Di and Cam

This was our first trip home since leaving for our UK stint in December 2006. As such, we spent most of our waking hours catching up with friends and family all over the country. Our main purpose for the trip home was to go to Cam's oldest friend's wedding. Matt and Cam have known each other since kindergarten and have managed to keep in contact over the 27 years since and it was great to be able to head over to share in his big day.

After a long flight (via Hong Kong) we arrived at Auckland airport and were met by Di's Dad (Rob). For the next couple of days we stayed with Barb and Ron (Cam's Mum and Dad) and caught up with friends and old work mates in Auckland. During our stay in Auckland we were lucky enough to have the use of Dad's new car which was a lot of fun:

Our second stop was New Plymouth for a visit with Di's Nana. Rob kindly took a couple of days off work prior to the long weekend and drove us down. The picture below is of a wind-blown Di and her Nana.

For our third stop, we drove further South to Raumati to see Cam's grandparents (Gran and Pop) and his Aunty (Jan). Jan had booked us into a lovely beachside bach where we had beautiful views across the water to Kapiti Island. The photos below are of us and the island:

After a lovely weekend in Raumati we drove with Jan down to Wellington and flew even further South to Dunedin, where Nic and Matt's wedding was taking place. Upon arrival we picked up our 'mystery' hire car which was a great help in getting us around for the few days that we were there:

For our whole time in Dunedin Matt's extended family treated us like family and we had a fantastic time. The wedding was fantastic and it was great for Nic and Matt to finally meet Diana!

This was Cam's first visit to Dunedin, so we made the compulsory stop at the world's steepest street (a little hairy in a rental car with a 1.3l engine!) and we also drove out to St Kilda beach and around the Otago peninsula to Larnach Castle:

After what felt like a whirlwind stop in Dunedin, we took our wee car to Gore to visit Renée and Brad and their daughter Isabella. It was great to catch up with them and to see their new place down there (although it's a long way back to visit!)

After dropping the car back at Dunedin airport and flying back (via Wellington) to Auckland, we only had two more nights before we were on a plane back to the UK. We had an awesome time catching up with everyone though, and hopefully we'll be able to head back for another visit soon!

Di and Cam
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