First stop - Auckland

The alarm went off at 4am Thursday morning to start our seven week trip to New Zealand, UK, France and Canada. Heather's mum, Petra, dropped the three of us at Perth Airport for our 6.10am flight to Melbourne, a transit on our way to Auckland to see our friends Kevin and Stacey, and their children Rebecca (7) and Sebastian (1). Our flight was fairly smooth and Matthew had a sleep in his bassinet on the way to allow us to eat our breakfast. He also had a little surprise waiting when he chewed on his Mummy's finger...his first tooth had come through overnight!!! One of the hostesses was so taken with Matthew, she even took him from us for about 15 minutes to allow us to pack up for the descent. Attached is a photo of Matthew in the cockpit - maybe he wants to be a pilot one day!
Our transit in Melbourne involved a stop at the Qantas First Lounge thanks to Adrian's platinum status with Qantas. We were ushered into a "family room" on arrival which we soon realised was to keep Matthew away from the rest of the guests just in case he played up! Heather had a spa treatment (facial) while Matthew had a play on his mat and a sleep in his travel cot. We then enjoyed a gourmet spread made to order from the lunch menu before heading off for our flight to Auckland, this time without a bassinet on a smaller plane. We took turns to have dinner and then Heather fed Matthew to sleep for the last half hour of the flight. On arrival we picked up our hire car and drove to Kevin and Stacey's, getting there at around 1am local time - it was a very long day!

The three of us took it very easy on Friday while Kevin and Stacey were at work. Heather cooked up dinner and a tasty chocolate cake; Adrian had a haircut (NZ$15!!) and went for a run. Matthew sat on his mat and played with his toys, and giggled at Gwen the cat. We tried to move Matthew to local time but that was a dismal failure, so he's stayed on Perth time for his bedtime routine which was probably best given we are heading backwards to the UK for our next stop.

Saturday involved a late sleep-in for the three Days who were all still very tired, meaning we missed Rebecca playing her netball game where she was named best player on the court. After catching up on the overnight Olympic action (fortunately Australia are now ahead of NZ on the medal tally), Kevin, Rebecca and Adrian went to a park at the beach for Rebecca to have a play on the equipment and a run along the beach. Matthew had fun playing with all sorts of new toys, including a karaoke machine! He also has a real soft spot for Rebecca, and given half a chance, he would grab her long hair, never to let go. For dinner it was fish and chips - NZ$20 for the five of us, prices unheard of in Perth!
Sunday was bit wet and windy but we still got out, heading to Mairangi Bay where Kevin led us out onto a beachside promenade which was fast being consumed by the rising tide - we had to clamber over rocks (holding up Matthew in the stroller) to avoid being swamped by waves. We headed to a cafe for lunch instead. We decided to all check out the Glenfield Night Markets about 10 minutes walk from home, held each Sunday from 5.30 to 11pm. There were about 200 craft and food stalls, although we were only there for the latter. And the place was a-buzz with live music and so many people. Dinner for us involved Malaysian satay sticks, Paella, beef skewers, pork dumplings and a mango/pineapple smoothie to wash it all down, plus Rebecca's huge fairy floss. Heather and Stacey had conveniently driven to the markets so were able to drive home while the rest of us walked the big meal off. It was then time to pack the bags ready for our departure at lunchtime the next day. Wow, babies bring a lot of gear with them! It was great to catch-up with Kevin, Stacey, Rebecca and Sebastian having not seen them for two years (four years for Adrian) and introduce Matthew to his Godmother. Hopefully we will be back for a longer stay in the not too distant future. Now it's time for 25hrs in the air plus a three hour transit in Hong Kong on our way to the UK!