A tribute to a one-in-a-million special lady - farewelling our Gee Gee

Two weeks ago my most precious 90 year old Granma (also known as Gee Gee to the boys) suffered a stroke which was severe enough to put her in ICU and after suffering a number of heart attacks while in hospital, after a few days the hospital made the decision that palliative care (end of life care) was the only remaining option available.

Mum, Dad and I made the trip down the same day as the stroke to see her briefly in hospital, and then again on the Friday when she'd returned back to her rest home for palliative care where she was still responsive but didn't open her eyes during that time - the most animated she got was when we mentioned the Hurricanes were playing in the final - she always did love her sport.

On the following Monday Mark and Dad went back down to see her (as Mark hadn't had a chance to at that stage), and then on Wednesday Mum and I went back down again - it was a very special four hours we spent with her and we didn't know that when we left at 3pm for the journey back to the Waikato that she would be leaving us for Heaven by the end of that day. It was almost as if she waited to see us one more time.

It was hard seeing her on the Wednesday as she was very clearly near to the end but I'm still glad we made the effort to go. It was a special time spent just Mum and I too travelling down and back - it's not often we get six hours alone in a car together to chat about life.

We then had to scramble to get ourselves organised to attend the funeral on Saturday, trying to pull together a number of different schedules - we had Nic and Maia to get over quickly from Melbourne (Kim was away in Canada for work), we had to get Sam back on an aeroplane to Auckland on Saturday night for a business trip to Canberra on Sunday, and Dad was due for a shoulder operation on Monday (today) so if the funeral had been any later he wouldn't have been able to make it either. In the end all the logistics came together for us all to be together. We booked a few rooms in a motel in New Plymouth and had some special times just catching up as a family amongst the sadness of the reason for being together this weekend.

Mark and I took the boys out to a cafe after we saw Gee Gee lying in rest at the funeral home and we went to Chaos Cafe - where we'd last had coffee with her back in May - such lovely memories - going out for coffee and a muffin was one of her very favourite things to do.

I'd been asked if I would put together a photo slideshow of Granma's life which was a great honour but was also a lot of work over a very short time as I had to scan in so many old shots from old black and white hard copy prints. I also had to try and ensure I got a good cross section of extended family in the slideshow with the photos I had available to me and in only two days - it would have been easy to fill the slideshow of just my own photos with her but I also had to try keep a lot of other people happy.

But I think in the end it was a great reflection of her wonderful life:



I also knew I wanted to speak at the funeral and there was so much I could have said but I tried to keep it to about 5 minutes. My brave boys (who'd already been to the funeral home to see Gee Gee) came and stood with me as I shared all that Gee Gee meant to us:

Growing up, I looked forward to every school holiday which would see us making the road trip from Auckland to the Naki. Even though it was sitting in the back of an 800cc Suzuki van squished in with my 2 younger brothers. And even though invariably one or other of us would get so sick on the fumes and windy roads that we'd have to have a vomit stop - usually somewhere around Te Kuiti. That was until they invented sea-legs tablets and Mum would serve these up to us for breakfast before we headed out. After that, not feeling sick and trying to hold in those nauseous feelings almost took some of the fun out of the journey in a strange way. I even remember a few night trips leaving Auckland after Dad finished work and us falling asleep in the car on the way there. With the portacot set up in the back of the van for my littlest brother to sleep, no safety belt or anything -  those were the days!

In the early days our holidays were at the Surrey Road farm - that big sprawling farmhouse and gardens were so awesome for us as kids to enjoy games of hide and seek or trips over the farm to the cowshed and beyond. For us city kids it was like an amazing haven to retreat to and allowed us a glimpse of what real NZ country living was all about.

When I was about 10, Granma and Grandad retired to New Plymouth to the house at Lismore Street which had its own lovely appeal with its bush setting and lovely views of the sea. Games of cricket in the garden, many hours spent pedalling out classical tunes on Granma’s antique pianola piano, taking over their dining room with games of snooker on their portable table, annual pilgrimages to the Festival of Lights at Pukekura Park and even a cricket game between Central Districts and Canterbury there where my crush on several cricket players who went onto become NZ heroes began with photos and autographs with the players.

The best holiday for us was always the Christmas holiday where we would stay for at least a week, and then sometimes one of us kids would take a turn to stay on an extra week by ourselves with Granma & Grandad. Oh happy days. A week of being spoilt rotten, treated to special one-on-one time which usually included a trip to the toy shop, a fast food outlet, plenty of card games with Granddad, piano playing, staying up late watching TV and all the other wonderful treats that a grandparent's perogative allows!

I was able to reciprocate a tiny bit when I looked after my grandma for a few days after one of her hip replacements when I’d just finished up university and was heading to Wellington to live. And when Mum & Granma went on their amazing adventure to England together in 2002 Mark and I took several weekend trips up to Taranaki to make sure Grandad was behaving himself too. It was also very special for me to have both my grandmothers at our wedding in 2004.

In 2006, Granma became Gee Gee when Noah (her first great-grandchild) was born. I had forgotten until events of recent weeks reminded me that she was the first to meet Noah of our extended family beating even my Mum and Dad to it. She’d just happened to be on a train trip to Wellington (something she’d always wanted to do!) and arrived in late one Saturday night just 3 days after Noah was born - he was a week early. Mark picked her up at the train station and brought her to our home for an hour to meet our little guy - what a special moment that was.

Fast forward three years down the track and a trip down to Wellington to see us coincided with my 20 week scan where she sat right beside me in wonder as we learned that Noah would be getting a little brother.

Most years we would make the trip up to Taranaki from Wellington 3-4 times a year to stay with Gee and even up to five years ago at age 85 she was still taking flights to Wellington to see us when I found her cheap Grabaseat flights to come and stay. I’ve lost count of how many Easter egg hunts we had with the boys in the garden at Truby King Street, visits down to the back fence to look for the horse that lived down in the valley, cuddles with her cat Panda and trips down to the coastal walkway where we enjoyed strolling along at her gradually slowing pace.

The thing about Gee Gee was her never ending capacity to love, and be generous. You always knew you’d leave her house full as a goose having been plied with baking morning noon and night. She was without doubt the most generous person I met - you never could outdo her with paying for things even if you wanted to - she’d always find a way to get one back in the end.

And her love and pride in her family was never in doubt. Every time we went to visit we would hear all about what each family member was up to - from the oldest to the youngest - her pride in what her kids and grandkids were doing was the highlight of our many conversations. And if we weren’t talking about what the family were up to she would wax lyrical for hours on sport - which was her very favourite thing to watch - from netball to tennis, cricket and rugby - it was all fair game for a long and lengthy discussion - something I know all the males in the family loved about her including my hubby Mark who adopted Granma as his own grandmother the minute he arrived in NZ.

There is always the possibility of a very special bond developing between a grandchild and their grandparent. I say possibility, because like all relationships it has to be tended, cultivated, and given the right combination of love and time to grow into a one-of-a-kind, magical connection.

It’s what I had with Granma, and what my children also had with their Gee Gee. I am forever grateful that God allowed us to have so much time with her. Rest easy now Granma knowing you leave behind a legacy of love that will not be forgotten.

We gave her a wonderful send-off but I admit I already miss her so much. She's been as close as a parent to me and as close as a grandparent to my boys. She was so full of life her whole life - everyone who met her always said how warm and friendly and welcoming she was. I still can't quite believe I won't see her again this side of Heaven.

But I know how much pain she'd been in as well and I'm so glad she's free of that now - in her new Heavenly body, dancing with the angels, free at last.

When good intentions get taken over by grand adventures

I had all kinds of good intentions to carry on blogging as I'd managed to get two posts out in quick succession. Then life just kept on happening and getting in the way.

So for the sake of sounding like a broken down record, I'm embarrassed to say that despite having great expectations that I'd right back into regular blogging - it just hasn't panned out that way at all so far!

If you follow my photography on Instagram or Facebook you'll know I've been taking a lot more photos lately. I'm actually so thrilled to have found the passion for my landscape photography again, it had been so difficult to find the time or inclination to get out regularly over the time we moved and built our house. And then I also had to invest a lot of time in completing my cousin's wedding photography assignment. I'm finally through the other end of that job, so have freed up some time for the kind of photography I really love.  And having also discovered a whole lot of new and fascinating spots in the local area for photos I feel like I've had a bit of a re-birth and there are now so many places on my list to visit that I'll have plenty of options for a variety of shots for some time to come.

One of the things I'm most excited about is that I FINALLY got to do some astrophotography - that is taking photos of the Milky Way. I had wanted to for ages but hadn't quite figured out the right time or even where to begin with it. Then I found a fantastic app that takes most of the guesswork out of the equation called Photo Pills. I had to pay for the privilege but it's well worth it. The morning I chose to go out it was super foggy and I had to drive for an hour heading halfway up the Kaimais just to get about the fog. But it was worth the drive to get my first every astro shoot under my belt. And for a first outing I was pretty pleased with the result.

The weekend I went there was a pretty big meteor shower on and I saw at least 6 shooting stars with the naked eye and a whole lot more were visible once I processed the shots too!

There's also a really cool app called Skyview Free which little people in your house would LOVE. Hold it up outside and line it up with the stars you see - you'll soon know exactly which star or planet you are looking at - such a great idea!

But with the taking of said photos, there also comes the need to edit and post them - all of which take time away from any blogging time I might have been able to carve out. I'm also in the process of overhauling my whole photography website so I'm working on that feverishly in the background as well.... hopefully I'll actually get that finished this side of Christmas ha ha!

We've also been away SO many weekends already this year that we've hardly had time to sit and scratch our you know whats! Between 2 weekends away in Taranaki, a week in the Coromandel, a secret birthday weekend away in Taupo, and a long weekend away in Matarangi and that's just where we were at by the end of April.

My birthday this year (whilst not being a 'big' number - that's next year...eek!) was a big deal. Mark decided to surprise me with a mystery birthday weekend away starting with dinner in Gothenburg restaurant in Hamilton. The great thing about having the exact same birthday is that he got to enjoy the benefits of all he organised as part of his birthday too!!!! Win win!

The beautiful tapas selection we enjoyed at Gothenburg - I can't wait to go back here again! 

There he revealed I had to choose between 3 sealed envelopes what we would be doing for the weekend.

What's a girl to do?!!!! How to choose?!

When I did finally choose I discovered we had an awesome weekend away in Taupo planned with as much photography as I could fit in..... what a babe my hubby is - most perfect present ever!!!!

In need of breakfast after our 4.44am start - we missed out on good sunrise shots due to the fog but got some funky fog shots at the Mangakino jetty so all was not lost!

Mark admiring the view from our Hilton Lake Taupo room - hanging out to try out the pool and spa at this point!

Selfie shot - I took him by surprise and nearly knocked him completely off balance!

After another early start for sunrise finding this amazing Paleo breakfast salad was a wicked pick-me-up!

So many cool spots to discover along the Old Taupo Road - including the awesome Arapuni suspension bridge - not for the faint of heart!

When we got home at 2pm, I walked into the last surprise of our shared birthday weekend - 3 of my best friends and families all at our house for a birthday BBQ - I got quite the shock to walk in and see everyone waiting for me..... in a nice way of course!!

The first time we had all been together since my wedding 12 years ago!!!

Two weeks later we headed back to Matarangi for the weekend with Tracey & Dayne and family. We'd loved our time there swimming so much in early March that we booked to go back again for the long Anzac weekend.

lush to be sitting out in summer temperatures in mid autumn - ah Matarangi you're the best!

what a dream of a beach Matarangi is - what is not to love!

Post-swim warm up in onesies!

A rather competitive game of Trivial Pursuit - family edition

hours of fun on the tennis court

despite feeling rather seasick Noah can now officially say he's a fisherman

We had a blast - the kids are all similar ages and get along well - between swimming in the sea (unheard of in late April), playing tennis, a fishing trip out into the firth of Thames with 15 fresh fish the bounty haul, an early morning sunrise at Cathedral Cove and a walk over to New Chums beach we sure made the most of our time there. And the accommodation was so ridiculously cheap - $100 a night for all 8 of us!

The following weekend we spent a day over at Omokoroa visiting our dear friends Shannon and Guy in their new life there. They recently moved up from Wellington and it's so cool knowing they're just over the hill not a 7 hour drive away! It's a really beautiful spot and we can see the appeal - I know there will be more happy days spent over the hill hanging out with them now we know it's an easy day trip!

checking out the views from Shannon and Guy's new neighbourhood - the Mount visible in the far background

hanging with this chick is always so lovely - I had missed her so much since we left Welly so I'm pretty happy to have her just down the road again!

another autumn swim - last day of April!!!!

ahhhh - friends reunited

The following weekend our dear friends Jackie and Heidi came to stay from Wellington on the first weekend of winter football - it was great timing and they were able to watch both boys games as they were playing at home.

At the last minute we decided to put Mylo up a grade into 8th grade so he could get some better competition as he really was a bit bored in the 6th grade last year being one of the best in the grade and playing little mini games on small fields with some kids who'd never kicked a ball before. Also Mark is the coach of his 8th grade team and so far with two games under their belts they've had a 4-4 draw and a 7-3 win and Mylo has scored both weeks so it was definitely a good decision to push him that little bit harder this year.

We were all so thrilled for Noah that he made it into the top 10th grade team this year - he was equally excited that his best buddy (who moved schools this year so he they don't see each other as often) is also in the same team along with a few other kids he knows from his school. And his coach is a really awesome guy with lots of passion for the game so we are looking forward to seeing how his year pans out. In the first two games, they've had a close win and a close loss but it's grading games only so still early days of the season. In addition the boys are both doing the Star Soccer academy on a Tuesday to help their footy skills develop - it makes for a very busy week having soccer on Tuesdays and Thursdays as well as games on Saturday but we figure it's all positive for improving their overall performance and we decided to skip swimming lessons over the winter to free up the time to do extra football - they definitely don't mind!

Add to this there's two games of football every Saturday morning and with both boys playing in travelling leagues this inevitably means we are pulled in different directions across the Waikato - like last week when Mylo played in Te Aroha at 9.30am and Noah played in west Hamilton at 11.15am - it's a good thing we are two parents with two cars in this case!!

But back to our weekend with the girls - we showed them the sights and sounds of the local area - like the lovely views at Lake Karapiro and a walk between Arapuni and Jones Landing on Mothers Day morning.

 We also snuck in a couple of games of Monopoly Game of Thrones - very apt since it was their Christmas prezzy to us and our first chance to play it. OK so playing it very nearly made them miss their flight home but phew all was well that ends well in the end!

We're looking forward to seeing these two lovely gals again when we stay with them in Wellington for the weekend in July!

My Mothers Day card from Mylo made me smile - apparently he came up with these ideas all by himself. Where he got the unicorn from I'll never know but I love it!

Last weekend Mark and I headed down to Taranaki to hand over my cousin's wedding album to them - I took the opportunity to get out for sunrise shots at Cape Egmont lighthouse and the Weld Road shipwreck with my cousin Charlotte - we will be sad to see her and Gwyl returning back to the UK to live in August so it was awesome to spend this time with them. Charlotte got to see what it was like to have a 'hallelujah' moment during a photo shoot. The skies, the shipwreck, the bird - well you'll just have to wait for those photos - believe me they were amazing!

Then Mark and I headed far into hobbit country to find Waitanguru Falls on the way home. It was well worth the hour's extra drive on the journey - it really is the most stunning scenic and remote countryside through there. And with all the rain we'd had the falls were an impressive sight!

it was lovely to be able to spend a few hours with Gee Gee - still doing so well at 90

breakfast hangs after our 5.30am start for sunrise shots

adventures in the heart of hobbit country - at Waitanguru Falls

We've also had a total of 4 teeth lost in the past month (2 each) with 2 more not far away - Mylo's top teeth have been wiggly for ages. I can't say I'm looking forward to him losing them though - I love his little gappy smile and I know it will change when he gets big adult teeth filling up the gaps!

the tooth fairy had a busy night - 2 teeth fell out in one day at school for Mylo!

So if you've been wondering what we've been off doing instead of blogging  - that's just a short whistle stop tour through our life lately.

I won't even begin to promise I'll be more regular in my posting....we all know what happened last time I did that...ha ha!

I'll just say I'll see ya again soon (ish.....!) and leave you with some cute pictures of these two - in between the busyness of life there's still plenty of time to reflect and enjoy them and their achievements and to enjoy doing life with them - they are such awesome kids!

this is what I find when I ask them to help make their beds - curled up on the floor together under a duvet - how could I be mad looking at these faces though?!

I love that they were so utterly enthralled with the latest series of Britain's Got Talent they didn't even know I was taking this shot - to be fair we've all been glued to the screen all week waiting to see who is going to win!

Waihi - all kinds of wonderful

There's plenty of wonderful to be had in Waihi. For a start it's renowned as one of the safest surf beaches in the country. And with 9km of glorious coastline to explore you're sure to find a spot just right to suit you!

Whether hitting the beach on a body board....

......or kicking a ball down the beach into the twilight.

No visit to Waihi would be complete without a visit to the Big Hole otherwise known as the Martha mine. The mine is actually reaching the end of its life now - within the next year or so it will start being filled up - it's going to take 6 years to do so!

On the walk around the rim there are a number of interesting fact files hanging on the fence - we enjoyed reading every single one of them and found out some very interesting statistics, such as:

- the height from bottom to top is 250 metres
- the mine draws out $1 million in silver and gold each week
- each truck load coming out of the mine has 1 tbsp of gold and 20 tbsp of silver

After returning to the beach, it was time to hit the waves. Only after a good long dip had we cooled off enough to want to contemplate some beach cricket. All the grandparents took a turn playing too which the boys loved!

The following day we got out and about early knowing that bad weather was on its way. At the very northern end of the beach there's an invigorating 45 minute walk over the headland to the beautiful Orokawa Bay. Even leaving as early as we did a misty drizzle followed us all the way there and back but it was still warm though despite the grey day. We were so lucky to get back to the car just in time for the heavens to open and it then didn't stop raining for 24 hours!

And as for the two sunrises I crawled out of bed to capture on two consecutive mornings - holy wow they were amazing - but they will have to keep for another day!

Instead to end with here's a few snippets of real live action from our wonderful time in Waihi..... spot the crazy kids rolling down the hill in the middle of it all!