, we began to make ourselves at home and were treated to one of Emma’s mothers famous roast meals that we hadn’t had the pleasure of enjoying since back in Vancouver, with Emma’s Auntie Kerry and cousin Harriet joining us for lunch. Later on that day we caught up with our old mate Adam whom we hadn’t seen for a bloody long time, but crashed out after just a few beers at about 9:30pm. The sleep that night in that luxurious queen bed having been on the go since we left NYC around 40 hours before was unbelievable.
The
Ross and Lucy's Wedding
Gaz practicing taking photos with Adam's camera, his job for the afternoon. next day we commandeered Emma’s mother’s Corolla and headed down SH1 to Invervegas. When we’d decided months ago to come home for Christmas we decided not to tell my whanau (that’s Maori for family for all those non-NZers) and surprise them all. We had to tell someone, so we’d told my father who was more than happy to help us keep it quiet. Closer to our departure from the UK my crafty eldest sister Nicola had wrangled it out of us so she knew too, but as far as we knew everyone else was still in the dark. Just before we left Dunners we changed Emma’s Facebook status to say that she was enjoying her time back in NZ, just to create some confusion to anyone who happened to be reading it in Invercargill. And it worked. Sort of. Not long after it was posted brother in law Stephan saw the message and started to ask questions. I’m not exactly sure what happened over the two and half hours we were travelling down to Invers but by the time we got there word had spread among most of the rest of the whanau, apart from mother. But, as mothers do,
she knew something was up and apparently there were a few tense moments and a few swear words bandied about before they finally caved in and let her in on the secret. As we rolled up the driveway and got out of a car we were greeted by a somewhat more subdued scene than what we had anticipated. So the surprise wasn’t quite the surprise we had hoped, but was still a small surprise never the less and I think most were pleased to see us. And at least it meant we had a nice fresh bed made up for us. That night we had a family meal with all the family and were introduced for the first time to our new wee niece Sophie.
Over the next few days we caught up with friends and family in both Invercargill and Dunedin (I think I drove that stretch of road 6 times in four days) before we went our separate ways for Christmas. Emma spent the day with her family in at the new house in Dunedin, though sadly her Dad had to work for half the day at the airport (they still fly those trans Tasman routes on
Ross and Lucy's Wedding
Tracey and Shannon looking lovely. xmas day, dragging the poor customs officers away from the family dinner). I spent the day in Invers and had a good day catching up with all the extended family and nursing a hang over from the previous nights Christmas Eve festivities at the Northern and the Kiln with Ross, Lucy, Adam and Alana.
A couple of days after the xmas festivities and boxing day madness we traded up from the old Corolla II to Emma’s father’s Carib and headed off to beautiful Central Otago. In first few years after we left Uni and began growing up into fully fledged adults the topic of who in our little group of ex Invercargill friends would be first to take the plunge in to marriage was something that had been discussed quite regularly. That question was answered not long after we left NZ in 2007 when Rossco popped the question to young Lucy. Now a year and ten months later (is that right guys?) they were ready to take their nuptials in a beautiful outdoor ceremony in front of friends and family at the Cardrona Hotel. What a spot for a wedding. The weather gods were smiling on the happy couple
Ross and Lucy's Wedding
Boys ready and waiting. on their special day as the hot Central sunshine beat down on them and all the guests during the ceremony. Ross and the boys all scrubbed up better than expected, the bridesmaids looked beautiful and Lucy was absolutely stunning. After they had singed their lives away to each other and the photos had been taken we all enjoyed a hearty old kiwi summer meal and a few well delivered speeches before the cake was cut and the first dance was danced. The rest of the night was spent outside in the pleasant evening stillness enjoying a few pints of Summit round the fire and getting down to the musician, especially to crowd favourite Honkey Donkey which the poor bugger was forced to play 3 or 4 times. Eventually in the early hours morning the bar closed and one by one people began to stumble their way the 20m to their beds in the Hotel. Thanks Ross and Lucy, we had a great time. It was a beautiful wedding and we thoroughly enjoyed getting together with the old crew (minus the ones still in London) for the first time in ages. It was the original excuse for us coming home and
Ross and Lucy's Wedding
Ross watching the beautiful bride. it was definitely worth the trip.
We had planned to spend the few days between the wedding and New Years on a road trip up the coast or somewhere, camping along the way before heading back to Queenstown and camping up at Moke Lake to bring in the New Year. But in the end we decided to save some money and head back to Invers to spend a bit of quality time with my family. On New Years Eve, despite the dodgey weather, we packed up the Carib again and started to make our way back up to Queenstown. We only got as far as Lumsden before deciding that it was an insane idea to try and go camping in such torrential, persistent rain, so were turned around and headed home again. It was a good decision as New Years Eve in Qtown was a bit of washout this year, literally. We actually had a surprisingly good time in Invers by ourselves having a few drinks while I destroyed Emma at Trivial Pursuit. How sad!
Two days later we were off again though. The weather was still a little on the dodgy side but we had tickets to
the Elemeno P/Supergroove/Shihad concert that night in Hawea and we weren’t about to let a little inclement weather ruin such an important event for us. You may remember (if you have a super human memory, which none of you do) that our last blog before we left NZ in 2007 included a little bit on the last Shihad concert at Hawea. If you do remember that, you’ll remember how excited we were to go to that concert so imagine our delight when we found out they’d be playing again when we were home. It was especially cool as we unfortunately had to miss their show in London last year due to a conflicting Iron Maiden show at Twickenham. Its almost as if they heard we were coming home and thought they’d put on a show for us because we’d missed out in London. Yeah, I wish I was that important to these legends. We got to Hawea a little late due to a closed road as the result of a holiday head on smash, but by the time we got there the weather had cleared and things were looking promising. Ross, Brent and Kiddey had already started the evenings celebrations
and were well on their way by the time we got there. We attempted to catch up to them with a quick game of Circle of Death followed by the annual boat race against Ross’s neighbours. In no time it was concert time so we headed down to the pub car park, only to find that we had just missed the opening act Elemeno P. Not to worry, we’ve seen them 4 times already, I was far more excited to see Supergroove. I was gutted when I missed out on tickets to an all ages show Supergroove put on in Invers when I was about 10 so I was really excited to see them. And I was right to be excited. They were so much fun. Very entertaining. Then came the main event which absolutely rocked, as always. After the show we returned home to Ross’s and had a few more drinks before hitting the hay.
The next day we headed back to Dunners to return the car and spend the next week laxed out on the deck enjoying some relaxation in the summer sun and savouring being on holiday before starting work the next week. To tell you
the truth I was actually looking forward to the prospect of returning to my old job at the ICC and ultimately I quite enjoyed the 7 weeks I spent there. It was very strange going back there and seeing all the old faces and in some ways it seemed that the place hadn’t changed at all over the two years we’d been away. It was like we’d never really left, just been on a bigger than usual holiday. The work wasn’t quite the same as I’d been doing when I left, but it did make me realise how much I hate working in London. I discovered a new found appreciation for my job that I hadn’t had prior to working in the UK. Emma found the same thing. She was lucky enough to pick up a few days relief teaching in Dunedin and found the kids and absolute delight in comparison to the little brats in West London. Even the kids she’d had warnings about saying that they would be challenging didn’t even come close to some of the more mild manner kids she taught in London. Needless to say by the end of our time in NZ we weren’t
exactly relishing the prospect of returning to working in London.
Before we left the country again though we had a few more events to attend, including another wedding. I met Jesse the Australian back in Vancouver when we were both out of work Planners mowing lawns to make ends meet. We got to know Jesse and his Kiwi girlfriend Julie quite well during our time in Van, and Jesse had popped the question to Julie atop Blackcomb Mountain in Whistler shortly before we left Canada for the UK. They had also since left Vancouver and had set themselves up back in Christchurch. So we stole Emma’s mother’s car again and road tripped our way up to Christchurch to see them wed. I’ve never liked Christchurch but this time I actually really enjoyed my time there. Emma has very strong ties to Christchurch, having been born there and with the majority of her extended family living there, so it was good to see where she has been spending a significant part of her time away from me in the 8 years we’ve been together. We stayed with her Uncle Brendon whom, like the most of her family, I had never
met. He was a top bloke and it was nice of him to put us up for a couple of nights. We spent the Friday night before the wedding driving round Christchurch, through Sumner then over the Port Hills to Lyttleton before heading back into town to have a wander around the city centre. Next morning we left Brendon’s place a night early as we had been selected by the happy couple to house sit there house and puppy sit their puppy, Jock, while they spent their wedding night in some plush hotel in the city. So we rocked up there as the groom and his men were preparing themselves for their busy day ahead. Jesse denies it, but he looked nervous as hell, and we were doing our best (although not succeeding) to keep out of their way. Eventually the old Austin turned up and whisked them all away and we put Jock to bed and followed them shortly after.
The wedding was held out at the Lansdowne Homestead on the way to Tai Tap just out of Christchurch. The ceremony took place in the beautiful gardens of the homestead under the scorching sunshine. So that was two
summer weddings with perfect weather, I can only hope that when our day finally comes we’re lucky enough to have the same weather gods watching over us. The Aussie boys at the front were looking sharp and Julie and her bridesmaids were absolutely gorgeous. Again, it was a beautiful ceremony with Julie struggling to get through all her vowels without breaking down. Once the happy couple had be united as man and wife and all the family photos were done, all the guests headed for the shade of the marquee and the refreshment of a cold drink while the wedding party went off for more photos. Dinner was served and the speeches were delivered, which of course included plenty of trans Tasman banter. After the formalities of cutting the cake and the first dance, the musoes whipped up a storm on the dance floor, including several renditions of the hit of the night ‘Jesse’s Girl’. Our night ended shortly after the newlyweds were whisked away in a classy Cadillac limo. We headed back to their house and played with the dog before eventually succumbing to our fatigue. We had a fabulous trip to Chch and my perspective of the city
has change a little bit for the better. We were stoked to be able to share Jesse and Julie’s big day with them and get a few ideas for our own off them.
The last few weeks in NZ were pretty relaxed but we still had time for a few more fun times such as the fun but unsuccessful day at the races, and a typically wet weekend at the Summer Motor Racing Series, and a miserable washed out weekend in Dunedin with Jesse and Julie where we gave them a tour of the sites of Dunedin’s infamous mass murderers name David (Grey and Bain). But soon enough our time back in NZ was up and it was time to leave the comforts of home once again and head back out into the big, wide world. Our return trip to the UK almost got off to the worst possible stop when our flight from Dunedin to Auckland was delayed by an hour meaning we had to sprint form the domestic terminal to the International terminal in order to make our plane. Thankfully we managed to scrap in just in time and soon we were winging our way on the
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Adam and Alana looking fancy. big bird, leaving NZ in the distance behind us.
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