NZ Trip

What? Kiwis on their OE talking about a trip to New Zealand? Well it was a flying visit home and very sudden as we had recieved sad news that Duncan's grandmother had passed away. We were on a flight within a couple of days and on our way home to spend a week seeing family. Although the occasion was a very sad one, it was wonderful to be with the whole Chisholm family as it has been a while since we were all together. The 4 days spent in Warkworth and around Mahurangi Heads north of Auckland were particularly memorable. For as long as the grandkids can remember, their grandmother, Panni, had always lived there. Mahurangi Heads is a beautiful place surrounded by beaches, coves, islands, reserves and great weather. The most special place was of course Panni's which is where many a great Christmas was spent swimming, fishing, walking and eating surrounded by wonderful scenery. The funeral service for Panni was very special to everyone there and all the grandkids stood up and said their own words to farewell their grandmother who was so close to them all. We spent a great time together as a family and felt very grateful that we were able to make the journey across the world to be there.

Being in New Zealand was very eerie for us as we had only just really settled into the UK after taking a wee while to adjust. It was so nice to be reminded of all the small things we had been missing so much like meat pies, mussels, pohutukawas and flax. Duncan wasted no time in tucking into a steak and cheese pie from a local bakery at 6 in the morning. We spent many more mornings walking along beaches and around reserves, mainly due to still feeling wide awake at 4am.

After 4 days in Auckland, we spent 4 days in Wellington visiting Becs family and some of our friends from our home town. Becs was so eager to see her family but no where near as eager as her sister was to see her. Becs was nearly tackled back onto the plane as Mel dived through the crowd to hug her. It was really nice to be back in Wellington staying with Becs mum and to see how much the city had changed in only 6 months. We had a very hurried schedule but we managed to get round all the friends and family including Becs meeting her two half brothers for the first time. All we can say is young boys + sugar = chaos. We were even fortunate enough to forfill an invitation we thought were not able to make for a wedding of one of Bec's schoolteacher workmates which was great. We were feeling so shattered by about 4pm most days and were not sure if we would fall asleep if we tried to go out too late but it turned out to be a great wedding and a great night catching up with everyone.

Before we knew it our time was up again and we were dreading the long haul flight back to the UK. The airport goodbyes were not as hard as the first time around but once on the plane, Becs wanted to go give her family another hug which was a little difficult for her.

The flight back was longer than the first flight and we had a fuller plane so things were not as comfy for us. We reached the UK to be greeted by Mike, whom had come to stay a few days before we had to throw him the keys and leave for home.

Although it was by no means a holiday, we felt really blessed to be able to go home for the gathering of Duncan's family during the hard time of the passing of his grandmother. We came back absolutely exhausted but there was no rest for us as we virtually had 1 day before we had to repack for a trip to Dublin which had been planned since we arrived. Sheesh, what a hard life. We decided we never want to be rock stars, travelling really is very tiring and we are not very good at it. Our speciality is staying in one spot but with so much to see, we must carry on.....