Christmas Eve is here. We wake up in beautiful Whangaparāoa with lots of family around us. Unfortunately Nana has a stomach bug and is not doing well. We all plan to get out of her hair so she can rest. Rowan and I were going to take Ellery back to Emma in the city but my mom ended up doing it. Instead we went to the op shops, got some last minute groceries and some gas for the camper. We had a nice afternoon at Runamuck with the kids running around. They have built a garage there now which is great if you can’t be bothered putting up a tent. There is now a flushing toilet and solar power. It sure is a change, I am not sure I like the modern amenities, I quite enjoyed the rustic camping. A nice campfire finishes off the day.

Christmas Day – woke up to my sister Sarah and her family all awake for Christmas Day. My cousins and kids were still sleeping. We had a laid back morning, more family arrived from 11am.

Rowan and I had Franzi & Nicholas from Germany come for lunch. We met Franzi on our Antarctica trip. It was great to see her and meet her partner. It is coming up five years since we did that trip.

Also I invented my bestie Sarah & her family. Silly me I should have got a photo!

It was great to see the extended family. It went really fast and I feel like I didn’t get to see everyone but there was quite a few people, not exactly shocking.

Boxing Day

Nana is still under the weather. We hang around until lunch time and then make our way to Papamoa. I wish we had been able to come up that week earlier and had more time with the family. I got to spend all of a few hours with my dad. Mum said we can stay at her place in Papamoa so we end up staying two nights. When going over the Kaimai Range it is a must to fill up your water bottles with the lovely spring water!

We get a chance to clean and organise the chaos of our home. We have been a bit lazy with putting things away properly. Rowan and I decide to treat ourselves to a fancy lunch at Lantern. The food was really nice. Not as good as a Michelin place however pretty good for Papamoa.

Rowan and I start to head South East, we are on our way to Tikitiki for a christening. We take our time stopping often along the way. I get a text message just out of Whakatāne, “hey we are behind you!” My aunty Deb & uncle Sam are behind us, with my cousin Tiana and her son Samson. We pull over when we can and have a chat. They recommend fuelling up and getting food here or Optiki. We end up doing both in Opitiki and running into them again.

A stunning part of New Zealand here on the East. It has been a very long time since I have been out to Tikitiki. We arrive and discover which of the many Marae the family is staying. With a very warm welcome we settle in. There are a lot of faces and people I have not seen in a long time. It is really lovely to see everyone again or for the first time.

The Marae is well equipped for smaller groups. It has everything you need to feed 50 to 100 people.

A wonderful day here in Tikitiki. We are here to christen three of my cousins kids. All three girls were christened in this spectacular church and now their kids are here with the same minister. We watched a video of the girls last night and it was great to see my Nana & Grandpa so young.

Tikitiki church is from the 1920s and is considered to be the most beautiful Māori churches in New Zealand. The stained glass and the carvings. It is ornate and incredibly involute throughout. if you ever are out this way definitely go check it out. It is open to the public.

Nellie (cousin) has asked me to be godmother to her two boys. I accept and have paperwork to sign once the ceremony is complete.

After the ceremony we have kai (food) and celebrate with a song. Then we head down to the awa (river) to cool off. With unknown weather on the horizon we make the most of the clear evening and take marshmallows down to the beach.

The next day we take three cars full out to Lottins Point. A really stunning area with plenty of kai moana. Rowan gets straight in and finds a few kina which a few people enjoy. Tipuna (cousins, cousin) finds that he is recognised from some old primary school friends. Tipuna, Aroha & Te Moana have lived most of their lives in Switzerland. Crack up that they recognised him after 20 years. They say he looks exactly the same but shorter hair. They give us a big bag of kinas and we help them get their boat out of the water. We end up heading back part way to Te Araroa for some lunch. We end up bumping into a lot more of the family also getting some lunch.

From there we end up separating, our car goes out to the lighthouse at East Cape. The most eastern part of NZ. Unfortunately it is closed so we can’t walk out to see it properly. We all jump in for a swim at the Awatere river on the way back.