Parents of the bride will travel: Finally a new posting!

Father of the bride waiting

Tapas at Kennedy Point vineyard

Getting ready

Rehearsal dinner

Paul at Devoport Ferry

Mother of the bride waiting

After the wedding –

We apologize for not posting anything for several days. Our house on Waiheke did not have Wifi and to say the least, we were quite busy most of the weekend. The whole weekend was a wonderful combination of beautiful houses, beaches, wedding, weather, family and friends! Our American friends were greeted with a Kiwi bbq at the Wright’s home. The next day the Leischman and Wright families migrated to the ferry and on to Waiheke Island. There was a rehearsal at Cable Bay and the first site of it was pretty amazing. We moved on to pizza and salad at the house named 360 where the some of the family and friends stayed. It had amazing views of Blackpool Beach and Surfdale Beach.

Saturday morning our household went to a local farmer’s market. The parents of the bride then showered and headed over to the bride’s house and watched bride and bridesmaids get ready. We also changed there and met with the photographer for some pre-weddng bride pictures. We then moved on to Cable Bay and had family photos taken. Before we knew it guests began to arrive and it all began. Taylor did an amazing job and the words and thoughts he shared were most touching. Sarah read something Maggie and Steve chose about love and all eyes were damp and hearts definitely felt the moment. Then they kissed, we cheered and they walked out to a tune of “it’s going to be a great night” and gave hi-fives to guests and family! The party began! It was a most memorable evening with a great dinner, toasts, speeches, a haka performed by mates, groommen and groom, and lots of cheers. Dancing was lots of fun and we left on the last bus at 12:30am.

Sunday was a nice day to relax and enjoy the sunny day. We dropped our friends Nancy and Roger at their Waiheke resort for the remainder of their Waiheke visit. Then we made an adventurous trip to the east end of the island and a long walk down the steep driveway to the three amigos’ cottage on Connell’s Bay. What an amazing place with a sculpture park and beautiful beach access.

Then we closed the day with a wedding de-brief with Maggie, Steve, Taylor and Sarah for dinner. Again wonderful company and food.

We drove up to Kerikeri Monday after getting a used car to hire (what we can rent). It was an interesting trip as I’ve been driving and am getting better at the round-abouts. Today, Tuesday we drove to the the Stone House, one of the earliest settlements by Europeans. We hiked up to a waterfall and through the bush but reminded us of Oregon and some of it’s coastal hikes. We drove to Paihia and took the ferry over to Russell Island and wandered around the shops. Tomorrow we are booking ourselves on a day sail on the R Tucker Thompson. Take a gander at www.tucker.co.nz if you wish. Big apologies as these photos are not in the order I want but my internet is failing again! Bugger as they'd say here.