Leaving in 24 hours!

27/02/12.

This was the day of fond farewells. We saw Napier for the last time, had some tearful good buys and realized how much we were going to miss the place. In only six months we have made some fantastic friends, seen more of NZ than most Kiwi’s and fitted right into the Kiwi lifestyle loosely summed up as café’s, chardonnay, alfresco dining, hot tubs and relaxing. Napier and our friends there will always hold a special place in our hearts and we are incredibly sad to be leaving whilst looking forward to seeing family and friends in the UK.

28/2/12 All that’s got to go in one bag?
All that’s got to go in one bag? The task of packing felt akin to the biblical task of turning water into wine. Even after jettisoning all locations and potions the pile of clothes looked insurmountable. Having left the UK with a rationed amount of things we had somehow amassed rather a lot more. Some 2 hours of stuffing, sorting and downright brute force later and we were packed.

A leisurely lunch with Roger and Ross overlooking the sea and enjoying sunshine brought us to departure time. We arrived at the airport with rousing choral music and a tear in our eye. Farwell Napier!

After checking in I had to finally open the metal box marked travel home. How in god’s name would I survive 36 hours being cooped up on a plane? Salvation for James came in the form of being able to secure an emergence exit seat some distance away from me. Now sitting in Auckland airport wondering how I am going to sit still for all that time and who will talk to me. Arrrrrgggggghhhhhh!