I'm not really sure how to comment on a wedding - words don't seem enough. The ceremony was lovely and very moving, and the rest of the afternoon/evening was heaps of fun - good food, dancing, chatting, excellent company... :-) It was nice to hang out with some of my Kiwi London friends in New Zealand, and also good to catch up with some of the crowd from Invercargill, and to have all these people meet each other! The brunch at Tash's mum's house the next day was great too - very relaxed, and hot! I thought I wasn't sitting in the sun but got sunburnt all the same!
Beck and Steve
Sarah and I
Mr and Mrs Nick and Tash receiving their marriage certificate from the celebrant
Nick and Tash and the amazing Bay of Plenty sunsetThe day before the wedding was my birthday so I wasn't expecting much because a wedding is much more exciting than a birthday! But I was very pleasantly surprised by some fantastic presents and wishes from lots of people. Thank you all! The first minutes of my birthday (using the NZ time zone) were spent in the rooftop pool at Singapore Airport. Very nice :-)
A bit of an aside - before our swim Beck and I did a free 2 hour tour of Singapore that is offered to anyone who is there in transit for five hours or more. I would definitely recommend! And if you have more time after the tour, you're allowed to go back into town and have a look around before coming back for your flight.
Back to NZ...
The next step of my trip was a night Ohope with my sister Kim, then she drove me to Rotorua to stay with my sister, brother-in-law, and niece for a few days. Last time I saw my niece Phaedra she was only a few months old and now she is two! She is talking more every day and managed to turn my name into "Lilise" or something like that. Although apparently now she can actually say Lisa!
Phaedra and I on the swing at play-groupAfter an all-too-short few days in Rotorua I bussed to Wellington and spent two nights there with my friend Charlotte and then flew down to Invercargill, where I was just in time for the Envronment Southland Christmas party. The theme was Bad Taste and I managed to come up with something by layering a lot of my clothes and over-doing the make-up. See for yourself...
It was a really good night and a great way to catch up with all my ex-workmates. It took some of them a while to realise that I have actually been away since last April!
Needless to say, the next few days were spent catching up with lots of people, including a walk on the beach with wigs on :-) (as you do!)
From Invercargill I made my way back up the South Island, with stops in Lauder (Central Otago) and Christchurch to see more friends. By the time I got back to Blenheim I was quite tired. Bus travel and catch-up drinks every night really takes it's toll! ;-)
So, one night in Blenheim and then off to Punga Cove with the family for the weekend. The weather wasn't fantastic but that didn't stop us from going water-skiing and swimming. Especially when there is a spa pool to warm up in afterwards!
We visited Ship Cove, which we hadn't been to for ages. There has been some work there recently and there were really interesting information boards about Captain Cook and his interactions with the Maori and all the history about the area. It was probably also the calmest water and the warmest weather we saw all weekend and we didn't have our togs!
Mum, Dad, Briar and KimWe got back on Monday and the rest of the week until I left on Friday was good and relaxing, with a walk, a bike ride, yummy dinners, and a winery lunch. Excellent.
On the way back I had a really long stopover in Singapore which wasn't actually too bad. I got a room for 6 hours (you can't beat horizontal sleep), had a massage and a swim in the pool, and wandered around the shops quite a lot.
Then back to London for a night before coming home to Glasgow on the train.
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