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I
only had one weekend in Dunedin which I booked with Justine long before. We went out to some of the old haunts on Friday night but town was disappointingly quiet - where was
everyone?! It was great to catch up though and see what has, and has not, changed
in Dunedin's pub scene.
Many of the people in them were frighteningly familiar, I did notice. On
Saturday night Justine, Dale, Kimberley
and I began the evening with drinks at Russell St. Unfortunately my plan to go into town to see if
it was busier on Saturday did not come to fruition - it was all Kimberley's fault, feeding me her lethal cocktails!
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| Me, Kimberley & Justine |
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| Justine |
Sunday's
family dinner was at my request - roast lamb and veges, followed by pav and Dunedin's
gourmet icecream. Plenty of photos were taken and then it was time to try and
pack all my new clothes, plus those I'd recovered from Storage, into my backpack, ready to depart Monday morning. Eventually after sitting on my pack, I managed to get the zips closed and all 24 kilos safely inside!
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| Mmmm, Mum and Dad's pinot noir and a pav! |
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| Kimberley & Andrew |
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| My mum |
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| Blah! |
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| Kimberley's spoilt baby, "Scrabble" |
As
I was arriving in Christchurch at 11am I was thinking what a shame it was that my friend Bec and her boys weren't
able to meet me, as I had three hours until my flight and would have loved to see her new baby and toddler. I think I shrieked when she met me off the plane! It was great
to see her and her boys and I spent plenty of time holding little 7 week old Owen. I
am so clucky!
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| Bec and baby Owen |
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| Wee baby Owen, just 7 weeks old |
It meant I was ready for the 11-hour flight to Singapore, where I arrived on Monday night. I checked into a transit hotel, within the airport, and had a hot bath and then about 9 hours sleep! It was really good as I was then refreshed for the 13 ½ hour flight to London! Tuesday was a LONG day! But
eventually I made it home, unpacked and collapsed in bed, getting another good night's sleep before work on Wednesday!
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| Airport reunion |
It
was completely surreal being home for a holiday. I saw a couple of people in
the street who said "Oh, I didn't know you were back", to which I replied, "I'm not"!
Not a lot has changed, just a few new shops, and it was weird to think I have a lot more friends in London now than I do in Dunedin. While it was sad to say goodbye to my parents at the airport, I was
not sad to be coming back home to London
and I've been told I look very refreshed (I think that will wear off very soon!). I
think I suffered culture shock on Wednesday, starting with a hot and sweaty tube ride in the morning, but it hasn't taken
long to get used to the city again and I'm ready for another year!
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| Wee cutie! |
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