Home again.

We're home, a little later than planned, but home safely. A three hour delay in Sydney meant that we missed our connecting flights to Manchester and then the Island, so we had an extra night away! We stayed in Manchester and enjoyed a relaxing evening and morning in our hotel recovering from our huge journey. It began at about 11am Friday in NZ and ended about 6am Sunday NZ time. We actually finally made it back to our own home at about 6am Monday NZ time!

It's cold and wet! The wind was blowing all night long and guess who couldn't sleep? So, I spent some time sorting out photos and doing a few other jobs.

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I thought you might like to see a few more wedding pictures.

Our celebrant Wendy opens proceedings.
Tony's bro signing the license.
My bro organised a surprise for me.
Just one of the reasons I love him! ;-)
We took a stroll through the expansive gardens, stopping here and there for a photo.
Lee was in charge of the camera. Thank you Lee. XX
A very special lady, Tony's (Grand Mother) Nanny. She was born here in Britain and moved to NZ after the war.
Steve and Lee. Lee was not only the photographer she was also my brides assistant for the day, she took me shopping for the dress etc I slept over at her place the night before, she did my hair and probably stacks of other stuff I just don't remember.
Steve, Lee and family.
Hunneys sister Lisa, her husband and their family.Brothers!
Hunneys mum and his sister Lisa again! Shh! Don't tell either of them we managed to get a picture!
Uncle Tony with the children.
A special guest, he was invited, I had a word over the fence the day before. LOL
Our wedding cake.

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Thank you to every one who has commented while we were away especially those who left good wishes before and after our wedding, you helped to make the day special too.

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I have loads more pictures to show, you'll see them in the next few days.

I came home to a pile of mail including two very special packages. More about that next time.

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Gratitude's

1) I had a great holiday.

2) I became a member of a lovely family.

3) I have more wonderful memories.

Last Days

Tomorrow is our last day in New Zealand. We have spent time with all of Tonys nieces and family members. It's been great to see them all again.

Still catching up with one or two last bits of essential shopping. Today we visited another quilty shop, there have been a few! Todays was Obsession 2 Quilt in Temuka. Yes, I spent more money and I'm the proud owner of one of their Kiwiana quilt kits. The ladies were very friendly and I enjoyed my time in their shop.

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Can't have a post without a picture so I thought I should show you another postcard picture. This is Caroline bay. The land has been made into a beautiful park area, with a skate park for the big kids and a swing park for the little kids, a boardwalk along the sands and lots of room to play or relax. We spent a lot of time down there. There is also an aviary, a fair ground which opens soon for the summer holidays, an open air theater and some beautiful rose gardens.

I have lots more pictures of the area and will share more another time. Tomorrow we have a round of goodbyes to do and hopefully a good nights sleep before we fly out on Friday evening. I can't believe how fast the time has gone, I've enjoyed my time here and just don't want it to end.

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Gratitude's

1) The sun is still shining.

2) A wonderful holiday

3) Lots of lovely people.

Otago Museum.

On our travels last week Tony and I visited the Otago Museum in Dunedin. I was particularly keen to visit the Discovery World Tropical Forest. The place was full of beautiful butterflies.

I can't help feeling just a little jealous that Hunney got better acquainted than I did.

I thoroughly enjoyed it though and after a look around the rest of the museum, I insisted that we go back into the tropical house for another look.

Just a couple of days left here in New Zealand, we're spending as much time as possible with our nieces and catching up with some other relatives too as well as some last minute shopping.

It was much more than a quilt show.

I didn't realise it until we got there, but there was much more than a quilt show on at Geraldine yesterday! There was a whole village show on.

Amid all the hundreds of stalls, the girls and I found a face painting place. Meet Katherine on the left and Laura on the right. Aren't they just too cute!

Look at the crowds of people, it was very busy and the sun was shining.
You know me, I didn't just get my face painted, I also bought a bag. At the quilt show I took a few pictures too. There were some beautiful and inspiring quilts on display. I'll post piccies of those another day.

Gratitude's

1) Another sunny day

2) Beautiful nieces.

3) Still having a wonderful time.

From the Honeymooners!

Remember I showed you some pictures I took on a previous visit to New Zealand. Included in them was an image from Lake Benmore? Well we revisited. Although it was blowing hard I felt the same sense of peace, it's such a beautiful place.

We have just a week of our visit left and I feel like I haven't been here for five minutes. Spending the day with Lee and the girls today, we're off to Geraldine to see a quilt show! Really looking forward to that.

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Gratitude's

1) A lovely holiday.

2) Lots of happy memories.

3) It still didn't rain on us.