We left our beloved Nelson on Thursday 22nd December and spent our final night in the South Island on a 126 acre section of bush overlooking the beautiful Marlborough Sounds. Our large station wagon was packed to the rafters as we took the ferry across the Cook Straight to Wellington. We were sad to say goodbye to the place we called home for 3 and a half years, but looked forward to the adventures ahead up north.
We stayed in a nice hotel (for the first time ever as Bernie pointed out in shock when we turned up somewhere decent for a change!) north of Wellington and enjoyed a spa bath outside with a bottle of wine when Will was sound asleep (we had the baby monitor on - no neglecting our little lad!).
We continued north to the Tron - Hamilton, a city away from the coast, which is host to our dearest Down Under family members - Paul, Shirley and son Bradley.
Will and Bradley quickly got acquainted and enjoyed cooling off in the pool:
On Xmas day Shirley's Mum Lesley, sister Hazel and daughter Karmen joined us for festive celebrations, food and general great fun! Karmen was very helpful openning presents - Will needed the most help!
Bradly loved viewing pictures of himself opening presents - reliving the moment!
We had chicken, ham and much much more in the shade of the blistering sun
Will's favourite present was his first set of wheels / ball pit - he was static... I mean ecstatic...
He particularly loved Shirley's bubbles too
We spent 5 days in the Tron and had great times, went shopping, walking, moved fridges in and out of the house, fitted rear shock absorbers onto our car so it doesn't bottom out each time we go over a pebble... and had a really lovely time together with our family. We then headed north and spent 2 nights with friends who were generous in letting us stay in a very comfortable converted woodshed next to their house, 20 meter swimming pool and 52 hectares of land by the beach. New Years was spent with friends from Nelson near some beautiful lakes - for once a New Year's party that wasn't expensive, stressful or an anti-climax.
We then headed up to the Kauri tree forests which have trees as old as 1,200 years and are huge pillars of timber that earlier settlers used to butcher (and even more sadly burnt) in their thousands for a few quid... those still standing are immense and well worth staring at in awe for a few hours.
We eventually got to our new house in Kerikeri on Jan 3rd and were finally welcomed with clear blue skies, after having showers and rain for most of our travels. We already feel very settled and comfortable in this spacious rental property and welcome visitors this year as we have 4 bedrooms and a groovy house nestled in the Bay of Islands - one of NZ's real treasures.
We headed up the coast to one of the many many awesome beaches and took Will swimming in the sea for the first time.
He found it fun at first, but freaked out a little when the surf picked up.... he did get completely submerged by one wave that caught me out, but he quickly calmed down and will be all the better for it I'm sure...
As you can see, he quickly regained his cool composure...
So we chilled out and made Bobby work up a good sweat
And some more...
Before Bobby and I had a big swim together chasing his toy.... happy days!The climate is sub-tropical up here so we eat breakfast, lunch and dinner outside. We get more rain here than Nelson, but have a lovely covered porch by a fish pond where we can eat come rain or shine.
We have begun exploring the area and I had the most beautiful run of my life yesterday - I'm not going to bore you with a description, you'll just have to come and run it with me when you visit! Bernie is presently at the farmers market in town with Bobby whilst I surf and will sleeps.
Will finally got his first tooth for Xmas (just after actually) and is talking heaps - Dog, Dadda, Muma, Woof and Bird are his most commonly used words (in order of frequency) and he imitates a lot of other words we say already. He also sings to himself a lot which is beautiful to listen to!
It has been so lovely spending so much time together and we have become an even tighter unit for it. We have moved north so that I have a permanent job and Bernie wont have to give up Will until she and he are both ready to do so. We have the immediate Whitaker family visiting this April and Paul and Shirley are now only down the road (4.5 hours down the road but much closer than before!) so we will get to see a lot more of them too which is a massive bonus.
I still have three weeks off before I begin my school induction - 3 days on the marae (traditional Maori community area), so plenty more time to settle in and have a look around.
Here's wishing you all a happy, healthy and crisis free 2012...
Love from Chris, Bernie and William Whitaker (plus Bobby Dazzler) x
