Travel Notes: New Zealand Part 3

27 May

I guess I have neglected to write these updates and now the trip is almost over! I left the last update in Blenheim so I will pick up from there and do my best to remember as much as I can. 

  Our Blenheim stay with Grandad lasted only a couple of days before Dad, who had gone over to Richmond during that time, came back to get us. On Friday we went again into town and visited the Warehouse and I think Farmers. I picked up a pair of hiking books at Number One Shoes for tramping in Montenegro and the ones I found were half the price of the boots at Anaconda back home. Once we’d done our shopping, Grandad took us to his favourite café at Mitre Ten where I had a chai latte and a custard square.

  Dad returned on Saturday and brought Grandpa with him. It was lovely to see Oompah (as we call him) again and to give him a hug. After packing up our stuff and having a quick lunch, we drove over to the other side of town to visit Great Auntie Tricia and Great Uncle Terence. Certainly they looked older and rather frail but they were indeed joyed to see us. Dad’s sister Aimee and two of our cousins, Rosie and Charli, were there also. I didn’t recognize them at first, they had grown up so much! We sat down to cake and a chat. 

  We left Hanny there and drove into town to see the live showing of my favourite musical- Les Miserables. I’ve read the book, seen the movie, watched the show on YouTube several times, seen several episodes of the BBC series, listened to the soundtrack, sung the songs, and played them on the piano. You get the idea. But I’d never seen a live showing of it. It was amazing. The music was mesmerizing. Especially that first song and those first few bars with the addition of the red and blue lights. You feel glued to your seat, to the show on the stage. You forget that there’s a world out there. All you can see and focus on is the world in here. You feel transported to another place and time. It was goosebumps stuff. To see it in person was very cool. At the intermission we each had a tiny tub of ice-cream, a tradition apparently, but I wouldn’t know since this was my first live show. I love the themes in the story of Les Mis. Themes of suffering and hope, law and grace justice and mercy, brokenness and redemption. It’s gritty. It’s sad, and yes, I did cry in parts. But it is also redemptive. 

  After the show, we all haunted at Auntie Tricia and Uncle Terence’s for tea. Auntie Aimee had ordered Chinese so that’s what we ate, with traditional kiwi pav and ice cream for dessert. 

  We drove to Nelson that night through the lovely Rai Valley where the Bowns, on Mum’s side of the family, settled. There’s a creek there named after them and an old family homestead house is still there. Nana’s dad John Bown owned a fair bit of farmland through there. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see much though because of the dark. 

  Most of us went to the cousin’s church on Sunday morning and I don’t recall what we did for lunch. Hannah and I were put up at the cousins while Dad stayed with Grandpa in his small home round the corner. Through that week Hannah and I spent the evenings and nights at the cousins and were at Grandpa’s during the day. 

  It was lovely to catch up with cousins Jake, Rosie, and Charli. Unfortunately, Ike was out of town so we didn’t get to see him. A couple of times we had dinner at the cousins. One night there was a big dinner there with Uncle Zane’s side of the family and Auntie Aimee and their Auntie Kim introduced me to white wine. Charli thought it tasted like nail polish remover and I could see why! It was unlike anything I had before tasted. Chatting with people was lovely. Stu Mirfin also likes history and books and gave me a few recommendations. 

  We went into Richmond town one day, and another day we went into Nelson. I love the inner Nelson town on Trafalgar street (more great names lol!). They have great shopping strips with plenty of shops but it was incredibly quiet and many places were closed. Autumn leaves blew down the foot paths and few people were to be seen. After looking in a few camping/outdoorsy shops here and in Blenheim, I finally found what I was looking for: a hybrid backpack with wheels and a pulley handle like a suitcase that was comfortable and the right size for me. 

  Before we bought it, Dad checked the store website on his phone and found that the bag I wanted was $40 off if purchased online so Dad purchased it from the website right there in Strandbags and we picked it up via click & collect later that afternoon. I was one happy lassie. I had expected to pay a lot more than I did for one of those bags. From that situation I learned that it is a good idea to shop around a few different places and look at your options and check the websites before making a significant purchase decision. After buying the bag we had some of those make-your-own frozen yoghourts as well. Yummy! The outings into town were enjoyable and good for my mental health. 

  Back at Grandpa’s, Dad was helping him sort through boxes of stuff in the garage and I was grateful to have the chance to look through some of his family history archives especially as it relates to my great grandparents on the Mullon side. There was so much of it, and I felt like a little historian sifting through documents and photos and photocopying ones that would be helpful to me in my tracing work. We’re from Boscastle Cornwall and Wakefield Yorkshire so I must have some Celtic blood in me. 😉 Sadly, I didn’t have nearly enough time to sort through it all, and felt sad and worried to think what might happen to it all if I didn’t speak up and save what I could. Oompah isn’t ready to let go of the originals yet though which is understandable. Though as the family historian they mean a lot to me. I would love to put together a small Mullon family history book one day.

  The trip was lovely but it did have some challenges. I faced a few episodes with my mental illness, one at Grandad’s and two at Grandpa’s. It’s crazy how quickly a small thing can trigger me and how rapidly my thoughts can turn downwards into dark places. And, as much as I love Hanny, her constant chatter and questions made me long for some introvert time at times. I can’t really imagine being a parent. 

  On our last night, Dad’s sister’s family joined us at Oompah’s for a pizza dinner. And Hannah, Charli, and I played the cool new Ticket to Ride: London game. 

  We are at present aboard Qantas airlines and soon to land in Melbourne so I’ll write more soon.

More to come in Part 4!