When rearranging the containers I found a lot of old clothing I still had from the antique shop. We are heading to Dunedin and I will drop off a few bags at the recycle boutique. Turns out it is 6 bags!

We are off to Auckland for a special surprise birthday party Rowan and I have an early dinner at Moons Bar/Restaurant. We will get into Auckland about 9.30pm. When I booked the flights I wasn’t sure if we would be working on site so I booked the flights assuming we were. It turns out we could have gone up earlier or stayed longer. But that’s the trade off for booking ahead of time.

When we get off the plane I see a heap of messages telling me my Nana is not well. Are we about to have a birthday party without the birthday girl? My sister Emma picks us up at the airport and we are staying with her tonight.

Saturday morning we had a picnic at Cornwall Park. I haven’t been in here for many years. Us four girls, partners, kids and my Dad had a great time. It was great to see my dad. Rowan had a production line of sandwiches to feed us all.

The main event is in Orewa, the weather is perfect. The decision was made to hire a hall and get it all catered. A great idea, no slaving in the kitchen all morning. Everything was great, the lady of honor arrived fashionably late and stayed longer than I anticipated. Nana wasn’t really feeling well enough for a party but I know she would have been upset to have missed it. Lots of family and friends gathered to celebrate.

After the party a few of the cousins came down to the beach for a late night swim. It was a great temperature which made me a bit sad that the water back home isn’t this warm.

We stayed at Nanas last night with my Mum and needed up talking into the wee hours having a good catch up.

On Sunday morning Nana had forgotten I was here so she got another nice surprise. Today is her actual birthday and she is feeling a lot better. Pretty amazing to be 95!

Down at Tindalls Beach for a swim! Even baby Ahuaiti joined in.

We had a nice lunch at Emma and Paul’s before heading to the airport. We arrived back in Dunedin to cold wet weather. A huge change to the warm summer of the north.

This week is easy going. A few jobs on the list but we are waiting for doors to arrive so we can finish the GIB and get the plasterer in. We have an early morning trip to Jim’s Farm. We take a load up and bring back a load of firewood which we drop at his sister in laws Velta. Velta is who we had Christmas lunch with and she is talented with making lead light glass windows and other amazing arty glass things. Her windows in her home are incredible.

On Tuesday we get word our doors are being delivered early. No worries, we have a lockbox. On Thursday when I notice no doors on site I start ringing Vicky at Mitre10 asking her where they are. Turns out the freight company delivered them to the wrong house and so now I need to knock on my neighbours door and apologise for the mix up. Well that was a mystery I didn’t want to have to solve haha.

It takes two days to finish off some small jobs but we are now ready for a final exterior coat of paint and for the plasterer next week.

In the meantime this week one of my aunts insists that my Nana gets checked out at the hospital. Turns out her gallbladder is no good. They do a quick keyhole surgery and she recovers pretty quickly and is back home in a few days. What a champion!