January

The first month of the year was a big one for us. It was a happening month with our trip to Queenstown, New Zealand being a highlight.

We all stayed up and rang in the new year with midnight snacks and the Sydney countdown and fireworks on TV. We had gone to the 9pm fireworks earlier at the East Basin of Lake Burley Griffin which was fun. We spent NYD relaxing and eating pavlova with the grandparents.

The next day was our 24^th wedding anniversary. To celebrate, we had a lovely lunch at The Deck at Snapper & Co by the lake. It was a beautiful and warm summer day in Canberra. Sadly, Phil and I went back to work (from home) the day after. Fortunately, it was less than 2 weeks until we were off to holiday in New Zealand.

Click here for more photos from January

I drove out to Sydney 2 days before we were due to fly out from Canberra. I met up with my aunt and uncle from the Philippines, who were also meeting us in Queenstown, NZ (via Sydney). My uncle had never been to Sydney so I had planned to drive out and stay overnight to show them around. It was so lovely to see them again after many years. Growing up they were like a second set of parents to me as I often flew to their place during my school breaks when they used to live in Iowa and Nebraska. The weather was perfect in Sydney, and we enjoyed ferry rides on the harbour, fish and chips at Watson’s Bay, an outdoor movie with the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House as the backdrop and people-watching at Bondi Beach.

We had a mini family reunion in Queenstown. My aunt and uncle arrived first and waited at ZQN for our flight from BNE to arrive. Our flight from CBR to BNE was delayed and we almost thought we might not make it to our connecting flight. We were escorted as soon as we got off the plane at BNE and rode an airport cart to transfer us to catch the bus to the international terminal. We sprinted to our gate as soon as we went through the tedious security process.

Click here for more photos from New Zealand

Once in Queenstown, we were greeted by my aunt and uncle after we exited customs. We picked up our rental car for the week, Hyundai Santa Fe, which seats 7 people, and drove to our Airbnb, Otago Lodge on Fernhill Road. We had a spacious 2-story, 4-bedroom house with a breathtaking view for the next 6 days. The next morning, we picked up Mom who flew in from LAX with a stopover in Auckland and were reunited with my side of the family after 3 years.

Our time in Queenstown and surrounding areas was amazing. The New Zealand South Island summer was pleasant and there was no rain until our last day. We did a few day trips out to Arrowtown, Wanaka and Glenorchy. Deer Park Heights was a delightful discovery where we all enjoyed the magnificent views while feeding the animals on the property. We found out that this was a place where parts of Lord of the Rings was filmed.

We had a special dinner out one night at a tapas restaurant, Pedro’s by the Lake, to celebrate our reunion and milestones. The whole roast lamb shoulder platter we shared was delicious and we had multiple servings of their fresh bread. It was a memorable meal. Other meal highlights we had were at: The Shed Ice Cream Parlour & Takeaways in Arrowtown for a delicious and filling selection of homemade style burgers and chips and in Queenstown we enjoyed @Thai, Fegburger (yes, the oldies and I lined up – the wait for 15 minutes was quick, despite the length of the queue - and it was worth it!), HELL Pizza Kitchen (still as delicious as we remembered from our Wellington days) and Chur Fish & Chips (which was conveniently just walking distance from our place).

Unfortunately, we were all struck with Covid when we returned. We had a quiet rest of the school holidays to recover. We had to postpone our trip to Melbourne which was disappointing and a bit stressful. Covid made our brains foggy and slow. We were well just in time for the new school year.

It has been a bit of an adjustment for all of us with Nicholas and Catherine starting new schools – the beginning of another era. Catherine just went on her first overnight school camp, which left her quite tired. She was also a bit homesick, but she made it through. Nicholas has welcomed the change to college and enjoys more of the freedom and flexibility that college brings. It is still early days but it has been a positive start for both of them.