Kia Ora

We are here - in this beautiful, wonderful country, together, as a family again.
the noodle and i landed late saturday night after a great flight, a breeze thru passport control, a hassle with some lost luggage and the best sight in the world, Deon tapping me on my shoulder as we walked into the arrivals hall !!



a quick list of what we have done thus far:
Sat night : stayed in hotel at Auckland Airport
Sun AM: traced lost luggage
Sun Midday: did some shopping at Warehouse (as it was David's bag that was missing he needed some clean, warm clothes and it was cold and raining)
Sun Midday: food shopping at FoodTown
Sun Midday: started journey to Whangarei - busy roads, slow speed limit, quite a lot of traffic but lovely scenery and such a lot to take in...
Sun Lunchtime: stopped at picnic spot for an al fresco lunch on the side of the road surrounded by native bush and the famous silver fern - beautiful ! I Love this Place !

Sun arvi : arrived in Whangarei - a lovely town with quiet streets and pretty suburbs
Sun arvi : checked into fancy hotel near the water
Sun arvi : walked along the town basin / wharf - looked at all the lovely boats, wandered around the little shops, noodle played in the park (clean, safe and full of other kids) and had an ice cream cone - did i mention how much i love this place !
Sun eve : had the best fish & chips i have ever eaten for an early supper
Sun eve: Noodle falls asleep in record time .25 secs :)
Sun night: asleep by 8pm - think the jet-lag might has set in....
Mon AM: Air New Zealand delivers lost luggage to friends' house - no-one was home so they just left the bags round the back of the house - did i mention i love this place !
Mon midday : checked into Motel Sierra - our home for the week until we find a house to rent

Mon Lunch : braai at Marnitz's (friends Deon stayed with) - great day - good food, good chats and the kids all played like long-lost pals
Mon eve: quick grocery shop at Pak 'n Save - what choice & quality - did i mention i love this place !
Tomorrow we start house hunting, finding a way to get our unaccompanied bag from auckland to Whangarei, buy a local sim card for me and see more of this beautiful town that is now our home !!
Deon's passport should be delivered with that elusive (but now approved) 2 year work permit in it and he starts work on Wednesday !!
DID I MENTION I LOVE THIS PLACE !!

We Start Saying Good-bye

We started our good-byes where i was born and bred, in good 'ol PE.
We flew there with "Zu" & "Bumpa" (My Dad and Sue) and stayed with my brother Mike and his two lovely daughters, Donna & Kayla. Other cousin, Maya was there too and David was fawned over by his girl cousins like he was a prince.
It was also Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) so we put on a big spread and had lots of other family & friends to join in the celebration.









Mike took us all for a drive to Jeffrey's Bay so the big boy cousins could have a surf and the girl cousins could do some shopping at the Billabong Factory shop and the littlest cousin had a ball on the beach there. My sister, Tammy and I also had a great day with all the kids at the Boardwalk and on Hobie Beach where David discovered the joys of the warm Indian Ocean.

I loved being back at places from my youth and was so pleased to be able to spend the time with my family before leaving.
The past couple weeks in Cape Town has also been really special with friends and family finally realising that we are leaving SOON so lots of braai's, dinners and lunches been happening !
Last Tuesday SVL arrived to start packing the container.... i was comletely blown away by their professionalism, dedication and friendliness - nothing was a problem (and believe you me, there where a few....) and they had our house packed and wrapped and the container sealed by midday Wednesday - next time we see anything that is in there will be Whangarei - yah !!