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You’ve maybe seen my photos on facebook ?? there were a few :-))) and I’m going to say it was fairly obvious that we had a great time !!

It really was so much more than an amazing holiday. Spending time with Rory…I can’t even describe how happy that made us, and we were blown away by New Zealand – by the scenery, the way of life, the people – just everything, we loved…..we wanted to stay…..we considered just staying !! on the run from immigration and the police sounded a bit romantic and quite appealing !!

We did so much, and didn’t really travel very far. Our longest drive was about 2 hours, so we only explored the top of the North Island and there was still so much more to see. And the rest of the North Island looks amazing, not to mention the South Island.

We went to the lighthouse at Cape Reinga at the very tip of the North Island. We went to the giant sand dunes at Te Paki – Rory drove us up the river – it was incredible :-)). We went to Spirits Bay. We went to the Maitai Bay, Rangiputa Beach, Ngati Lake, Coca Cola Lake, Tokerhau Beach, WhatuWhiWhi Beach (futafifi :-)). We went to Pukenui for an amazing lunch. We ate lots of pies – New Zealand does amazing pies – I did not know that !! there are lots of pie shops all over the place – you name it, it’s in a pie – Chris’s favourite was mince and cheese (proper mince), I loved the steak and oyster. Another thing I didn’t know is, that there are public toilets everywhere !! clean and tidy – its great if you are like me who….em..needs to go quite often ! We went to Cooper’s Beach, Taipa Beach, Mangonui, Paihia……

We went scuba diving !! I did a sky dive (awesome, awesome, awesome). We visited the glow worm caves – also awesome !! they were better than I expected, and in the big cave, in the pitch dark with only the glow worms shining like stars in the sky, the Maori tour guide sang a Maori song it was really moving 🤩🥰

I ran (on beaches), I cycled in the sun, I swam in the sea, in a bikini.

We saw sharks – Chris saw a baby shark (do, doo, doo, do), we saw an Octopus and a Stingray. Beautiful shells. Swamp Harriers, we saw and heard Tuis – they sound so funny – bell noises, clicks, pops, wheezes, and kind of like a laugh :-)) The sound of the crickets and cicadas was ever present. Cute stick insects 🙂

There were lots of fresh fruit and veg stalls selling watermelons, limes, lemons, avocados, olives and grapes, as well as all your standard tomatoes, courgettes etc

We met up with my cousin and his wife which was brilliant :-))

Seafood heaven – I had so many different kinds of seafood 😍 Snapper, King Fish, smoked Marlin, Paua, Mussels, Crayfish, smoked Snapper, Tuna (not from a tin 😂), Kina (my favourite), Oysters, Blue Nose, John Dory, Kahawi….all caught or gathered and eaten 💕💕

Chris had a New Zealand McDonalds 😆 We loved the Turkish take away in Kaitaia.

We met Rory’s friends :-))))))))

I could and would go on talking about NZ – but I know I will bore you, because I am boring myself !!!

When we said goodbye to Rory, I cried for a long time – then I sat and stared at the floor for a long time – I couldn’t move – I felt numb, too sad to move or do anything – I couldn’t imagine how I would manage going back. And I have struggled – bits of being back I’ve hated, but bits of being back here, I have appreciated and even loved !? I know a lot of lovely people :-)) I love my family 🥰 I hate the weather :-(( the reality of work and routine is do-able, but the stresses of being made redundant / finding a new job / starting a new job are…..well…stressy. Running, cycling and swimming are kind of helping to keep me (relatively) sane !?? (starting to think / plan for Ironman Copenhagen !!!!)

Baking :-))

And I’ve booked a skydive, with not much persuasion from my inspirational friend, to raise funds for Maggie’s Dundee :-))) (here’s the link https://www.justgiving.com/page/gillian-sangster-8?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=CL)

Trying not to be too sad – love y’all xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Photos !!! all of the photos !!! the pre-Christmas Christmas, the airports, the flights, New Zealand, the after and the cakes :-)))