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Christmas Day
Christmas dinner with the whole familyWell it’s been a couple of years since I’ve managed to grace the shores of the Land of the Long White Cloud, and this would be my 5th consecutive Christmas away since I’ve left New Zealand, so thought it must be time to head home and see my family before they forget what I look like!
The first issue (after finding a not-so-small fortune to afford a Christmas ticket) was actually getting out of the country. London experienced one of the worst snowfalls in years, which grounded planes across the country and Europe in the few days leading up to Christmas. Amazingly amongst the Heathrow chaos, I managed to get on one of literally the ONLY flights leaving London and with just 15mins to spare before that flight had to be cancelled too!
But it was all worth it to get the airport family greeting, the warm sunshine and all the yummy bakery food at the other end! It was a short countdown until Christmas, which was a perfect day indeed. Santa still knew where to visit me in the night, the sun was out in full force which meant Christmas lunch out on the deck with all the
Rangitoto Island
Early morning walk with Dad from Takapuna Beach to Milford trimmings, and best yet I got to spend it with mum and dad, my sister Laura and Trevor, but also my little nieces Amelia and Teresa for the first time and Nana and Pop!
It was great to be visiting my old haunts, checking out the new restaurants and bars along Takapuna, and downtown (who’s heard of Sale Street until now?), and catching up with everyone! Testing out Suz & Matt’s new woodfire pizza oven; goofing around Mission Bay with Josh & Babs; numerous BBQs and drinks with the crew; checking out the rugged west coast of Piha; chatting old times with nana; or beach surfing with the kayaks. Somehow it was also easier to catch up with people living Europe over here, such as JJ; Jamie and Drew; and Brian & Kati (still jealous of those mussels!).
Dad & I went for a lovely walk along the coastline between Takapuna Beach and Milford Beach in the early morning sunshine – can’t do that in London! In short, pretty much any excuse and you’ll find me down at a beach or eating an ice cream!
After Christmas, we once again undertook the family tradition of heading up to
Family Time
Laura, Nana Sutcliffe and me our batch (holiday home) at Matakana. However mum and dad have swapped their country cottage estate for one within walking distance to quaint Matakana Village. This meant it was back to basics camping with two rather excitable rug rats while the new batch is building built. But we’re never short of something to do up there with numerous beaches, bush walks and some pretty good ice cream and fish ‘n chip shops around each corner. One afternoon at Mathesons Bay Dad, Trevor and I went for a bit of a mission along the coast with the sea kayaks and found our very own secluded white sand beach, not a soul in sight, no land access, and perfect waves. This is what I miss about New Zealand.
The next evening was New Years Eve! So it was back with the old school kiwi crew, at nearby Omaha Beach, where we had hired our own beach-front batch. It was a great afternoon of impromptu water fights, barbeques and banter. It was great to be once again spending new years warm enough to be running around on the beach (without 6 layers on) until all hours, and of course the fireworks at
Auckland Watefront
Exploring Auckland with Gareth & Laura midnight 😊
My good friends Gareth and Laura were visiting from London, so came and meet us at Omaha on new years day for a spot of kite surfing and sightseeing. It’s not often that I get to repay my European friends who show me around where they live, so this was rather a treat for me. In the afternoon I took them up to Goat Island for a swim with the fish, then headed down to Auckland to have dinner in Takapuna. The next day I gave them a quick tour of downtown Auckland, before catching the ferry over to Rangitoto Island. The view from the top overlooking Auckland harbour and the surrounding islands is always quite stunning. And no Auckland visit is complete without climbing to the top of one of the volcanoes like Mount Eden and driving around the waterfront to Mission Bay for a glass of vino overlooking the beach.
Mum and Dad also took me for a bit of New Zealand sightseeing to Rotorua for a few days. We had a fantastic time, but will tell you all about it separately 😊
Since it had been so long since I had managed
Laura & Hannah
Family dinner along Auckland's Waterfront to get back to New Zealand, and not sure when I’ll be back again, my sister had arranged a bit of a family reunion. I can’t remember the last time I had seen many of them, let alone all together! Was a great way to end my time back at home
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