Tuesday 1 May 2012

haere mai

As we took off, Tea said “It feels sweet and sour”.  I was puzzled for a fraction of a second.  Ah, she means bittersweet…

The last week has been hectic, packing our lives’ belongings and loading them all onto three trucks to be transported to the container at the port, getting our house renovated and spruced up for the tenants who will come and live in our home, making sure we have all the necessary vaccinations and papers for our world trip, trying at the same time to be sensitive to the girls’ emotional reactions to all this happening.  Thank goodness for friends, mothers and godmothers!

As we landed in Auckland in the dark of night, we could hardly see a thing but we already knew what a perfect place it was to start the world trip.  Our rental car was waiting for us as promised.  We drove an hour and a half to the bach near Matheson Bay where our lovely friends Liz and Rupert were waiting, half asleep, but with champagne and wine glasses waiting.  Liz and Rupert lived in Malaysia for several years and we had become fast friends.  They came back to NZ about more than a year ago.  Liz and I made several escapades together to Vietnam and Bangkok and our families holidayed together.  It was wonderful to reconnect and when the children saw each other the next morning, it was as if they had never been apart.

Liz and Rupert’s bach is gorgeous; you wake up to an amazing view from any side of the house.   We spent the weekend at the beach in Matheson Bay, checking out the Matakana farmers’ market, where we sampled some whitebait fritters and feijoas (Anais is now addicted to them); the Burtons adopted a little puppy now christened Milly.

It was a rather short stay in Auckland and there were more people we wanted to see (definitely next time Lisa!) but we loved every minute of it.  Today we are in Papamoa, near the Bay of Plenty. 









Tea wrote in her journal that the best part of her day was the Kelly Tarlton Underwater world in Auckland and eating pizza on the beach.   Then she added “I miss my friends”.  Sweet and sour indeed.

4 comments:

  1. Oh my god! The places look gorgeous and looks like you guys are having a great time! I drove past your house that Friday late afternoon to avoid the jam on the way to Bangsar, and I saw a mover truck unloading furniture. Felt sad! Anyway, keep us posted and continue to make us feel so jealous that we are stuck in the office, and exploring the world wide web instead of the world, like you!!!! he he he.

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  2. Coucou à tous,
    Quelle idée superbe !!! et merci de nous en faire profiter par vos photos et ces belles explications tout au long du monde. Nous allons vous suivre avec beaucoup de plaisir :-))
    Solène et Élodie ont écrit qqs histoires qui plairont certainement à Tea et Anaïs aux 4 coins du monde à lire ici : http://lesaventuresdesouriceau.wordpress.com/ Bises à vous

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  3. Hi Viv, JB, Tea & Anais

    What fabulous photos & of course great writing. And making us cry with that lovely tale about your school bag. All set up, lit and photographed. Tears are rolling all over. It appears the adventures have begun. With hesitation far behind...probably lost in tail wind or head wind. I'm not one into airplanes.
    How much fun will the next 3 months bring?
    Very happy to read and view the progress.
    Keep it coming faster!!!
    Hugs to all.

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  4. so nice to read your adventures! enjoy every second of the trip and keep on surprising us with your gorgeous pictures & stories. xxx from amsterdam

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