Aotearoa

Pōkarekare ana,

Ngā wai o Rotorua,

Whiti atu koe hine,

Marino ana e.

With the sounds of New Zealand's secondary National Anthem (which I think would make a much nicer Official Tune of the Nation) rousing emotion and pride, after 12 months without a holiday at home, it was now time! With three weeks off work, it was time to gather our things and head back to New Zealand, for what was the longest holiday we have had in the three years we have been living in Dubai.

Arriving into Auckland on 05DEC after spending 19 very long hours in the sky, and drinking far too much along the way, we finally touched down in Aotearoa to glorious sunshine and summer fervour. We very luckily managed to wangle 5 days of additional days off prior to our official annual leave block, which required some frantic ticket rebooking, frantic shopping trips, and even more frantic suitcase packing. But for an afternoon of fast paced and not-entirely-stress-free organisation, it was well worth the extra time spent absorbing all things Kiwi, topping up the tanks with the real life.

After a night in AKL, to recover from the journey we continued down to Christchurch, my home city, to have some wonderful pre-Christmas catch-ups with as many friends as we could. Ice Creams in Sumner, Coffees in Cashmere, Wines in Merivale, our rental car Freddie (the Ford Focus, who we decided was Fergus' [our own Focus in DXB] cousin) proved a saviour in carrying us from one side of the city to the other, and back again.

Reefton was our next stop, which is in the back end of nowhere! Mum is currently living in this small west-coast town being a Dairy Farmer... As you do! Only 3½ hours drive from CHC, we arrived in the thriving village which, as a destination in itself, makes watching paint dry a very favourable pasttime. But we were here to see Mum, and enjoy the rural life that she has been enduring for the past 9 months. With a gaggle of baby calves to play with, Adrian and I were quite at home with them, nurturing them with the milk, which thankfully was milked from the Mumma Cows whilst we blissfully slept earlier in the morning. I admire Mum and what she has been going through on the farm, but being pooed on from every direction as she attaches the milking machine onto the bulging udders of these rather enormous beasts takes a lot of guts, and perfume at the end of the day.

We had an early Christmas with Mum, and brought her into the digital music age with an iPod Nano, which she now thinks is the bees knees. Here's hoping she has worked out how to activate the shuffle function, as the crash course in iPod capabilties was probably not long enough, in hindsight!

Up to Wellington next for a night to spend the weekend with my cousins Michelle and Carina, as well as finally meet my new (well, 18month old) baby cousin, Carina's son, Jayden. Coincidentally, my visit fell on the annual family Christmas reunion of my Aunty's family. It had been 9 years since I was last at one of their gatherings, and it was such a pleasure to be there to see everyone again, albeit sunburn-inducing as we played Badminton (badly) in the Kaitoke Valley sunshine.

The final stop in our epic journey to New Zealand was a week in Auckland and another early Christmas with Adrian's family. Perfect weather for wineries, barbeques, walking, and friends. The thing about being at home now is enjoying the smallest, simple things. Getting up at 6am and walking around the beaches in the morning sunshine, smelling the Jasmine in the gardens around the streets, hearing the birds. All things that, since not having them in Dubai, I miss so much!

It was a time of summer celebration. It was a time for family bonding. It was a time for being a Kiwi. And being proud of it.

E hine e

Hoki mai ra.

Ka mate ahau

I te aroha e.