Back on Home Soil .... for a bit!

The trip back to NZ was an absolute flying visit but was awesome! We left London and headed straight back to Auckland, mum & dad picked us up and we headed to Cambridge. The next day we went out to Dave & Paula's for Bella's 1st birthday. Both sides of the family were there and we had a fab time chilling in the sun with a BBQ,

Bella got a whole lot of pressies and had a very cute bunny cake that Paula had whipped up! After a day of catching up with the family and cuddling Bella (whether she wanted it or not)

We left Dave & Paula's and headed across the plains to the great metropolis of Kerepehi to see Shane's parents. Robert & Jennifer were there with Jayden when we arrived so we got to see how much he has grown up - he has turned into quite the little dude!

The next day we were up early, hooked on the boat and headed up to Te Kouma to put the boat in and do a spot of fishing!

We headed out on the ater and had the most gorgeous day - times like this really made us miss home! The water was like glass, we had fish biting... they were fairly small but we got a feed!

We dropped the dredge over the side and got a few scallops - these never made it back to shore as they were straight into Shanes tum!

The next stop was Tauranga - we headed to Gav & Melza's and spent the day hanging out with them and the kids on the farm! There new house is awesome, we got the VIP treatment and the kids even made us apple & blackberry muffins for lunch - Nice work!

That night we went out for dinner and meet up with Jen & Nath and Vickie as well at the Horny Bull - we had complimentary drinks and a birthday cheesecake that had to be devoured!

Next stop was back North with a night at Nick & Shirleys - we went out and saw their new house which Nick is in the process of building. The boys went on a 4WDing expedition of his farm before heading back to the site for a few beers. Shane looked every part the quinessential NZ male as he opened his crate bottle of Lion Red with the seatbelt of the Hilux in his jandels.... all he needed was the wife beater singlet and stubbies to complete the look.

We headed out that night to a nice restaurant and filled up on fine kiwi cuisine and plenty of wine!

We then had to go our seperate ways to cover a bit more ground! Shane was back to the Waikato where he picked up two vans full of boys to head off on the stag night. They had a brilliant time by all accounts which saw Inniss (as one of the many) with bruises from paintball, getting towed around karapiro in a sea biscuit and then being dragged around Taupo in the world famous Borat mankini! Apparently they were looking much worse for wear on Sunday!

I headed to Hawkes Bay and spent the weekend hanging out with Jannah, Braden & the girls. We had a fantastic time lazing in the sun, shopping in Napier and generally chilling it! But just as I was starting to relax it was back in the car and off to Wellington for the next stage of the holiday.... all good times but very very busy!

Wellington was great, Shane met me there and we saw Vickies new house, met her new man before heading around to check on our palace! Danube St is all fine and well and still ticking along nicely - that was definitely a welcome relief!

That afternoon we headed out to Sarah & Makere's to see Flynn Flynn... our baby totally snobbed us and he was not interested in either Shane or I - I think we might have to formally adopt him out! Still as fluffy and cute as ever though - just really grumpy!

That night Fi & James put on a fantastic BBQ and we chilled out on their deck with a gourmet spread, plenty of booze and a group of great people! A perfect was to spent Easter Monday! We managed to catch up with lots of our Wellington buddies and all of their tiny children. Absolute craziness - this trip has been a whirlwind of babies!

Speaking of which we headed north the following day and over to Hamilton hospital to meet Charlotte Catherine Smart - the latest addition to the Smart clan! Jayden now has a little sister to play with!

We had a quick trip back to the hospital the next day for Renae... whoops - I broke my little toe and ended up in an ugly moon shoe! Such a dumb thing to do but at least Shane and I managed to get some laughing gas out of the nurse and everything became a whole lot more funny!

Our final stop before heading back to the UK was Raglan - this was a big driver for the trip home, we had Inniss & Gemma's wedding to celebrate! Shane was in the bridal party and supposed to be there to keep Inniss inline - as much as anyone can do that!

The wedding was on the beach and it was an absolutely gorgeous affair - Gemma looked amazing and the wedding went off perfectly. Well apart from Inniss dropping Gemma's ring into the sand when he went to put it on her finger ... In true Inniss style! He found it though and it was quite funny. They then had the reception at a fantastic venue and the crowd of people were definitely up for a party!

The next day it was back to Cambridge and getting ready to head back to London town!

Shane and I travelled back to the States together before going our seperate ways! He went straight back to the UK while I stopped over in Florida to see a man about a dog .... more on that later!

All in all it was a fantastic trip and we had a blast catching up with everyone!