photo Wedding day, Andrew and Gemma enjoying Alan's speech

Best Buy..... Slippers, nice fluffy toasty warm insides.
Best find......Warm wooly jerseys from our storage.
Worst buy.... Minted Lamb pie from Thommos bakery. Worst pie ever I think!!
Best sight....Clean green New Zealand after the long flight from Dubai.
Even better sight....Andrew and Sarah at the airport to meet us.

Back in New Zealand.

One year to sail twelve and a half thousand miles, two days flying to repeat those miles in the opposite direction. We arrived back in New Zealand on the same day that the first of the All Whites Football team arrived back from their fantastic World Cup. That 3 deep crowd lining both sides of the arrival area at Auckland airport was not for returning yachties but for those fleet footed NZ heroes.

Seduced by a great line up of movies on our Emirates flight from Dubai, I had negelected to have a sleep so arrived tired but able to review many movies produced in the year we had been looking at the stars of the night not the stars of the movies. We caught up on our sleep over the first few days between catching up with wedding preparation updates, shopping for warm clothes, family meals and staying close to heaters. Yes, we found the adjustment from 30 deg heat to 12 degrees a little difficult, but now three weeks later we are nearly winterized. There have been glorious sunny days after frosty Waikato mornings, grey days and just a couple of rainy days. Chunky soups, roast pork with crisp potatoes and kumara, juicy casseroles, warm jumpers, jeans, wooly socks, sun sparkling across frosted lawns, mist rising off the Waikato river to reveal houses peaking out of bush clad riverbanks and busy bridges. A taste of winter is quite nice for a change!

We have been spending our time between Auckland and Hamilton. A tempting selection of cafes for long blacks and flat whites (coffees) are just a few steps away from Sarah and Bryce's Herne Bay flat. The glimpse of white sails across the harbour, gliding past the Chelsea Sugar Works, from their lounge is the closest we will get to sailing during our visit home. We have been down to Westhaven Marina for a drive and wandered the aisles of Burnsco to buy a few bits and pieces just so that we don't feel too removed from Tuatara back in Turkey. Andrew and Gemma had all the wedding arrangements in hand so we just needed to sort our clothes out and a couple of speeches, quite easy you would think.. well we did get ourselves sorted with a couple of hours to spare.

In Hamilton, the test results from the doctor confirms what we already feel. We are both healthy, a testament to our cruising ( not cruisy) life style. Although both of us need things removed from our faces also a testament to our lifestyle although not a positive one. In my case I need a couple of stitches so I have waited until after the wedding, wouldn't look too good in photos! Best discovery.... a new Neutrogena sunscreen that is great for sweaty faces!!!

Of course Hamilton is not just about the doctor, dentist and accountant , visits here have been also about catching up with friends and family. Great friends like Lyn who came shopping with me for my wedding outfit even though she was feeling rough ( self imposed) after a night out dancing until the wee hours. I was panicking a little with a week to go to Andrew's wedding and nothing to wear. Fortunately for a very tired Lyn we found something in the first shop we went to. It is just as well we have arrived home when all the winter sales are on. I am still amazed at how easily Alan agreed to buy a new suit for the wedding, mind you he didn't have an old one, so something had to be bought!! I think we will need a few days in a quiet Turkish anchorage for ourselves and our bank account to recover!

An English journalist has written an article in the NZ Herald about how expensive NZ is, in particular eating out. He has been criticized by many but I have to agree with him, not only eating out but self catering has also increased. Since we were home last, basics like bread and beer seems to have increased along with fruit and vegetables. A good bottle of wine at the supermarket can still be bought for around $15 -$20, on special as low as $10, but a glass of wine at the pub is up to about $9.50 the cheapest bottle about $40 bottle. Legs of Lamb are more expensive than NZ lamb in Oman. Clothing and household goods in fact all non edibles seem to have stayed about the same. It seems home grown is expensive, imported is cheap, occurs a bit wacky to me.

The main reason we came home to brave the winter chills was for Andrew and Gemma's wedding. We also arrived home in time to celebrate Sarah's birthday with a family dinner at The Grove a lovely Auckland restaurant. Alan gave his new suit a practice run and managed to pay the bill with the appearance of someone who spent that much every time he went out to dinner. This was the first time we had been all in NZ at the same time for 3 years so we are really enjoying the visit home.

The wedding was lovely, a beautiful bride and a handsome groom with friends and family to celebrate made a very special day. Our speeches ended up being fine although Alan kept the content of his secret, he had us worried because he wouldn't let us proof read it. I blame Lloyd, the father of the bride for that. He would not show his to his family either and as soon as Alan heard that he said if its good enough for Lloyd to keep his secret then so could he. They both made good speeches, funny and no tales to embarrass the bride and groom. As the saying goes... "it turned out alright on the night"