We got an in-flight message from Rob's mum which was entertaining - the stewardess came to our seat and had to work very hard to keep a straight face while she told us that "your Aunty Ronnie will pick you up from the airport".
Sure enough, Ronnie did pick us up, which we were very grateful for. We got in at 5.30am, went to Ronnie's house, had a shower and something to eat, and then she drove us to the rental car place where we picked up a wee Ford hatchback. Then I drove five and a half hours to New Plymouth. I hadn't driven since before we left for London so I was a little nervous, but it was fine. I had to do the driving as Rob isn't supposed to drive for 6 months and besides, his licence has lapsed.
It was nice driving through all the wee NZ towns. We stopped and got a steak and cheese pie each at a bakery and they were amazing. Just the first of many kiwi favourites I had to sample before we left. When we got to New Plymouth we stopped in at the Vet Group and surprised everyone. Anne had kept it a secret that we had coming and was very relieved that it was finally out. We got to look around the new building which is great, but I am told already too small!
Matt made us Hellers sausages for tea - Yum! And we had jelly-tip ice-cream for dessert.
The next day Anne had the afternoon off so we met her at work, then went to East End Beach and had a coffee with Chris, before going to an old favourite - Arborio - for lunch. We had, by this stage, realised that prices in NZ had gone up exponentially since we left, so we limited ourselves to a pizza and fries between us. That night we went to Lone Star for tea with the NPVG crew. I had the Johnny Cash Stash and Rob had a giant pile of ribs. It was yummy, as usual, but maybe not quite as yummy as I remembered it.
The next day we left for Taupo, after doing a spot of suit and shoe shopping for Rob. We were staying with Sarah and Simon. We had KFC for tea (before Sarah got home) because I wanted potato and gravy (you can't get it in the UK), but it wasn't that good (not really unusual to be disapointed by KFC I suppose). The next day we went for a walk down to the Lake. It was amazingly clear and beautiful and a lovely day.
We left Taupo around lunch-time so we would be back for the Hen's night. It took absolutely ages to get back into Auckland because of the traffic though, so by the time we got to Claire and Ian's house in Ponsonby we were running quite late. I spruced myself up and Wanda and I took a taxi to the starting point of the night - an Italian restaurant. Rob and Owen waited at the house for the guys to get back from shooting hockey pucks at Ian, and from there went to some dodgey strip joint.
When Wanda and I got to the restaurant Kat, Owen's girlfriend, was already there. It was good to get to know her a bit better as we'd only met once before Rob and I went to London. There wasn't much time to eat before we had our next event (all of this was a surprise for Claire by the way), which was a Kareoke Party Bus. Claire was ecstatic, and we spent the next hour belting out some eighties classics. Then it was on to Whare Aroha (Claire's old flat) for an A&E party (because that was where Claire and Ian ended up on their first date). The "surprise" arrived, which was a gigantic fireman stripper, very entertaining. It was a really good night and Claire's bridesmaids did a wonderful job at organising it all.
The next day was Good Friday. Owen, Kat, Rob and I swapped our little rental for a bigger one that would do all four of us. While we were waiting for it to be ready, we went across the road to get something to eat. We went into a nice-looking place and ordered some eggs and coffees for the four of us. Unfortunately we forgot about the Public Holiday Surcharge and walked out $130 lighter...
The car we got was pretty good for the price. Owen took over the driving duties and we drove out to Puhoi, which was where the wedding was and where we would be staying for the next few days. The place we stayed was called Kauri Glen Lodge.
We found out there would be around 11 of us in the one house, which had one bathroom... Fortunately Ian's family and friends turned out to be really nice people, so it wasn't a trial at all. Owen, Rob, Kat and I shared a room which was fun as we don't get to see them very often.
On Saturday we did a few things to help Claire with the wedding, and got a few groceries to get us through the weekend. Only $300 worth.... Admittedly some of that was on New Zealand lollies we missed. That night we had a yummy barbeque for tea. We also hopped in the spa which was lovely.
Sunday was Ian's birthday. While Ian and Claire were out getting some stuff sorted we went to the little Puhoi market, where I bought some lemon honey, then to the Puhoi tearooms, which apparently do the best Devonshire teas South of Devon! We didn't have one but other people did and the scones looked absolutely massive. When Ian and Claire were back we went to a driving range with golf driving, baseball hitting and air-rifle shooting which was good fun. Then we made a massive amount of spag bol to feed 16 people, which went down very well. Afterwards Ian got a couple of birthday cakes and presents.
The Big Day dawned rainy, a shame after a couple of really nice sunny days. We took our time getting ready and then it was time to go to the church. The wedding was beautiful, and Claire looked amazing. No one cared about the rain.
The reception was at a hall across the road from the church. Rob and Owen were MCs, and had a bit of a test of skill when the power went off in the hall before Claire and Ian had arrived. The wedding planner was desperately trying to get it sorted, but when the happy couple arrived and Rob told them to go round the block another couple of times, Claire just shrugged and asked for another bottle of champagne.
Eventually it all got sorted and we had a lovely buffet dinner, heard some entertaining speeches and TJ and Zac hosted some German wedding games which were a hit with the crowd. It was really nice to catch up with the family and see people we hadn't seen for a year and a half, including Rob's cousin who's had a new baby. The band was really good, a bluesy rock band with the bassist doing some amazing things with his double bass, everyone was up and dancing until the hall closed at 11, then we went back to the lodge and chatted and had milos.
The family all gathered the next day for the post-wedding BBQ at the Lodge. There were lots of goodbyes and then Owen, Kat, Rob and I went drove back into Auckland. We went into Ponsonby and met Kat's friend, Rob, then we went to Mission Bay and had good old fish and chips followed by extremely yummy, huge, Movenpick ice-creams. We stayed at Ronnie's that night then Kat and Owen had to leave at 5.30am to catch their plane back to Melbourne while we got to leave at a far more civilised time of 8am.
When we got to Christchurch, Dad picked us up and we got our first glimpse of the earthquake damage. A lot of the roads are sunk and askew. Mum and Dad's house have some pretty bad cracks and some doors that don't do what they're supposed to. A lot of the houses on the street have not escaped lightly though and many are now empty. That afternoon we got to meet my brother's baby, Remy Blue, for the first time as Dad was looking after him while Nick and Sarah were moving out of their flat, which was really lovely, he's a gorgeous little guy. We also went round to see our cats at Wanda's place. Wanda's been away for a while, and the neighbour has been feeding them. We got a bit of a shock as Peep was extremely fat while Bella was extremely skinny. Because Peep was too fat she couldn't reach round to groom herself, so her back fur was all matted. We made an appointment at the vets for the next day.
We got spoiled at Mum and Dad's with yummy home-cooked meals. That night Nick and Sarah came round for vegetarian lasagne.
The next day Nick dropped off Remy and we got some more cuddle time, then we took the cats into the vet. The vet we saw was in my class at vet school. She was a bit surprised to see me as I should be able to treat my cats myself, but I don't have any facilities to do that so she drew the short straw... especially with Bella being her usual self and needing sedation to have her blood taken. Peep got her back shaved and got the all clear with her blood tests, but poor Bella ws diagnosed with hyperthyroidism - exactly what we had suspected given her dramatic weight loss given her huge appetite. We decided to shell out the $600 to have her treated with radioactive iodine after we'd talked it over with Wanda.
We went to see our good friends, the Ashdowne's that night. Nic was away but Simon and the boys were there. We got in some time with our Godson Max which was cool.
On Friday it was my birthday. We went to Winnie Bagoes for a really good lunch and got dessert pizza for after. Sadly, Nick, Sarah and Remy Blue were leaving for Berlin today. We went to the airport to see them off, keeping in mind that we would be able to see them soon. Afterwards Rob and I went to the movies and saw Paul. Kind of an expensive night out in New Zealand nowadays, but still a nice birthday treat.
Another exciting event was on that night - The Royal Wedding! We stayed up and watched it and were a bit jealous at our friends back in London having a public holiday and going to street parties and and BBQs...
Saturday we caught up with the Ashdowne's again and all the old Christchurch crew. It was great seeing everyone again, but we felt a bit sad that we'd missed out on a few weddings and things. Simon baked me a birthday cake which I was absolutely chuffed about!
Beforehand Dad took us into the city as far as we could go to see the earthquake damage. It was sobering to see what was left of the CTV building, and to know that there were still bodies that had not been recovered from the rubble.
It was devastating to see all the empty spaces where landmarks used to be. It was hard to get our bearings with all the missing buildings.
We got more of a look at the problems in poor old Christchurch on Sunday. Mum, Dad, Rob and I went to the Arts Centre Market which was being held in Ferrymead. Not many of the stalls had even turned up, but at least we had a look around Ferrymead which was nostalgic. We also saw all the poor houses on the hill looking all sad and wobbly, and saw where all the big rocks had fallen off the cliffs.
After that Rob and I went on to meet Katherine and Neill and baby Solomon in the Speights Ale House in Ferrymead and had lunch. It was good to catch up with them on how they were going since leaving London. After lunch we went to Sumner and walked up the esplanade. Then it was time for yet another goodbye.
Monday we went to Brighton with Dad and had ice-creams. The pier and beach looked beautiful but isn't safe to swim in yet.
Rob's mum was arriving from Auckland so we went and picked her up from the airport, and then had lunch from the bakery. We all had dinner at my parent's house, our last night in New Zealand. Then we went round for a last visit with Simon, Nic and the kids.
Tuesday was mostly spent packing and sitting around talking, until we were to leave for Los Angeles for the airport. More sad goodbyes, and we were off to Auckland so we could connect with our flight to LA.
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