cara

fisher sister fun and fisher family reunion

this entry is all about the last week, mostly fmaily hoo ha.
next post will include fun observations about nz life.
you chose the adventure.

hey all,

i want to say thanks to all of you sending comments. it is so nice to read your words and hear your voices over here on the other side. and steven how did you guess! not in vancouver, but actually i am hiding in whalley. i can't wait till the 6 months are up.

anyways, when i last left off i was awaiting the arrival of my SISTER!!!! MAREN!
for all you that don't know Maren is my step sister (from Trevor, my (adoped) dads first marriage). here are the stats on maren: we are the same age (i am actually 6 months older hehe), she is tall, blond, and a fox, she is a navigator with the new zealand air force, has grown up in nz, lived in canada for 1.5 years when we were 19. and we are bonded like real sisters even though we have only known each other for half our lives (we first met when we were 15). okay enough of that....

we headed off for a FISHER SISTER HOLIDAY. we stocked up and head to a place called the Queen Charlotte Sound, about a 2 hour drive from Motueka. She had a friends 'bach' (aka summer house) in a beautiful spot called Ahuriri Bay (near Picton --place you catch ferry to north is). it was rustic and had stunning views of blue bays and the Sound itself. over three days we drank lots of delicious nz wine (and there is heaps), read trashy magazines, eat yummy food, sunned ourselves thouroughly (no real sunburns yet), crafted and read tonnes. one day we had a water taxi come pick us up in our very own bay (only 4 other 'bachs' in the bay), it took us on an hour boat ride out in the Sound, where we got dropped off and tramped (the nz term for hiking) for about 3 hours. The Queen Charlotte Track is long, linking many bays with campsites, cottages and some resort style places. You can hike either about 3 hours between or about 6 hours between each spot and it is not really that tough of terrain. Anyway the FISHER SISTERS had an easy 3 hours fast walk from one cove to the next. Upon arrrival we had lunch at Punga Cove. No sandwiches for these high rollers. We had a lovely lunch, parked on teh balcony looking over the Bay, over not one, but 2 bottles of wine!! Oh yes we treated ourselves. The Punga Cove Resort had these cabins people can rent, a restaurant, boat rentals, kayaks etc. After lunch we made use of their spa pool (hot tub). we swam in the ocean and soaked in the tub till the water taxi came back to retrieve us around 3:30pm. We literally ran down to the boat when it arrived! A very funny site i am sure to the serious trampers onboard. It was so fun, a truly deluxe day. Our time together was great. Full of relaxation and catching up (we last saw each other 3 years ago). She says HI to the vancouver kids she met while there!!!

We picked up Maren's beau (Scott) on our return trip to home. He is a pilot in the RNZAF and this was my first time meeting him (they have been dating for 3 years and live togeher in Auckland). He is a great guy and they seem a good match.

Last Saturday night was our BIG FISHER FAMLY REUNION!!!!!!!!!
There were about 17/18 of us all togehther. We had a fun night at the farm/orchard. Lots of champagne, food, laughs, and tonnes of famly photographs. (AND YES I WILL SOON SORT OUT POSTING SOME PHOTOS FORYOU ALL. I NEED TO LEARN HOW, BUT I HOPE TO IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS). The night was capped with a few home movies, and a shared cigar under the stars. I think there was about 7 of us puffing away! Pretty funny smokin a stogie with the uncles et al.

Some of you will know of the "Appleby's" -- the family in west van i am close with who i house and dog sit for. Anyway, they are here in NZ on holiday. They planned it to coincide with my folks holiday here, as they wanted to hook up and meet the rest of the Fisher Clan. Their daugther (Ava, 12) is doing an 2 month school exchange here in Nelson (40 minutes from here). They were at the famliy gathering on Saturday. And to my surprise they are giving me their rental car for a week while they are off tramping. Naturally I feel funny about using their car (especially considering the ozone hole is worse over NZ), but i am shamefully going to take advantageof it and head to places I would not be going on my bike (way down south). May as well take advantage as it will be me and the bike the rest of the way. I will take off at the end of the week with the car and bike and see where i get. I figure I'll put up some notices in the local backpackers and find me some company, fill a seat and share some gas money to the next major urban centre (Nelson to Christchurch and Christchurch to Queenstown). Those plans need to come togther in the next couple of days.

I am having a couple of days getting to know my 2 cousins I do not know -- Molly 11 (almost 12) and Harry (9). They live in Wellington ( city on the north island) and are here with out their folks for a few days. We spent much of this afternoon playing at a park, bouncing on a trampoline and trying to fly a kite. Off to a matinee tomorrow. It is nice to have some one on one time with them as they don't know me and with all the family around, we haven't, until now, warmed to each other. They are 100% Lord of the Rings fans and they are teaching me tonnes. (Molly covered all her school books with LOR stickers yesterday).

As of next week the Fisher FamDamily will be all apart, back to work, school, on with life, and Cara will finally begin her solo adventures.

Posted by cara at January 26, 2004 11:37 PM