The wedding went brilliantly and the days in the lead up were such fun. Again, here are some photos to show what we got up to. As they say a photo speaks a 1000 words. Hope so, saves me from typing them!!
Waiheke remains copyright of the author LincnSal, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.
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]]>Highlights of this trip were the scenery itself - especially viewed from the helicopter - surf fishing, 3 helicopter rides (!!), Lou's gallery, meeting Lou, Jack, Geordie and Hunter, jet boat ride (almost as scary as the trip down to Lou's with Alex!) and just being in such a beautiful part of the world. Thanks Linc for sharing it with me.
New Zealand's South Island remains copyright of the author LincnSal, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.
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]]>We all trapsed back to Don and Bev's for a beautiful BBQ dinner with everyone including NZ lamb of course.
Monday was great as we all went to visit Linc's grandmother and the birthplace of his father - Paeroa. This included Don and Bev, Linc, Clarke and myself. On the way down Clarke and Linc insisted on stopping at the Castle for a New Zealand thick shake. After much annoyance, Don finally gave in and stopped.
After arriving at Judith and Cliff's house (Don's sister), we had a lovely lunch and spent a couple of hours with Linc's nanna before heading off to the Lemon and Paeroa bottle in town. (the town is the birthplace of the oldest drink in NZ - "L&P". It's the 100th anniversary this year, and Nanna may be the star of their advertising campaign - "Take the top off a 100 year old". Serious. Look out for her photo on the back of buses in a town near you!
Tuesday - Waitangi Day
Public holiday over hear. Had a boozy lunch with some of Linc's mates then met up with Brendan and Nat on Kokomo (Adam's new 52m Alloy Yachts sloop). Had a indulgent night on the town including a drink at 'Minus 5' - an ice bar, before returning home for Lincoln to serenade the white throne.
Wednesday
Hungover during day. But made it to Varekai in the evening - the latest show by Cirque du Soleill - a very generous present from Andrew and Teresa. Fantastic show.
Thursday
Shopping.....wedding outfits and lunch with Nat and Brenden and Harley.
Friday
More shopping......sun set drinks with Linc's friends Liz and Petra on the Viaduct, before meeting with Andrew and Teresa and friends for another night on the town and a nice thai dinner then it was Sally's turn to serenade the white throne at Andrew's place. Disgraceful behaviour.
Saturday
Yum Cha for brunch (Dim Sum sort of) with Andrew and Harley and Emma. Then we went for a stunning drive up to Omaha Beach for a swim and chilled on the beach. Finished off with a BBQ at Harley's 'Lifestyle Block'/farm looking over the west coast of NZ and spent the night.
Sunday
Drove back to Auckland and had lunch with Linc's parents before going out for dinner with Linc's friends.....more food!!!
Monday
Planned to go for a drive down South, but decided we needed a day off and just stayed at Don and Bevs for the day catching up. We invited Brenden and Nat over for dinner - Linc produced a fantastic belly of pork on the BBQ and this time it was Bev's turn to join the party and serenade the white throne. Bit of theme going on here!! Promise we have been doing things other than eat and drink excessively!!
Tuesday
Shopping.....finally sorted for the wedding we think. Lunch with Davo and Hannah then a quick visit to Kelly Tarltons' underwater world before an Indian meal with the family.
Wednesday.....off to Queenstown. To be continued.......
Leg 2 - New Zealand remains copyright of the author LincnSal, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.
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]]>I (Sally) went to Sydney to see my bro Tom and his girlfriend Fi. Our paths crossed finally - haven't seen Tom for far too long. We packed in almost as much as is humanely possible in 2 days including a trip to the Blue Mountains, the Opera House, the Rocks, Circular Quay and Bondi Beach. We stayed in the Wynard Hotel which ended up being pretty good for a hostel style of place. Right in the middle of town, walking distance to everything.
Meanwhile Linc was left to fend for himself in Melbourne. I heard mention a visit to the 'Green Rhino', and some pretty serious drinking. Whilst the cat's away.....?!
On Sunday I flew back to Melbourne airport where Linc, Greg and Rose arrived with all our baggage for the flight to Auckland. The lady at the queue noticed our excessive number of bags and we explained that we had mariners tickets so had double the normal allowance - in response she kindly announced to everyone that we were 'Seamen' as if we would get special treatment. Made us feel like ar*es!
Melbourne continued.... remains copyright of the author LincnSal, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.
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]]>Monday
Walk around the city, lunch with Linc's mate Jarrod, relaxing afternoon (bit of shopping, but no buying for Sally) then a tram dinner ride in the evening.
Tuesday
Bike ride around the city, up and down the river to the Docklands taking in the unique and funky art and sculptures along the way, stopping for a smoothie and pie and returning with sore backsides!
Great dinner at Sue & Geoff's with Molly and Al, Greg, Rose, Linc & I.
Wednesday
Drive along South coast to Torquay, watching the surfers, another pie for linc and Pad Thai for Sal, then a flight in a bi-plane!
Day 3 & 4 & 5 remains copyright of the author LincnSal, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.
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]]>Greg and Rose were there to collect us (Linc's eldest bro and wife) and take us back to their fantastic new appartment in downtown Melbourne.
After dosing up on caffeine and a hot shower we headed to the dockland for a great lebanese lunch followed by a trip to the 52nd floor of Rose's office to see the sights of the city.
That was topped off with a stop at Suga to see how Rock is made and Max Brenner's chocolaterie for a Suckao (chocolate shot). Greg felt brave and had a hot chocolate with chilli, cinnamon, cayenne & nutmeg - we're awaiting the after-effects!
Then it was back to the appartment to chill before heading out for our next meal!
Day 2 - Sunday
After an early start, a walk in the park and spectacular pannetone french toast courtesy of Greg - Rose, Linc and I headed to see Sue & Geoff's new beach property at Frankston (Linc's Aunt and Uncle). It's going to be spectacular.
After the grand tour we drove out to the winery region and stopped for a great Italian/Greek/Spanish tapas lunch and local wine before returning to the appartment for a BBQ & Pimms!
I have a feeling this trip is going to be a culinary tour of Australia and NZ and I'm not complaining. So far all the meals we've had here way surpass anything we had in USA! There's only so many caesar salads and fried chicken wings anyone can take.
First Leg - Melbourne, Oz remains copyright of the author LincnSal, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.
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Today is the day, well actually it's Thursday, 25th, we leave Fort Lauderdale (overdue) and head to Oz. We say goodbye to Crosser, now Sea Fever, the motor boat we have worked on for just 4 months. That's her below:
Don't think either of us expected it to be sold so quickly. That was afterall what we were employed for - to help sell the boat, but damn we must have done too good a job.
Anyway, it has been an excellent means to an end. We can now (just) afford to take time out and travel to Oz and NZ at last. And be there for Nat and Brenden's wedding on Waiheke Island at the end of Feb, as well as Jamie and Charlottes the weekend after.
The plan at the mo is to travel to Melbourne to see Linc's eldest bro - Greg and stay for just over a week.
I also hope to see my bro - Tom and his girlfriend Fi - but watch this space. still don't know if our itineries are going to match at all. Sure will make it happen if possible though.
After that we fly to Auckland, see Linc's other bro - Andrew and his 2 kids, Linc's mum and dad and I'm sure a good handful of Linc's old mates. Also squeeze in a show watching Cirque de Soleil, a few days in the South Island and 2 weddings, before returning to Europe.
In Europe I'll get to catch up with my folks, sister and a few good friends before ending our trip in Mallorca and our new house........
Linc and Sal's big trip remains copyright of the author LincnSal, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.
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