The Final Post

Neiva Elizabeth Keir - bliss!

This photo says it all!

And baby makes three - The happy family!

Home after 5 weeks of  our "Adventure before Dementia", some would say with losing both our wallet and purse we are already there! 


Walked into our home after the flight to a roaring fire and roast chicken dinner with all the trimmings.  Our lovely nieces from Christchurch, Claire and Rose, along with Claire's husband Kieran and their wee daughter Zoe were up visiting and had gone to so much trouble.  Also very patient at hearing about our trip and even more exciting, keeping me company through the evening as we received great text updates about Laura from Michael.....FINALLY: 12.25pm weighing in at 7lb 6oz, beautiful Neiva Elizabeth Keir made her entrance.....What a welcome home gift to receive the news that Neiva had arrived and both her and Laura were safe and well.
Many thanks to everyone who checked out our travel diary, feedback by text and email and have sent wishes to Laura, Mike and Neiva. 
We are also pleased to report Emily and Tristan are now home after another long stay in hospital and while Tristan is still having his medications intravenously, given by Em's, he is expected to make a good recovery from the disc infection and is finally on the improve.  Brett and JJ are pleased that they are home too.


All are looking forward to meeting young Neiva, still on Cloud 9 and you will be stalked with photos and baby stories for sure.............Ciao for now!

Back to NZ

We had good flights & lovely service, albeit on very booked planes, so no spare seats to be had this tim around to stretch out.  From London to Dubai and after a couple of hours in transit onto Brunei we shared our row with a great Scottish Lass who was on her way to NZ for a year of working and travelling.  We got on so well and had lots to talk about, questions to answer for her and her for us.  We all hung out during the transit in Dubai and had coffee and checked emails in Brunei.  The last leg of the journey went well too with us sitting next to a farming couple from Hamilton, recently retired and they had some great stories to tell of their time in UK also. 
Arrived in Auckland, with Laura (41 weeks pregnant) and husband Mike there to meet us at the airport - a great sight at 1 o'clock in the morning!  Spent the weekend catching up on their news, some sleep and shopping and having a decent mocha!
Flight booked for 3/7/2011 5pm Sunday night and as we were pretty much boarding the plane, got a text to say Laura had her first contraction!  Exciting, though frustrating flight home for the both of us.........work tomorrow and perhaps baby news.......

Last day in London

Up and off after a great sleep.  Managed to fall upon the changing of the guard while we were on our way to the NZ War Memorial, which we saw last time and wanted to revisit.  As we walked up the rise we were the only ones there, it is like no other memorial – with huge battens, like waratahs and lovely designs and inscriptions in the black steel.  Hard to get a good photos because of the color and of the sun’s location.  Visited Harrods, as you do and found that this is the fortnight of their once a year sale – crazy busy and of course, had to make a purchase or two, with our last remaining card!

Left there lighter in pocket which is the case over here.  Found a great little pub for lunch and Ross enjoyed the bangers and mash:  salad and fish fingers for me – but not like we know fish fingers, these were little portions of delicious fish, lightly coated….English food has defintately improved since 4 years ago or maybe we have become more cunning at ordering.

Booked to see “Million Dollar Quartet” for 8pm after walking to Southbank and checking out what was on at the Globe Theatre and finding it was Doctor Fautus – not our thing.  Million Dollar Quartet was story of the one night, back on 4.12.1956 that Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash got together, with then Manager , Sam Phillips and had one amazing “jam” session.  The music was amazing and all done in a studio type setting.  Loved all the songs and by the end of the evening everyone was up dancing and clapping… a great last night in London which we will remember.

Opposite Buckingham Palace!  beautiful

NZ War Memorial

Unwittingly Lightened the Load from Naples to Rome

So we are EVEN – left my wallet on the train, when getting off the train from Naples to Rome. Unfortunately the train was quick to load up again and leave the station so what is done is done.  Que sera sera.  What will be, will be.  Luckily the English Pounds were in my handbag separately and we had been using up our Euros so only the other Loaded for travel card to be cancelled, and we are now experts at this!

Good flight from Rome to London with no hiccups and the Heathrow Express is pretty tidy and amazingly fast with free Wifi….they have got it all going on.  

Found our accommodation so close to Paddington it is awesome.  Good nights sleep – it has been a long travel day….last day of sightseeing in London tomorrow,  

POMPEII

What can I say!?  POMPEII – It was a privilege to be able to visit this amazing archeological site.  The presence of Mount Vesuvius right there in the background stands in eerie silence. 

Visiting Pompeii was nothing like I thought it would be – we paid for our audio machines and ticket to get in and then for the most part were allowed to wander around the whole city, with the exception of renovation sites.  The audio gave us specific information on what life would have been like, how buildings were laid out and graphic recreation of the period around earthquakes and subsequent eruption.

The outstanding buildings, some like the public baths, still with color and more or less as complete structures are impressive.  Others as ruins still told a striking story 

A closed off building contained row upon row of the artifacts found, everyday items as well as the plaster casts of several bodies, including a dog in a contorted position, said to be straining on his lead to get away from the impending danger, the pregnant woman lying on her front, protecting her unborn child, the figure of a man crouched shielding his eyes from the ash:  at this point I felt like an intruder, looking at the final moments in the lives of these individuals who had no chance of survival. 

Outside the enormous arena in excellent condition and alongside the amphitheatre we sat in the shade and had some fruit and drink, soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying the fact that there weren’t many people about so photos were able to be taken of the abandon streets and points of interest without dodging the crowds.

The crypts lining the street to the main entrance were particularly  interesting and the stories around individual families.  The vineyards and gardens added life and color throughout the city.  Before we knew it hours had passed and the crowds had poured in, so we made our way back to Sorrento for our last evening in Italy in awe.

SantAgata - La Tore

Now inland, high up with no cell or internet coverage it is very peaceful and after to settling in to our amazing quarters on an organic working farm we popped into town where Orlondo’s Café had caught our eye: with tiles pictures of a smoking cat, on the wall and as we ventured further  to the outdoor dining area, we found a statue of said cat – with a smoke in it’s mouth "In memory of Alfredo and his cat".  The owner was very friendly and told us it was his grandfather’s cat, back in 1907 who did smoke and now the cat (and bar) were now “legend”.  He gave Ross and walking map of the area and 2 postcards for me of the said Smoking Cat!  We enjoyed his company and the refreshing lemon gelato, watching the local men play cards out the back in the shade: a different game to what we play for sure!

At dinner we enjoyed the company of a lady from Quebec who thought NZ was part of Australia – as you can imagine that didn’t go down too well!  Anyhow, she was very interesting and well travelled and had been doing a similar trek to us, but on her on relying on her GPS – sadly there is no coverage of GPS, cell phones or internet high in the mountains, so she got lost one day ending up with a 10 hour walking day: in this heat that would be exhausting.  Our hosts were amazing with their spread of organic homegrown and homecooked food.

After a substantial breakfast of homemade goodies: bread, butter and jams, and pots of tea, we set off on our last day of tramping through little villages most of the way to Sorrento.   Again the instructions were a little tricky, with little deviations, half turns and the route markers changing color several times – all makes a very interesting day.  In Massa Lubrense we managed to miss a turn and circumnavigate the town, ending up where we started and snuck back through the narrow alley ways, hoping the locals weren’t watching!  Again another day of magnificent views and past many homes with orchards loaded with cherries, apricots, walnuts and peaches.  Rows and rows of olive trees with the netting underneath them, neatly tied, waiting for the fruit to grow and ripen.  Lots of church services in homes as well as churches, today being Sunday so we heard lots of music and chiming bells along the way.  Some of the time the map led us into the narrowest alley ways, sharing the path with private homes and feeling like we were intruding in their space, but no one seemed to mind.  We had the company of several lots of friendly dogs today as well.   As we neared Sorrento, we had magic views of Mount Vesuvius, Pompeii and Capri as well as the coast line with the many boats and ferries on the water.

Motel Astoria is where we will be for the next two nights and it is very comfortable with a pool and bar, very central again to the main piazza.  A bonus too, having tea and coffee making facilities in our room.  But finding a supermarket open was another matter, being Sunday and right in the middle of siesta time.  Fortunately it opened at 5pm. 

Passwords!

Using Wifi whenever we can, we have come across passwords ranging from 123456789 to this beauty: a412aaf040042497d056792e28!