Pakapuna (7th Feb)

This morning my plan was to head back over the Auckland bridge to Pukapuna to visit with Mel and her family, now Mel is the daughter of my mums cousin so shes my ……mmmm…..…. we think second cousin but if someone knows better then great. Her husband Richard assured me that the Maori way is that if you’re family, you’re family. Hey, sounds good to me. We think that the last time Mel and I saw each other was at another cousins wedding in England when her oldest daughter, Natalie, was about 7 weeks old, she’s now 13 years old.

It was fantastic to meet up with them all, Mel and Richard now have three children with the youngest being just 6 and who gave up his bedroom for me for the night. During the day Mel took me into Devonport and to see some of the sights from one of many great heights above the city and across the bay. We then headed back to the house where Richard cooked a delicious BBQ washed down with a couple of glasses of wine and we chatted late into the evening, or perhaps that’s the next morning! It was lovely to catch up with them and Richard I’ll give you La Paz!!  But I think I take the penguins in the Antarctic though!