My mom and step-dad, John, came to visit us and my sister Lisa and her Fiance Jake and his family and arrived on News Year’s Day. They had just a few days before they headed off on a cruise ship around the East coast of New Zealand and on to Sydney, AU. It was a pretty relaxed three days full of visiting and eating and of course for them to meet Jake and his family for the first time. Family can be stressful…I am sure you can relate but it seems as if everyone enjoyed themselves and we sure appreciate their efforts and resources to come here and see the boat and a glimpse of our life living aboard Slow Flight…..it really is hard to explain : )
Their B&B – It was one of the only places left to stay at here in Whangamata as it’s the holiday season and the town is full of vacationers at this time….. it happen to be across town from the marina but they had a glorious view!
We walked to their B&B from the marina…it only took about 45 minutes.View 1 from their room looking slightly NW…you can see the marina : )View 2 looking due north…the town of WhangamataView 3 looking NE…their is the point and beginning of the channel we went around to get to the marina.View 4 looking almost due East…lots of cool little islands….in fact at a low tide you can walk to some of them!THe hosts of the B&B with John and Mom….. if you are in the market….the place is for sale for $1.M!
Shopping and walking through town and dinner – Mom loves to SHOP!!!! So Lisa meet us downtown to of course walk all the cool stores and had a bite to eat…we had adult beverages : )
John……ready for anything, backpack on with sunscreen (special from Lisa with extra zinc in it), hats, jackets….. it a big day of shopping and he is ALWAYS prepared!Mom and John being silly at the town’s surf signWell…we were going to have a bite but this place was so busy it would of taken an hour to serve us they said….. Trevor was done “shopping” so he already had a drink in hand. Mom and John went to Subway and just brought it to our table (probably not cool but we did anyways) while we waited another 20 minutes to get our drinks. We don’t blame them…they just couldn’t handle the demand…in fact when I ordered another round the nice girl told me “please stay…. I know you are having just drinks but please stay”…so we did.After a afternoon nap… we met up with Lisa and Jake for dinner at the Rusty Pallet…Kimi got a bit tipsy! Here is Lisa, Trevor and meI guess the food was “ok”…I thought mine was a delicious…I tried the rabbit risotto dish….Jake, Lisa, Trevor, me, Mom, and John…
Dinner on Slow Flight – It just made sense to have them over for dinner on the boat.
Captian John!Trevor made his wonderful pine plank salmon with broccoli…I made a plum crumble for dessert…. we just chatted and hung out. and they got to see how we live…at least at the dock (lol) it was super pleasant!
Fish and chips at the beach and meeting the new family– Their last full day we decided to get “takeaway” fish and chips and eat at the beach. We all took a nap and meet up later with Jake’s family, Jake of course and Lisa for the first meeting…..It’s hard to get know anyone at any depth in such a short time but at least they were able to meet one another…not sure if they will see each other again…wedding location dependant.
Snapper is the fish of choice here….we spread out the paper the fries were in and had ourselves a wonderful meal. The weather cooperated thank goodness : )Mom really wanted to dip her toes in the ocean…Here is Trevor and mom walking among the surfersAll the swimmers had to stay between 2 red/yellow flags that were stacked in the sand…I believe because of the surfers and possible rip tides. I would hate to be the guy who we saw trying to direct all the swimmers to move …The beach was super busy (above) and we watched the “rescue” team deploy the thier boat…we don’t think it was an emergency..probably more like an exercise..they weren’t moving that fast : )Mom and John soaking up the sun at Whangamata beach
Pam and Rob..Jake’s parents…looking good as always!
Lisa and Jake with Alice (middle)Myself, mom and my little sister Lisa : ) … i don’t remember the last time we all were under the same roof…any roof for that matter…….So I took off my hat…it was a big occasion!WOW…seriously still can’t believe we are spending time with family in New Zealand..I expected after crossing the Pacific…we would be spending holidays by ourselves or with our cruising family….This is truly a wonderful experience to have family with you thousands of miles away from home! Thank you!
Thank you mom and John for coming all this way to see us and Lisa and Jake (his family too)…. I know it cost you a small fortune to get here but we are so happy you came and we hope you’ll remember this trip with fond memories as we will!!! Love you ; )
Mom and John headed to Auckland to catch their cruise ship. It was the beginning of a storm and it was already raining….the traffic was predicted to be slow as many vacationers were headed back to Auckland as well. Plus…driving on the windy roads with rain, wind, on the “other side of the road, and fast NZ drivers…we were worried so I made them call me when they arrived in Auckland…felt like a parent…almost : )
Next up: Horse races, camping trip, and short road trips…..
