Uncle Richard & Cynthia Visit NZ

Earlier this year our cousin Cynthia came to New Zealand for this first time with her dad. It's been 12 years since we all visited Australia and there were only half as many of us then ;P So the little people were excited to meet her for the first time, and the older ones were looking forward to catching up after so long!

I'm blaming the lack of photos on phone problems *cough*. They were in the country for two weeks and we all enjoyed the catch-up. :)

: : Traditional NZ fare ;P : :

Aussie Trip {Part 8} Miscellaneous Maclean Snaps

This post will be a collection of the rest of my photos from Maclean, in random order. :) I ended up spending a week in Maclean which was nice. We stayed with our cousins in the same house during our '05 trip, so it was cool going back to a familiar place and remembering things from the last visit. Of course some things had changed, with two of the cousins married and moved away now, and working out parking spaces for cars and motorbikes, instead of rules for the toy guns and flying fox in the backyard! 

: : Aunty Vicki with Paton and the two cockatiels : :

Aunty Vicki shares our love of animals, so it's always fun comparing the pet count. ;) I missed my cat back home but managed to win over most of the cousins' ones while I was over (mission accomplished ;P). And a cat buddy to snuggle up with you during movies is always a good idea ;)  

Love those beautiful clear skies!

And no traffic! :O #takemeback

: : Loving those palms : :

Oh look, more sunsets :P I think I actually have at least one similiar photo (those were the days of film, guys ;)) from 2005, maybe I should compare how much the landscape has changed in 10 1/2 years ;P

: : And that would be the cockroach Luke flicked off the wall towards me . . . : :
When I jumped away he decided throwing it at me might be more fun . . . 

: : Aurora, Grace's cat : :
Um yeah, that would be the bathroom light she's on top of!

: : Luke and Jenna : :

: : Please, feed me?! : :
Seriously, it's too bad I couldn't bring him back in my suitcase!

: : Let's get a photo while are hair and make up are still fresh. lol : :

: : One animal we actually haven't had as a pet! : :

: : Please appreciate this photo; : :
I didn't think to check the grass for prickles before walking over to snap it :P

: : Call me strange; I keep admiring those red bricks every time I scroll past this photo : :

: : Hehe another one :P : :

: : Aunty Vicki's fish tank makes our one look pretty pathetic :P : :
There actually are a fair few types but looks like they've just about all gone to hide from the camera lol

: : Apparently these flowers only last a day or two I think; pretty cool they bloomed while I was there :) : :

: : Awww so beautiful : :

: : Oh, hello! : :

Sadly I didn't take as many photos as I should have, and now my memory won't stand up to super-long recounts I'm afraid. :/ I'll make note of a few things though. Grace and I had planned to do a bit of trekking around and such while I was in Maclean, but she ended up having uni assignments to work on for a lot of the time. We ended up settling with a few good talks over coffee or on the kitchen floor ( . . . #equallystrangecousins ;P) and walking up to the lookout a few times. 

Cynthia, Faith, and I went over to Yamba one night to see PAN and then grabbed Macca's on the way home. Love how we dressed up and didn't take any photos . . . lol. 

Aunty Vicki took some of us down to browse some of the shops one day and book my bus ticket to Port Macquarie.

Luke organised lots of movies for me to watch, and then one night when my stamina for that gave way (I discovered it isn't what it used to be :P) I decided to go back to what I knew and brought out the washing to fold ;P Turns out the lighting wouldn't allow my phone to get a good shot, so you'll just have to trust me when I say that Luke helped ;) lol

And I think that will about wrap up my recap. Chances are I'll remember a couple more things a month or so from now. ;P Thanks for having me guys -- miss you all!

Aussie Trip {Part 7} Beach!

One of the days I was in Maclean, Cynthia had a friend come around, and Faith and I joined them on a trip to the beach in Yamba. The morning was warm and sunny while we packed our stuff before heading over. It turned out quite a few people had the same idea that day, so finding a car park took a while. By the time we actually did get out and on the beach we didn't have an incredibly long time there before the wind picked up and the clouds came over! On the way back we stopped by an antique shop and admired all the furniture of real wood, but decided against purchasing anything ;P We had fun talking and laughing and what have you though, so I say it was a successful trip ;)

: : We didn't make this but I thought it was cool so snapped a shot anyways ;P : :

Aussie Trip {Part 6} Down by the River

After we shot all the photos at the lookout, and then down at Pinnacle Rocks, the sun was setting beautifully, so we decided to race down to the (Clarence?) River and try to get some nice sunset shots before we ran out of time. Pretty happy with the ones we got :)

: : Attempting silhouettes : :

: : "Dear Maclean Council, : :
Would you please consider an alternative to the present power lines, as they're getting in the way of my beautiful sunset photos."  hahaha ;P  

: : Love the framing from the trees! : :

: : So peaceful hanging by the side of the river getting these shots : :

: : Tranquility : :

: : Not 100% certain about the stability of these platforms though . . . :P : :