Rowan’s mum wants him to stay longer to be here for Bette, so I am going back to NZ alone.  The day is rather chill, we try to arrange a meet up with Aunty Christine but it doesn’t work out. I go up to the shops with Joanne, the car gets cleaned while we shop. Joanne wants a massage and I want a pedicure. Unfortunately the nail salon is too busy and we end up skipping those. We get the drycleaning sorted and a bunch of food. We then wait for the car to be ready and drink coffee. The day goes rather fast, I get a chance to pack for my flight and we get a few jobs around the house done.

My flight is at lunchtime so we head to the airport after 9am. Joanne drops us off and she will be back when Rowan calls her. We get into the check in counter and realise my flight has just been delayed by 3 hours. We check in anyway and they give me a $20 voucher as an apology. Rowan calls Joanne to come back and we head out to a block of shops in an industrial building for some brunch. By the time we do this it is time to head back to the airport. I say goodbye again and decide to go through to security. This takes a lot longer than it did in NZ, Once through I have no idea on what to spend the money on so I buy lollies that we can’t get back home. I order a chai latte and kill sometime blogging. I have gotten rather behind! Before I know it we are boarding the plane. A very uneventful flight, but I have a lot of missed calls from my sister. My message never came through to her she was expecting me hours ago. Whoops so I sneak in to her place rather late by the time I got mums car and grabbed a bite to eat it was past 10pm. I had a quick cuppa and hopped into bed.

The folowing day we had a big breakfast to soak up the after effects of the alcohol. Rowan and I made the decision to stay on another night to be able to have some quality time with the brides. Clean up is a lot faster and easier, it doesn’t take long at all. By lunch time everyone has left except James & his partner Steven who has got a stomach bug of some sort. Not sure what from as everyone else ate the same stuff and feel absolutely fine. As time goes on they realise that he isn’t fit for travel, wahoo we have some friends for tonight. We end up going into town and picking up pizza for dinner, about 8 adults and the 2 kids. Sitting around a drum fire chatting about the wedding. Then it is just the three of us, it was really good to get to know James properly and have an easy going night. By this time the off grid bathroom is failing, the power is no longer working, the lights are dim, finally it goes out as I am attempting to get dressed and brush my teeth. We end up sleeping in the church. I go to sleep earlier around 10pm. Rowan and James last a few hours longer.

In the morning I run around trying to find gear to make a coffee. Absolute success, I find everything beans, grinder, hot water, pretty teacups and milk. But wait no plunger, I hope James has one in his campervan. Alas we can make coffee! Rowan sorts out breakfast, I make tea and coffee. Steven emerges feeling a lot better. We sit around drinking extreme amounts of coffee and Heather turns up. I am not sure how long but at least a few hours goes by. It is about 1pm when I suggest we go back to the house and say goodbye to Katie, Huntah & Ben. After lots of hugs we are on the road. We are on a hunt for Cold Rock an icecream place that Rowan has been talking about taking me. Along the way we find a dead snake on the road and stop to take a look.

We find a Cold Rock in Maitland not far from Dungog. I get a medium size one but it really is too much, should have got a smaller one. You choose your icecream(s) then you get to choose a bunch of toppings that the crush and mix into it on a frozen plate. I notice there is a 2 hour delay caused from a crash on the motorway. I find there is a more inland scenic route through national park which will take the same time but at least won’t put us in stop start traffic. It is a great idea and I am glad we went this way, we had Wollemi National Park on the right and Yengo National Park on the left. We get back to Sydney around 8pm. Joanne is like an excited puppy, I think she has been locked up too long from covid haha

I wake early (still not quite used to the time difference), I take my time getting organised and enjoy a bath.  After sorting Rowan’s suit and ironing it, Nan you would be ashamed.  I really am a terrible housewife.  We get out just before 10am checkout, packed ready to go.  Relentless rain is still here and we are trying to set up the venue, we arrive before the brides to find the toilet man attempting to drop off a trailer with three toilets.  The land has become so muddy that Rowan and I make the executive decision to get them parked on the berm outside the property.  The farm is on a dirt road that does have others using it but not many.  These toilets actually become talk of the wedding later on, they play music, have air conditioning and are nicer than most home bathrooms.  Luckily these are all self sufficient and don’t need power.  We find a break in the rain and set up our little tent.

We have a chat to Heather and we need to move on to plan B, it will be too slippery to get to the first location and the water is getting higher.  Plan B is the old Featherston Church which is her grandmas art studio.  A beautiful old weatherboard church, Heather isn’t happy as she doesn’t want to get married in a church.  I tell her it really isn’t one and she is already legally married a year ago (in order to get adoption moving they had a small covid wedding a year ago).  The task of clearing out the church for chairs begin.  As the afternoon comes along more and more people show up.  Rowan is quite tired so we head off at 5pm to the hotel.  The hotel is quite old and has some original fixtures around.  Unfortunately the place has been renovated to look a bit more modern but has failed in a way.  It definetly feels more fresh and clean but there are some hand basins from the 20’s that drag the room down.  They really needed to replace them or done what I would have and leaned into the heritage more so they worked in the rooms.  The bathrooms are full deco and all have a bath and a shower.  I really have no complaints, it is clean and tidy.  We head down to the dining room where the pressed tin ceiling is incredible, we have dinner and enjoy a pub meal. 

Saturday is here!  I get ready taking my time, check out is at 10am but the wedding is at 3pm, I want to make sure that my makeup and hair would last till then.  The weather is really nice for a wedding and we only have the odd shower.  Rowan and I head off the the local cafe for a coffee and I run into Heather’s brother.  By the time we have fluffed around we arrive after 11am at the farm.  Everything appears under control but the brides are not ready yet!  I find Katie still making the final touches. The kids are being passed around which makes things a bit easier.  Rowan yells out to me to take Katie home to get ready.  So I jump in the car and drive her the 30min trip back into town, we only have over an hour to get her ready and then drive back.  Katie hops in the shower, Heather is getting her makeup done by a friend.  I end up doing Katie’s makeup for her, I kept it simple and really wanted her natural beauty to shine.  We are running late on our way back to the farm, I tell her not to worry they can’t start without you.  I also had Rowan’s suit in the back of the car so he couldn’t get dressed until I arrived.  The ceremony was really lovely, I was too busy taking photos so never made it in to sit down, I got to see the whole thing from the back.  Wendy the grandmother did the ceremony, it involved the two boys which really made it special.  Mandy, Heather’s mum was wearing her awesome pink reverend robes.  After the ceremony we all got in a photo in front of the church then had afternoon platters and drinks while the wedding party went off for more photos.  Rowan asked if he could get out of his suit as soon as he could.  He lasted a full hour in it.  After some mingling I ended up hanging out with two gay couples most of the night.  A lot of the other guests had husbands, wives and kids or were family of the brides.  The church was transformed into a disco, lights and music. Some guests couldn’t get their head around us being professionally homeless, some said “Oh that is awesome” but you could see in their eyes they thought ‘f*ck that!’ The night went pretty fast, I thought I would be in bed early but made it to be one of the last few. Just before going to bed we found some sasuages and cooked them up for the guests who were still standing. I am not sure how many were there probably around 60 guests.

Wednesday morning I wake up to a lot of noise, these birds sure know how to prepare for a sunrise.  I drag myself out of bed to see the sun saying hello.  A random tropical rain hits but it isn’t heavy, with a clap of thunder that shook the cabin.  Some how Rowan sleeps through the whole thing.  As fast as it begins it was finished.  A rainbow appears, the birds come to say hello and the wallabies bounce past the prroperty.  It really is a special spot here.  The day moves along and I cook some breakfast we relax, I take another bath and Rowan takes another RAT test.  Later that evening we head off for a walk to the pond and go frog hunting.  There were these amazing fluorescent green frogs.  We sat by the fire and cuddled covid style with masks on. Daddy Blooomfield would approve.

Thursday morning Rowan is negative!  Masks off but we still keep a distance, let’s wait for two negative tests.  We message Heather & Katie and see if they need some help with set up.  Off to the farm, Wendy (grandma) has a beautiful spot bordering a river with platypus in it.  There is also a small stream.  Our first task is to get a stepping stone system across the small stream.  The brides want to walk down this idyllic path to the stream, cross it and go along a field to the main river where they will have the ceremony.  Rowan and I start finding rocks, once it was complete you could pass it easily, but we planned to help the city folk across.  Next was the set up of these glamping tents which had a team to errect. Jo the lady who owned the business is from Kaukapakapa, we talk about Auckland and she says she much prefers Australia. At lunchtime we go to the Dead Dog cafe, which is a play on Dungog that was renamed to torment the local rugby team.  It is a full vegetarian cafe and we end up with lasagne which are delicious, you wouldn’t know the difference if no one told you.  Back at the venue and we set up some “ensuites” these are pop tent showers, apparently the city folk have been asking questions.  Heather also let’s them know that there are hairdryers and straighteners (the sun).  I realise there will be quite a few folk at their home getting ready.  Luckily I had feared this and had booked one night at the local Bank Hotel for Friday night, unfortunately our current accommodation was already booked out.  Rowan and I went back to the retreat and had a nice dinner.  It had been a bit drizzly all day, but I really got a chance to see the tropical storm hit, the rain came and it didn’t stop all night. It got really hot in the cabin with the fireplace on and Rowan turned on the heat pump to cool down the place.  It was a but funny having a fire roaring and air conditioning on. 

Yawn, a very early start for me. I roll out of bed at 4.15am. I drop mum’s car off to a park and fly and arrive at the airport after 5am. I double check the weight of my bags prior to checking in, both under the limit. After check in I head straight for security, I would rather wait on the otherside. I get through with a full body scan and a pat on the bum. The lady says it is probably my cardigan. I get to a coffee shop order a flat white and sit down, I have heaps of time nearly 3 hours before take off. So I chill and fill in the last few days of blogs, however I don’t send them as I want to check Rowan is okay with them. I don’t want information out there he doesn’t want to share. I get hungry and wonder if they feed you on the plane, may as well eat now. I just eat a small amount just enough to remove my hunger. Finally I go the boarding gate and get on to my flight. Latam makes everyone wear masks and I am very happy that they do, I was going to wear mine anyway. I am in the middle seat and wish I could snooze but didn’t. They did feed us an inedible meal but lucky they had a mothers earth oat bar that was good. By the end of the flight I was getting restless. It took nearly 45min to get my bag the delay was insane.

Joanne said Rowan was out getting family members and to wait at the coffee shop. “Haere mai” I hear from the tane behind the counter,”kia ora” I reply instantly. He tells me he has been here 8 years, we have a quick chat. I wait a bit longer and Joanne says Rowan will be over an hour and to get in a taxi but to wait 45min because she can’t let me up into the apartment as she is isolating. I tell her I am coming now and I would rather sit in the park and wait then be exposed at the airport any longer than necessary. Annoyingly I have broken my only Aussie money on a coffee I get to a cab and he tells me $55. I tell him I have $40 and some change, and I ask for a bank transfer? He reluctantly says yes after I explain why. While chatting I end up giving him $40aud and $20nzd hoping the exchange rate is about that. I arrive at the apartment entrance and we pull up behind Rowan, Garry (family friend) and two other family members. Garry comes over to pay for my taxi and I tell him I sorted it. Rowan is helping an elderly man Patrick is Bette’s brother out of the car. Part of the requirements for Patrick being allowed out into a group gathering is we all must where masks, so I leave mine on. I get into the apartment with everyone and open the door to a big hug from someone I have never met, she then introduces herself to the next person and I realise it is Aunty Christine (Grahame’s wife). I say Hi to Joanne through her door, then a cousin called Lisa and to Bette and everyone is rather pleasant and cheery. The afternoon carries on with lots of stories being told. I finally get a chance to talk to Rowan about his negative test and find out he hasn’t tested himself, no one else has. I say a lot of words I won’t repeat in here and tell him to take a test now. So he jumps into action and takes his test which comes back as a faint positive. I am surprised by the iresposibleness of it all. I take the family back in the car with Garry and I play navman. When we get back I make sure everyone has been tested. Garry & Christine come back negative. I do Bette’s test for her and tell her congratulations you’re pregnant, what a medical miracle. We now have 3 positives and 3 negatives. I go underground literally and stay in the garage that night. It is actually rather comfortable, Joanne has set up rugs and a table. she uses it like a second room.

The following day Rowan says we should still go to the airbnb in Dungog and we can isolate there. He has another test and is only faintly reading positive. If I stay in Sydney I won’t be able to avoid it, where if we get out I may be fine. He said in hindsight he may have been sick a long time. Unfortunately with so much grief in the room I don’t think anyone has realised they are actually sick. So we both keep N95s on and all the windows down for the journey. Everyone in Australia is so relaxed about covid, no one really wears a mask or seems to care about getting it. We arrive in Dungog and I go to the IGA to get some supplies and more tests. They seem to be a lot more expensive here. We meet up with Heather and sit outside on her deck with masks on (her choice). Katie stays inside with Huntah and Ben. It has been at least 4 years since we have seen them. They were last in NZ to get engaged.

We get to the airbnb and it is a fantastic spot, there is birds and wildlife everywhere. Rowan tells me to be careful but says the grass is short enough you shouldn’t need to worry about snakes. We spend the late afternoon watching the birds and a good 5m distance from one another. I get my camera out and enjoy taking lots of photos. I wish Joanne was here as she could tell me what each one is. I cook dinner which I am happy to do, but is definitely a blue job. As I would prefer to be covid free I don’t complain too much. After dinner I jump in the spa bath. It isn’t as big as my old bath but it is the biggest I have come across since. By 7pm I am yawning, but I keep myself up for another hour. Rowan is isolating in his room happy to have his mask off.

The weekend is a bit of a blur, I head out to Henderson to a animal farm thing with my sisters and their two little ones. It is a good distraction and I have fun feeding the animals. By lunchtime they are both needing a nap so we head out our separate ways. I head to Millwater to my friend Sarah’s house. I have’nt seen her in a long time and her son is now two! We spend the afternoon and into the evening catching up.

Sunday, time to pack. I feel like I have forgotten something, but I guess I always feel like that. I take my time to try and avoid that feeling and finally finish after 11am. I decide to stay for a spot of lunch before heading off. I thank my grandparents for being their amazing selves and letting me stay. I head back to Sarah’s house and I give her a much needed hair cut. I am well happy about, she fed me a burger the night before, a great exchange! I head to Emma’s house (so much closer to the airport) and get there just before the soccer starts in Eden Park. We get a chance to warn someone they will be towed if they park there and we head inside. By the time kick off starts I see about 20 new cars parked outside. Ellery and I watch them come get towed away. Then we have a game of hide and seek. Not sure if she is unwell or daylight savings has put her out but she ends up in bed really early. Emma and I stay up for a crappy romcom and a cup of tea.

They day began with a committee meeting for my grandparents anniversary plans.  My mother and her sisters are getting the last items organised.  I hid in the downstairs flat and had a video chat with my little sister and cute we niece.  This also gave me a chance to organise our gear in the room. I came up for a coffee at one point and my mum tried to rope me into the connversation, oh hell no, I thought.  I don’t think they need another persons opinion.  By the time the meeting was over I had a quick typing job from them, which I was happy to do.

That afternoon mum and I headed off to my sisters house in Sandringham.  I roped mum into helping me alter my dress, for the wedding.  We arrive at Emma’s and get to work, I am lucky my mum is clever as I had no clue.  Then a little monkey arrived home and we got to playing with farm blocks, do you see a pattern?  Then unfortunate news reached me, Rowan’s grandad had passed away this morning.  It sounds like he just got a chance to see him before he went.  I am glad we got him on a plane yesterday.  Feeling very useless I can’t really help in anyway.  The night carries on and my dress is now at a length I won’t trip on.

Friday morning, mum has a lunch time flight, I get the use of her car until I fly out on Monday.  We get little Ellery ready, then she strips herself off to have a “bath” this is a pretend bath on the couch.  Which I happily do while Emma gets ready.  Once they’re out the the door mum and I get to work doing the sleeves of the dress.  When I say “we,” I mean mum, I just try it on so the right length is achieved.  However I get a chance to clean up some toys while we get the job done.  Then it is off to the airport.  As I am driving into the international area I realise that we are early, let’s have a coffee!  we kill some time and I drop her off. 

I then head east Auckland to my dads house in Beachlands for lunch.  I get a really nice surprise as my littlest sister (step) Alice is there.  Big hugs! Later I tell them about poor Rowan and his families loss.  We have a nice lunch, I probably stay longer than I should (TRAFFIC) but that is fine.  By the time I get over the Harbour Bridge and past Takapuna I have just hit five o’clock.  I make the decision to go to Albany rather than continue with the traffic.  Now Google maps can only guide you so much, the axiety of driving is bad.  It really isn’t too bad if you know where your going and all the lanes you should stay in to make life easier. I end up in the wrong lane in the wrong direction and it is a couple of kilometres before I can get off and turn around. At one point I also don’t realise I should be in that lane and the traffic is built back so far by the time Google tells me, you need to merge in and push in like a dick.  Little off topic, any hoo I get to Hallensteins and I have a load of messages from Rowan and a few don’t make any sense.  A back and forth for 20min he realises the texts from his mum phone were not coming through.  As I write this it still feels other worldly.  Rowan went to give his uncle (mum’s brother) a coffee in the morning and found him blue and unresponsive.  Joanne started CPR straight away and Rowan called for an ambulance.  Rowan’s uncle Grahame sadly passes away. As he is telling me I am in shock. Understandably he doesn’t want to chat on the phone.  A very surreal moment, as I am writing this days after and still in shock.  Rowan was quick thinking and kept his grandma out of the room so she couldn’t see what was going on.  Joanne (Rowans mum) of course is very upset. 

I get into Hallenstein just before they shut for the suit. I am not really paying attention to what is going on, but I some how complete all my errands in Albany.  It is about 6.30pm when I get going on the road back to Whangaparaoa.  I am glad ghe errands took so long and I have to concentrate to drive back.

I woke up to a grim text from Joanne (Rowan’s mum), his grandad is in hospital and she will keep us updated. We spent Tuesday running around Albany picking up gear and returning faulty gear. There is a need for a suit with a pink bow tie! Hallenstiens has cheap $199 suits which will work. We have needed to get a different size in from another store and wait for it to arrive. Over the road to the mall we go to the pharmacy for a special request from Australia of hand cream. The lady was most unhelpful so I ordered it online, hopefully it arrives before we jet off. Heading to Kmart for some more bottles but alas there is none on the shelf. I wanted to go to Specsavers to adjust my glasses and Rowan’s name gets called out. Who on earth would know Rowan? Well here we are again third time bumping into the lovely Mark from Mangawhai. Hilarious we keep bumping into him. I head in the wrong direction but eventually get to specsavers where I am told to wait for an unreasonable amount of time so we leave. We continue our jobs in Silverdale, then kill some time op shopping until the car goes in for a warrant. Back at the Woolf’s I get a chance to tackle a pile of mess in the flat. Rowan’s mum is wanting Rowan to pop over early to Australia so will see if we can get him on a flight.

It takes all day to organise Rowan’s flight to Australia. Getting through on the phone was impossible so we jump into the car and go to the store. The lady tells us it will take some time and to go home and wait for a phone call. We get back to my Grandparents and we get a phone call so we turn around and go back. We decide not to leave until it is sorted. Flight centre said the airline needed a letter from his Grandads GP to say it was a medical emergency. Joanne Rowan’s mum was on her own flight and we waited for her to land, told her what we need. Luckily the thought to go to his GP rather than attemp a doctor at the hospital. Around 1pm it was finally sorted. We had about 45min to get back to Tindalls Bay, pack his bags. Then rushed off to the airport to get his flight. If anything is forgotten I can bring it on Monday.

First day back and I am making a mess of the downstairs flat. Our clothes & gear are in desperate need of washing. I get a chance to scrub our boots so I can freshen up the leather once dry. There is a fair amount of gear in Wellsford I need to pick up. I start organising clothes, and cooking gear. Rowan purchased a cheap mat to cut up and experiment with our sleeping system. He didn’t want to cut up our costly Nemo mats. He’s been able to half the weight with some clever edits. I got a chance to finish my book, last one in the series and start a new book. The love birds went out for lunch leaving us to have a party. Unfortunately it was a bit late notice so no one showed.

Monday morning we headed to Wellsford for babysitting duties. Skylar had a sore ear and we got to spend the day playing with lego and painting nails. I especially loved the lego! I pick up all our gear and meet Clare at her work. In the end I forget my camera! Doh

Thumbs up!

Lorraine (our camp neighbour) was incredibly kind and dropped us off at the Kerikeri market. Which was a great collection of different stalls, much more diversity than the Mangawhai markets. We got some goodies from the French patisserie then headed off to the round about to put the thumb out. We tried to find a spot that was easy to see and heaps of room to pull over. I had my thumb out and I smiled and waved at every car that passed. There were a few grouchy faces but most people smiled at us and waved back. It didn’t take long and a lovely fella named Casey pulled over. He had just had a swim and was heading to Whangarei. Heaps of room in the ute we hopped in. Absolutely lovely guy, talked about all sorts of stuff, most of his whanau are in Australia and spent his childhood in Sydney. He was a good driver, with a reggae soundtrack which made me feel at ease. Casey gave us a couple of drop off options. One just after Bunnings which is a fairly good spot to hitch next or all the way down to Ruakaka area as he lives at One Tree Point, but we need to shop at Bunnings first. Not a problem for us we head to Bunnings for some quickcrete. Lucky we have our powerpass card on our phones, we save him 28c on his bill. I tell him I bet you are glad you picked us up now lol. We get to his turn off ans he takes us past his exit so we are on the right side of the road and cars are heading in the right direction. Such a awesome guy, we offer some money but he refuses.

Thumb goes out again, this time I get bored pretty easy and my left arm is hurting faster. These cars appear to be a lot less pleasant and I get less waves than I did in Kerikeri. I pull out the dance moves and do a thumb dance. Well that perks the grumpy bastards up and I get a lot of laughs. It also makes me smile and feel better about waiting for a ride. Again not long and we get a small hatchback pull over. Thanks to our awesome neighbours in chch I know we can fit in one of those. Mark is heading to the airport and is more than happy to drop us at Orewa. Time flies by with chatty Mark and we learn all about him. I think his wife left him alone too long as he did have a lot to say. Before we knew it we were in Orewa around 1pm. The most disheartening thing about this is how long it took us to walk the small amount it takes in a car! We get some kai then head to catch a bus. Before we know it we are walking up into the De Luen Inn and trying not to wake the hosts. I tried my best not to creep up on Nana when I heard her wake up, luckily I didn’t give her a fright. It is really nice being back at the grandies and getting a chance to catch up again. We have a to do list before we get on the plane in a week, I will endeavour to be entertaining and leave out the boring parts.