New years eve we stay up and watch the fireworks on the TV which is pretty spectacular, we can also hear it and see the sky light up from the balcony. I thought the 9pm kids show was pretty special but the midnight fireworks were incredible.

The next few weeks are a bit of a blur, Joanne (Rowan’s mum) is back from Europe. We run around looking for shoe laces and other odd things we need to get walking again. We give up trying to find 2m shoe laces and end up buying some rope from a hiking store. My sandals nearly break, another thing to go find. The list goes on.

We get a chance to do a little sightseeing. But I mostly spend these weeks getting Rowan’s business partner Eddy organised. There is a lot of maintenance and additions to do to his building in Labuan Bajo. I also take over social media adding another 6 accounts, 3 Facebook & 3 Instagrams. You may wonder why there is three different businesses well… Eddy’s Adventures is the tour guide business he has had for years. Eddy’s Place is what came of the backpackers when covid hit. Eddy needed income for his family so he set it up as a basic cafe for locals. Now we are getting the property ready to be run as a 7 day a week eatery. Eddy has some reliable staff to run it while he keeps up his tours. Right now is monsoon season so no tourists around. Anakarang is a charity Eddy started years ago which helps with marine life and the local children. I really enjoy doing the charity page.

Before we know it we have a few days before we leave. It is going to be a big change for Bette not having us around. I am looking forward to getting back to it. Our flight arrives in Wellington at 12am so really Friday rather than Thursday. We have a list of shops to get to gear to replace.