Auckland!

Brilliant... I'm home!
Flew back to Auckland from Nelson after a 3 night stay with Grandad and a visit with relatives. Had a wonderful morning before flying out this arvo.

VISITING THE RELATIVES

I'm staying with my 83 year old Grandfather down in the South Island in Nelson. It is my favourite location in New Zealand as the sky is most often clear and bright blue. It is winter and I can see the snow capped mountains in the distance as I look past the golden sand beach at Tahunanui. This afternoon we took my Grandmother out for a drive, up the river and then to the top of the hills that surround Nelson. It has been lovely to see her but also very sad as she has had several strokes since I last saw her and can no longer walk or talk and lives in a rest home. Later this afternoon we visited my great Aunt Margaret who is in hospital. She has a wicked sense of humour. It's fish 'n chips for dinner tonight. It is my last night here in Nelson before I fly back to Auckland for a week. I must try not to miss my flight this time!
I can't wait to see my friends and hang out.

Go the All Blacks!

Had a great night out at the rugby. Lightening struck over the stadium as the All Blacks performed the Haka! Although not an entirely exciting game, it is still awesome to beat the Australians and win both the Bledisloe Cup and the Tri Nations. Only one more cup left to win this year ... THE WORLD CUP. It's less that 2 months away and I'm getting so excited about heading up to Scotland and Wales to see the All Blacks play.

- I took the photo that I used in the header of this page from my seat in the new stand. Not a bad view aye! Gotta love it when you can get free tickets :-)









- Views from One Tree Hill, Auckland

New Zealand/Aotearoa - The Land of the Long White Cloud

I'm home at last! I arrived just after midnight yesterday. What a wonderful 24 hours I've had. After a wee sleep in I walked to my appointment at the bank and then was met by my Aunty Mary (the old lady who lived down the road from us when I was a kid) and we stopped at the bakery before heading up One Tree Hill to enjoy lunch and the beautiful views over Auckland. Then back to Janine's for a quick afternoon nap before she got home. My god she spoilt me by cooking a 3 course meal! We started with leek and potato soup, then stroganoff followed by apple pie and ice cream. It was an amazing feast.

So now it is the morning before the big rugby test between New Zealand and Australia. I'm so excited. We're heading out early to the stadium at about 5:30pm. I can't wait :-)

NEW HAIRSTYLE!

Have just had a brilliant morning hanging out with a friend Jo. She flew down to the Sunshine Coast for her wedding shower yesterday and then came out to Mum's place today for a champagne breakfast. So great to see her but of course I always hate the goodbyes! Will miss her like crazy when I am off in Uzbekistan.

Had my hair cut earlier in the week. I wanted to get something a little funky and I guess that is what I ended up with. I love it!

I've got three more nights here in Aussie before I fly back home to NZ for a couple of weeks. I'm starting to get a little anxious about my upcoming adventures. More courage please!

Finally...

I managed to get the photo above of the kangaroos in the field across the road from my Mum's house. I was out there as the sun came up over the trees and they were starting to wake up. Very cool fun to see them hopping through the field.


- I took this photo of the macadamia nut farm next door to my parent's house.



It was so much fun today to hang out with Mum. We headed out to Malaney (a hippy town) to look in second hand bookshops and to sit in a cafe and watch the world walk by. I'm so excited to catch up with my old (I meant... former) flatmate Jo, who is flying down for her wedding shower on Sunday. Yippy. A very unexpected surprise :-) More hugs please!




- my parent's dog Zoe.

Yippy

Big hugs to you if you followed my links and are checking out my blog for the first time. If you leave a comment I will be totally inspired to update it more regularly :-)
Well (said with a southern drawl), it is another beautiful winters day here in sunny Queensland, Australia. So we're off to the mall! How crazy is that. We'll be back home hopefully in time for lunch and to lounge in the sun by the pool :-) There is room for a few more if you care to join us.
Love from The Mad Kiwi

Update from Australia

After a whirlwind 3 week adventure that took me from Raleigh, NC, USA to London, then Belfast, followed by a very unexpected transit through Los Angeles, then Auckland, New Zealand, I finally reached Queensland, Australia! Yippy. It is so good to be home with family... and the dog. The weather is brilliant. It is strange to get sunburnt in the middle of winter but I've loving it. Nothing much on the agenda for the next 10 days but I'm sure there will be lots of afternoon naps and relaxing with a good book. Hugs to everyone from me.