Oh my goodness!!! Talk about blast from the past!!! At the beginning of the year I got an email from one of my dear friends from my ICS teaching days - Beth LaMertha!!! She and her sister asked if they could come to Wellington to visit us... I mean really, do you need to ask to come visit?!?! NO WAY - JUST BOOK IT!!!! Well, book it they did and we spent a whole week catching up, looking forward, hanging out - it was almost like old times - only 14 years, 3-4 countries, 2 children later... And you can only imagine, though, I was giddy as a school girl to have my dear friend and her dear sister around just to hang out with us.
Now, most people couldn't believe they'd come all the way to NZ and only hang out in Wellington, for only 6 nights. For you hard-core travellers, I do have to say they only came from Indonesia (via China - a mere 16+ hours of travel) and they only had one week off school... so YES! They are crazy but what great friends... But knowing that, I did try to show them as much of Wellington as possible.
Upon arrival, they were thrilled to see streets only slightly scattered with people - unlike the bustling cities they've lived in over the past decades. They caught a few hours of sleep - actually, I think the kids did leave them alone that first morning so they did get a pretty sound sleep - then it was our typical Sunday: church, lunch with church folks, open homes, church.... Well, they've got to see the real Wellington, right!?!? Plus open homes give people a good idea of what people live like in a town... right!?!? HA! We had a few good laughs over how different Arise Church here is from the church I went to while living in Korea together... Beth said she chuckled through the whole service (which was probably helpful when you've travelled such a long distance - sitting still can bring on symptoms of jetlag ). The fun part was working together with other women from some of the women's groups at church to put together Easter gift baskets as part of our community outreach. It's always fun serving together!
After such a full Sunday, we all took a much slower pace on Monday - in fact we just played cribbage and discussed education (they're both still serving in the International Christian School system as a High School English teacher and Elementary School Principal - how convenient!). We were having such good conversations that we were late picking up Helena from her Kindergarten... oops!
We had an ICS reunion on Monday night - Grace was Beth's student at ICS Seoul!!! And now here we all were on Ironside Road, Wellington, NEW ZEALAND!!! How wild is that!?!? What a small world and what a big family!!!
Tuesday morning was our BIG DAY OUT... which started bright and early serving breakfast with the Arise team at Windley School! The kids and I have been volunteering fortnightly to get to know the students and the way the church is making a difference at a practical level. I knew Beth and Charity would love the opportunity to see a school and meet some students - so it was a great start to a day out and about.
Hunter and Helena get right in there moving furniture around so that the room is ready for the students when they arrive around 7:45. The students are all very polite and grateful and enjoy some healthy breakfast options to get them started for a day of learning. We take card games along when we go so the kids can play inside as well. It's really cool to see my children interacting, serving and making friends with others.
In the drizzle, we drove north from 9am and headed toward Cape Palliser in the Wairapa for the rest of the day. Along the way, we got really lucky!!!! Tourist dream come true....
sheep!!!
Lots and lots and lots of sheep...
right in the middle of the road!!! How exciting!!!
And then... when we got to the Cape Palliser, we saw sea lions... lots and lots of sea lions!!! What a perfect day in New Zealand...
We spent some time relaxing along the rocks while the kids explored and we ate... then it was time for the main event...
Two hundred and fifty-two stairs... to the top of the lighthouse!
Yay... we made it!
It was such an amazing view... and we got to take it all in... for a few minutes anyway until Helena's dangling legs freaked Hunter out and well, we needed the long drop for the third time in an hour and a half.
After the fun at the Cape... we went over to Greytown for a little look around and well... more snacks! I'd promised the kids an ice-block so they got theirs... the girls got some real tip-top... and then, we had tea! In fact, we sat down at the cutest little cafe ever where we had a whole pot, plus a GF pizza, some nuts and some hot chips! That's a real kiwi day out!!
On Wednesday, the girls had "The Best Day Ever"... they went on a Lord of the Rings full day tour around Wellington!!! WHAT A BLAST! We carried on with regular life until they came home with heaps of stories to share around the dinner table!!!
Thursday, we went over to Te Papa for a short time before the rest of our 'normally scheduled' activities... so we left the girls to wander around town for the last time.
Oh yeah, we've got some new neighbours... these trolls have shown up to welcome visitors to the Museum...
We spent the rest of Thursday packing up and getting ready for our early morning trip to Auckland...
How funny that we had booked a flight to Auckland over Easter weekend... and it happened to be on the same plane as these girls!!! YAY!
While on the plane, Tony and I made a decision - and I surprised the girls in Auckland with the fact that I was going to accompany them on a tour to HOBBITON!!!! YAHOO... Girls Day Out!!!
So while Tony and the kids were celebrating Good Friday in Devonport with Nanni and Papa, the girls and I were transferred to another space and time...
Considering there's been a drought across the country for a month, this greenery really did feel like another space and time... but here we are...
at The Shire!!!
And though one of these two is the major fan - I really enjoyed my day out in Hobbiton and found the whole thing absolutely fascinating... especially the details!
And the laundry... apparently it was somebody's job every morning to hang clothes on the line and take them down every evening to make the paths look worn and real... my goodness, they think of everything!!!
The Party Tree!!!
We walked around the Shire on a guided tour for about an hour... and boy were we parched in this endless NZ summer... thankfully there was some refreshing ginger beer on offer as we got a moment to enjoy just being together (oh who am I kidding, Beth was excited to be where Hobbits hung out!)... and we joked most of the day about them being the Hobbits and me being the Elf...
We made it to the North Shore in time for one last cuddle with the kids and a Kiwi feast prepared by Bev... and we even got to take the girls to the look out at Mount Vic to see the view of Rangitoto and Auckland Harbour... see... we know how to show our guests around and cram in every last moment of togetherness...
And then... they drove off into the dusk for the next leg of their adventure back to Indonesia...
Thanks sisters for being here... you are ALWAYS welcome back!!!
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