SURPRISE!

We didn't have much planned for this weekend. Or so I thought.....

Our friend Emma from New Plymouth and one of her work mates were staying with us for the weekend as they were on a course in Wellington, so we knew they would be arriving at some point on Friday evening. Jon and I went and got some food and had a pint, and then our friends arrived at about 9:30pm. We had a cup of tea and a catch up as usual, then the girls started getting their stuff together to get ready for bed. Emma realised that she'd left her phone charger in the car, and so Jon offered to go down and get it for her. Still not paying much attention, I carried on nattering, but then was totally and utterly speechless when in walked my brother in law, Nick. I have never been so surprised in my life!!! My poor little brain just could not work out how or why Nick had appeared, and all I could say was "what are you doing here?? What are you doing here?? What are you doing here??!"

It turns out Nick had been in Sydney then Auckland for business, and had added a few days in Wellington to come and visit us. He let Jon know a few weeks ago, but they obviously kept it a secret from me. Nick was actually supposed to have landed in the afternoon, but the wind was so awful that his plane couldn't land, and he ended up flying backwards and forwards to Auckland for seven hrs! Poor bloke. And poor Jon had to keep changing the plan on how to surprise me - they had thought it would be good for Nick to be having a drink with one of our friends in one of the pubs we usually go to on a Friday, or hiding in the flat when I got home or something.

Because it ended up being so late by the time he arrived, we walked Nick down to his hotel ready for an early start on Saturday. Luckily, after the terrible windy weather on Friday, it really brightened up and was sunny for most of the weekend. We started off by going up to Zealandia, a wildlife sanctuary about 10 mins out of town which I had been wanting to visit anyway. The native bush is very dense, and they have enclosed the sanctuary with a huge great big fence- this of course made Nick comment that it felt like Jurassic Park! The closest we got to seeing a Dinosaur was a Tuatara, but still very good. We had an excellent lunch in the cafe there, the came back into town for a drink and an ice cream by the harbour. That evening, the three of us went out together with the friends that were staying with us. We went to The Rogue (favourite pub), then on for a fab tapas followed by cocktails.

 

Welcome to NZ Nick

 



Kaka, native NZ birds at their feeding station

Jurassic Park

Mini Dinosaur (a Tuatara)

Dr Doolittle

Remote controlled bird?

Both ice creams were his.  Long story.....

Nick's was the girly one with raspberries....

On Sunday, we took Nick along to help with our usual shop at the fruit and veg market, then we joined half the population of Welly to 'do brunch'. I showed Nick round a few of our favourite shops, then the three of us took the cable car up to the botanical gardens. There are nice views from there back over the city, and it's a lovely place to stroll in the sunshine.

 

Arty Shot

I'm pretty sure one of them just said something rude or sarcy...

We finished off our weekend with a great dinner prepared by Jon, then a FaceTime call to Em and the kids.

It was so, so lovely to have Nick over to visit. I loved being able to 'show off' Wellington, and he was able to report back to the family that all is well here. Thanks to all for your part in the surprise!