It was great to have Rebecca meet us at the airport with our six big bags and two dolly-trolleys and to arrive at Mum and John's two hours later. It's always so good to go home. It was evident Mum and John had been busy as the lawns and house were perfect and there was lots of lovely food prepared.
An hour later Warren and Michael; and Christine and Bo arrived; and Craig and Rebecca came in not long after. Unfortunately, Mallie and Fi couldn't be there - Fi had hurt her back at work the day before and Mallie's Malaysian flight was delayed in Paris for hours. We were thankful for this though as her flight path would have been the same as the Malaysian flight that was shot down.
We had a great night - lots of bubbles, good food and laughs with our favourite people. The time in NZ went too quickly.
Here are some pics:
Christine, who doesn't like rare steak got Jeff to do it over ...
...and over!
Jeff's Bit
What a treat to arrive back home in NZ. As Rach said, our departure from Timor proved a tad traumatic but we arrived back on the same plane and no bits missing.As we came out of the airport in Auckland (bloody hell it was cold), it was such a treat to see Rebecca's smiling face pull up!
Arriving and finding Kathleen and John and 'Our Room' ready is always a treat but never more so than that day as it really was to be the first-day-of-the-rest-of-our-lives.
Rach was a bit concerned that I did not seem to have a smile in many of the photos but when I looked at them I realised it was because, whenever a photo was being taken, I was always struggling to get my eyeballs pointing in the same direction.
The three nights in Matamata were as always special:
- The Reunion on Saturday night (Kathleen I promise I checked the paint on the ceiling of the deck: it was not scorched (despite Christine's best efforts to the contrary)
- Champaign brunch with Warren and Michael was so much fun
- Fish and chips on Sunday night were great (like the ABs, they beat the Poms hands down)
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Monday night at Rebecca and Craig's it was so good to see the boys and watch the video of their bike trip.
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