So now this

For Valentine's day,
I slipped on a yoga mat,
and broke my ankle,
in
two
places.

I felt stupid,
I felt dumb,
till
the ambulance help almost
s
 l
  i
   pp
      e
        d
too.

I was cool and I was fine,
till I came home.

Now, I am stuck
in a corner,

alone.

Helpless.

No choice about what to eat,
can't shower,
can't
can't
 can't

#pitypartyforone

Miss Niue and coconuts at the Pasifica Festival

Here is the lovely Miss Niue. I felt a little sorry for her because we should have been congratulating her and encouraging her on being Miss Niue. But instead my proud mum was boasting to her about how I live in Switzerland, awww.

It was a stinking hot day, and we were sure glad when we spotted the coconut stand. Chilled coconut juice is the perfect drink of choice for this type of day.

As you can see from all the coconut husks, we weren't the only ones that thought so.

Husking the coconuts.

My Talented Mum

My mum and I were visiting the local library. We noticed that they had a nice display in celebration of the upcoming Pasifica Festival.

A librarian approached us to admire mum's foufou and one thing led to another and mum made a lovely floral display.

Isn't she clever? We wove those leafy things ourselves out of Nikau leaves.

Light Show at the Domain aka breath of the volcano

It ended up being a rather cold night but it was a great show. To be honest, for the most part I had no idea what the different themes were but later someone explained it to Jordan who then explained it to us, ha.

Apparently the light show  was Inspired by the volcanic hills of the Auckland Isthmus.

Whatever. I just like fireworks and stuff and spending time with my family.

The Lantern Festival 2013

One of the things I love about New Zealand is that we love to celebrate. And they advertise these events really well and for the most part they are easy to get to.

I've been having such a great time doing things with my mum and daughter. Sadly, Jordan had to work so she missed out this time.

There was great food, a good atmosphere, and fantastic decorations. And my mum didn't make a single comment about cats :)

Movies and gaming with Jordan.

 This is something I really miss, chick flicks with my daughter. I so love Tuesday half price movies. And if you go before 6pm, you are almost guaranteed to have the movie theater to yourself. Sweet.

It would appear Jordan missed chick flicks with me too. Awww.

The Henderson cinema has a ....spacies parlour attached(I forgot the real name. But you get it, right?).

Jordan and I had a great time. At least I did until I discovered that I had lost. Of course i demanded a rematch and got even more shamed.

Jordan did a victory lap after the second game.

I love that girl, even if I do want to drop kick her sometimes. haha... jokes.

Love the beach.

Almost every day my mum asked me what I wanted to do that day. I always replied, "Go to the beach."
I really missed the beach when I was in Vienna, which is landlocked. The closest beach is 10 hours away by train.

My sister Marlene and I stopped off at Takapuna beach a couple of times. Not just for a swim but also for lunch at the nearby  Daikoku.

Look at that empty beach. So awesome.

Jordan's 21st in the Naki.

Since they weren't able to come up to Auckland, we went down to the Naki.

Josie was a machine and whipped up a number of delightful treats. We were royally spoilt not just on the party day but our whole stay.

Jordan was super happy too to get to play with all the babies, especially the ones we hadn't met yet.

Party Time- Jordan's 21st

 As per usual, not everything went quite according to plan but we have good peeps who stepped in when they saw a need.

My cousin Christina and I ended up in charge of decorations. We had to do a last minute dash for flowers and table coverings. Out of desperation, the guest tables ended up being covered in foil. Which turned to be very practical, because at the end of the night, you could wrap up your leftovers to take home.

My mother once again produced a lovely wall covering which she painted herself. The lovely cake was made by a friend in Waiheke. We heard it was yummy. We ourselves did not get any as some kind person put a layer in our car for us but it turned out to be the wrong car. Haha. Uncle Berry was very happy to discover it.

Jordan and Tanaya wowed everyone with their dancing skills. We were very proud of Jordan for learning the dance in 3 days. Helps to have a good teacher, eh Naya?

Anyone can come up and dance with Jordan and  also  stick some money on her.

There were other good performances. not all of them voluntary. Our MC, Uncle Halo, told Sam to choose a few mates and do something. They rose to the challenge and gave everyone a good laugh.

We had a really nice night. We missed you Greg.

Jordan's 21st birthday at Lone Star.

The staff was nice, and the food was good. I thought the atmosphere needed a little something but it was okay.

I had a tasty tender lamb shank. It was great that I could choose one or two.

Jordan and Kathleen kinda shared. It's so funny to see a white girl outeat islanders. Not so funny for Jordan because when it comes to food, Kathleen gets very serious.

The garlic bread is a must. It's a proper loaf of bread and yum.

Lone Star gave Jordan a complimentary birthday dessert. Luckily for Jordan and Kath we were all too full to want a bite.

Lucky for us too because I doubt we would've gotten one. At least not of dessert.

1st visitors

Mum, Auntie Pauline and Auntie Lucy

So we had just finished lunch and then we had our first visitors- my Auntie Pauline, Uncle Ben and his wife Auntie Lucy. Rellies from my dad's side of the family.

My Auntie Pauline is a hoot.

I didn't do much laughing this time around because the oldies were speaking in Niuean which I don't speak, and my jet lag combined with KFC was catching up with me.

.That's okay. It was nice just to see them.

Auntie Pauline, Auntie Lucy and Uncle Ben

Prepping for Jordan's 21st - plaiting the Nikau

 We are very blessed to have some very talented people in our family. My uncle Halo and his family have a gift for floral arrangement. Partly because my mum didn't want to be a burden, and partly because my mum likes to do everything herself, it fell to us to plait the Nikau.

Getting the leaves in the first place is not easy but we knew some people. Whilst the plaiting is not onerous, it is time consuming....My mum is unable to leave a task undone for very long. So 4am, guess who was outside hard at work?  Mm-hm.
My niece Tanaya and I did our best, but mum had to do the hard tricky bits... the finishing off. She tried to show me and explain it but she might as well have been speaking Japanese.

Uncle and Aunty brought it all together and you can see the beautiful result. Our guests were seriously impressed.

First things first, church and fellowship and food.

It was so nice to be back. Like coming home. Almost like I had never left. Except...people kept asking me where I'm from. I attributed my changed accept to the fact that, in order to e understood overseas, I had to talk a lot slower and enunciate. As one puzzled gentleman in Austria said, "I understand English. Just not her English."

Ah the joys understanding every word said in church and being able to talk freely with as many idioms sprinkled amongst my conversation as I wish.

Then it was up to the Ponsonby Food Court. My list of food I wanted to consume whilst in Nz was looong. I had 7 years of catchup. I greeted chicken laksa like a long lost friend.

Later, we caught up with some other friends. Bubble tea, conversation and sun at the Aotea Square.  Good times.

What a wonderful welcome home.

Starting from the bottom of the drive there were little welcome home signs. On the door there was a huge poster with pics of me thru the ages. and in the lounge were more welcome home signs.

On the table was a veritable feast. I felt bad because I couldn't sample everything. Not to mention, on the way home, we bought the biggest bucket of KFC.

Thanks for going all out for me. 

Oh es. See that pretty dress Jordan is wearing? Apparently, it's a gift for me. I did get to wear it, but I didn't get to keep it. Lol.

It's been 7 years and I am finally going home....for a visit.

So my mum was a bit miffed that Jordan had only been home for a matter of months and yet I was coming home for a visit. But to be fair it's not just a visit. It's my baby girl''s big 21st birthday. Yes she is rather spoilt since she's already had the big 18th birthday party, but that's a benefit of having grown up in two countries...even more reasons to party. Haha listen to me. As if I was a real party animal.

Jordan was not happy that I stopped for a photo instead of a hug first. Can't blame her really. Love my family.

Golly I've been slack.

So I am about to embark on another trip back to New Zealand. This time I am going back for my mother's 75th birthday. "Why are you coming back in August?" my mum asked.
"Come back in summer."
Yes that would be lovely but we are planning to go to Hawaii for my brother's big 5.0. and mum? Your birthday is in August. heh.

So I may try and catch up with old posts about my trip last year in Nz but going by past experiences...probably not.