A Private Moment of Triumph

When I travelled to New Caledonia recently, something happened to me that hasn't happened in a very long time.

I left the shores of my homeland.

I conquered my fear of foreign borders.

Most of you know my story and experiences with the American immigration.
It put me off travel for a long time. Nearly 25 years.
Stay in New Zealand. Stay safe. They can't kick you out of here.

We had a rather harrowing flight into New Caledonia. It was very turbulant., or as the captain would say in his lovely French accent..... "turbulonce." (spelled how it sounded).
They even stopped serving drinks, and the seatbelt sign was on pretty much for the entire flight. For the few minutes they turned it off, the queue for the toilets was almost the length of the plane.

I hate flying, so I was saying over and over to myself, 'turbulance isn't (usually) dangerous.'

So when the jewelled reef of Nouvelle Caledonie appeared in our windows, there was an almost audible sigh of relief, and everyone got very chatty again, after quite a quiet flight.

But I was euphoric for other reasons.

A quiet moment of private triumph.

I was in foreign parts.

Maybe I've been bitten by the travel bug again. I certainly had it once, many years ago.

But after that flight into Noumea I thought I would probably take a lot of convincing to get back on a plane, but the excitement of seeing new things and experiencing a new culture, and hearing a different language, all with a bunch of wonderful teenagers, made that experience fade into the past.

The journey home was quite different. Smooth, sunny and quick. We were halfway home before we'd barely settled into our seats.

There's something rather wonderful about flying back into New Zealand. As I said once to an American girl who has come to live here, the rugged cliffs of our Pacific Coast and the rolling green hills of our farmland viewed from the air, make it feel like the country stretches out it's arms in a warm embrace, welcoming you back into the fold. Going away makes you appreciate coming back.

I'm sure every wandering kiwi has experienced that moment of a full heart of love when our coast comes into sight as you fly back home from other worlds.

It's almost the best part of the entire trip.

The funny thing is, almost like a test, when I went through border control at Auckland airport after we landed, the electronic machine spat my passport back out and refused to let me enter, saying I had to go and speak to a customs official.

For a split second, I had flashbacks to 1993. My nightmare coming true. Again.
But, it was a fleeting moment.

And I didn't even get a heart palpitation.

It happened, as I heard later, that they were having trouble with the machines.

So, as I think back on my visit to New Caledonia, I think I will always view it fondly.

It was responsible for giving me back a part of myself that I had lost.

Merci, belles iles.

French Food

One of the things I absolutely loved during my week in Noumea, was the French Food.

Nobody ever told me that the French Sticks they sell in the grocery store in New Zealand are nothing compared to the real, genuine Baguettes! You can eat those things just by themselves, they're so light and fluffy. We enjoyed the pastries of France last week too, from Pain au Chocolat to Croissants, little sweet tarts, strawberry and chocolate mousse and ham and cheese with the Baguettes.

This was the best pastry shop we found in downtown Noumea. We were attracted to it by the aroma's wafting down the street as we shopped.

See..... even at McDonalds.

To be sure, it was expensive to buy food in New Caledonia in some places, but it was so tempting to try out the different tastes. One of my great loves in life is cheese, and nobody does this better than the French. This was a little packet of Feta with herbs and spices on the top. We ate this with a baguette one afternoon in the city park.

Most of their dairy is imported from France (except some of the milk comes from New Zealand). Here we were at the local grocery store early in the week, choosing our cheese.

The cheese is out of this world - like the best, creamiest, most expensive cheese you would find here in New Zealand.

The Butter Shelf.

We did have a wee chuckle at this - wine in snack-sized disposable containers!

While out shopping, we went into a little chocolate shop. It was quite expensive so we didn't buy too much, but ohhhhh, what a feast for the eyes!

I did buy these Calisson. Unique to the south of France, I believe. They had a sweet, slightly almond flavour, with a fine texture. A little treat.

One of the highlights for me, would have to be our night out at the Crepe Restaurant, Creperie le Rocher. If you ever get the chance to go, remember to phone and book in first, as it is very popular.

I had a cheese savoury crepe to start with, which I didn't finish because I was desperate to try the desert crepe. I chose the Paysanne.

Caramalized apples, creme fraiche, caramel farm house butter with Apple Brandy poured over in flames. Could anything be better! It was amazing!

Tasting and experiencing different food is all part of going to a foreign country. There were things I bought and tasted and didn't like much, but mostly I enjoyed it all. The French certainly are the best at this!

A Weekend in Martinborough

We have four children, and right now, life is pretty full on. When they tell you that the baby stage is the busiest stage, don't believe them, they're telling you lies! It gets busier as they get older, trust me!
And they don't go to sleep at 7pm like they used to.

So, to have some down-time and time just for us, Rob and I try to get away on our own at least once a year for a couple of nights. We've had fun in the past choosing places to go - not too far away, and nothing very expensive. We've been to Wellington to watch a show, and we've been to little country bed and breakfasts and this year we chose to go to Martinborough, which seems a little off the beaten path, but is a thriving little town on the lower east coast of the North Island, very similar to my home town of Blenheim with its burgeoning vineyards and boutique shops and restaurants and dry climate.

We stayed at the Brackenridge Country Spa and Retreat for two nights.

It's just a couple of minutes outside of the town and was so nice to walk into their immaculate cottages, light the fire and collapse in front of it for a couple of hours.

We were booked to go out for dinner that night, but it was such a beautiful evening - I couldn't resist taking a few photos of the pretty light out the back door.

For dinner we went to the Tirohana Estate. Honestly, we were completely blown away by the place. We pulled up in the dark and parked right outside the front doors. Silly me had brought the wrong shoes, so I was taking my time getting the right ones onto my feet, with Rob hurrying me along because two of the staff were waiting for us at the door to let us in. The service was amazing before we'd even gotten out of the car! From the moment we stepped in, to the warm room with the fire crackling away, the cheerful welcome with a little glass of something wonderful, to our table by the fire, to the beautiful food, it was a really pleasant evening, and a lovely start to our weekend. I'd love to go back there again.

And we came home and crashed by the open fire. I love open fires, don't you?

I don't know if it's just this year, but we were exhausted. Two days of this wasn't long enough, but it was so good just to relax and have no time pressures or little children needing attention and caring for. Thank you to their grandparents for taking care of them for those two days. The only thing I didn't like about the Brackenridge, which was perfect in every other way, was their terrible wifi service, but in some ways that was a good thing, because I was forced to stay away from the internet, which is rather an addiction of mine.

If you can, I highly recommend just getting away like this once a year, at least, with your significant other, especially if you're in that busy stage like us with lots of children. Even if it's just somewhere local, it's a chance to recharge and reconnect and just relax and unwind. That is probably the best marriage advice I can give!

The following day we spent wandering around Greytown, the cutest little village, with some amazing shops, but I'll write about that in my next post, as it deserves a whole post of its own.

We bought this weekend from Grabone - which also came with a special spa package - massage, facial and eyelash tint/eyebrow wax (for me). Hot stones for hubby. Could that be any more perfect!

I Go Where I've Never Been Before

Over the weekend I did something I never thought would be possible.

I walked all the way up Mt. Maunganui. And I didn't die!

Since we made the decision for our oldest boy to go to New Caledonia next year for a school French trip, and I offered to go along as parent help (I know - life is tough), I decided that if I was going to keep up with about 20 teenagers for 5 days, I needed to get fit.

So, I've been walking around the neighbourhood every morning for about half an hour.

And then, on Saturday I was over at my brother in law's and they suggested we go with them for a walk around the Mount and up the Mount that afternoon.  I did a double-take. "Did you just say what I think you just said? No way am I going up the Mount with two super-fit athletes. But I got talked into it by my husband, who then told me I wasn't allowed to yell at him when I got sore and tired because this was all my idea.

This is the beginning of the track up. Honestly, I had to keep stopping to take photos because the view on the way up is drop-dead-gorgeous.

So many steps to climb! I hate climbing steps.

It was such a beautiful afternoon. There were a lot of people out walking that day. Here is the main Mount Maunganui beach, which is one of New Zealand's most popular beaches in summer. Well, as you can see, I'm getting higher up the mountain.... very gradually.

This photo (taken on my phone) looks down at the same beach, but I was a little higher up by then, at what the locals call, Shark Alley. That little strip of water between the islands. Or as my sister-in-law explained, someone probably once saw one shark there.

So I very slowly made my way up - having to stop a few times. My heart was beating so hard my ears were popping. I was glad we were doing this with a doctor! LOL! Miss A, who is 4, surprised us all by practically running up. All the kids did extraordinarily well. I have a friend who runs up this mountain everyday - I am in awe of people who run at all - let alone run up Mt. Maunganui.

The walk up is beautiful. The paths are well formed and surrounded by beautiful bush and rock and the views are worth the sweat and the pain.

So we made it. I nearly died just five steps from the top, but forced myself up. And then I was so busy taking photos of the view and of everyone else, that I forgot to get one of me up there.

We met a nice German boy up there who had just arrived in the country, who helped lift my two boys up onto this....

A tui. We also saw a wild Hare. And lots and lots of rabbits.

This shows the yacht club at Sulphur Point (left), where we do tend to spend quite a bit of time over the summer, thanks to a son who is passionate about sailing. It looks so tiny from up here!

The walk down was really steep! But much easier than the walk up.

I love this view over towards Omokoroa (heading towards Katikati).

I love this one of Matakana Island.

Miss A started to fade on the way down. In spite of her brothers showing her multiple ways to skid down a mountain. She ended up being carried on Dad's back.

There were places where the track was quite narrow and no fences with a very long, steep drop. I had to stop the boys from skidding in that place. LOL!

But of course my kids somehow never seem to stick to the pathway. So they can't go down, well, they'll go up!

This is what I love about living in the Bay of Plenty - we are surrounded by the sea. I love that. I love the sea. I love being near it. That is Slipper Island out there, just on the horizon.

We took a shortcut down the side over a sheep-filled paddock. Climbing over stiles. How very Enid Blyton of us!

Just have to say here too, how much we are loving being near to two of Rob's brothers. So nice for our kids to get to know their aunties and uncles.

By the time we finished the walk up and down the Mount, and then once around the bottom of the Mount, the day was starting to cool down. As we approached beautiful, still Pilot Bay, the shadows were encroaching and the crowds were thinning out. Time to go home. And do stretches. But that still didn't help my aching muscles the next day!

But I'm so glad I can now say I've been to the top of Mt. Maunganui.

A Love Affair with a Classic Little Ship

Occasionally, my daughter will ask me the question, "if you had all the money in the world, what would be the first thing you would buy?"

Impossible question really, because I will never have all the money in the world, but it's a fun thing to contemplate, and dream about.

And my answer is always the same.

I would buy a classic New Zealand yacht.

My grandfather - one of the true gentlemen of the old generation - was an Airforce man. But he loved the sea and he loved boats. Growing up in Marlborough gave us access to the Marlborough Sounds, and when Grandad retired from the Airforce he took on a job looking after the Sounds property of the Todd family, which included their beautiful classic New Zealand yacht, The Viking.

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The Todd's generously allowed us to stay at their place many times, and we have so many happy family memories tied up with that little Bay, including jaunts out to the Viking, where my father would row around the carved Viking figurehead, a Norse-looking man with flowing gold locks, and pretend that it talked to us.

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When we were older, we'd swim out to her as she lay at anchor, lazily turning on the tide, and we'd clamber up her sides and sunbathe on the decks. The sound of the sea lapping against a boat is one of my most favourite sounds in the world. It instantly transports me back to those halcyon childhood days, and warm, sunny afternoons out on the Viking.
Grandad and Sir Bryan would go off for days at a time on sailing trips, across the Cook Strait, along the coasts of New Zealand. And so it was on the Viking and in the Marlborough Sounds that my love of the sea and old ships was cultivated.

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So, when my ship comes in, it's an old sailing ship for me.
Here is a much-loved photo of my Grandad; Roy Spencer, MBE, on the Viking.

When the Viking left the Marlborough Sounds and was on loan to the Maritime Museum in Auckland, we went to see her one day, while Nana and Grandad were staying with us. We laughed at the "Do Not Touch" signs on the sides of her, remembering those days in the Bay when we played on her. We had tea and drinks down in the cabin with her owners and got to see the amazing work they had done inside of  refitting her walnut-wood-lined walls to the rich gold tones of Kauri.
She is a beautiful little ship and unforgettable.

In all my life I have never owned a boat, until this last summer when we bought a little sailing ship for our children.

 

And it's not the Viking by any stretch of the imagination, but it has a sail, and there's nothing like the romance of a sail and watching a little boat cut smoothly through the sea. And at least it's a beginning in my goal towards a bigger little ship.

I haven't seen the Viking again for over fifteen years. But everytime I pass a marina in Auckland, I am always looking for her.

photo credit: jotter2 via photopin cc

photo credit: RichKnowles via photopin cc