Lions, Kiwis and Kangas: A Week of Special Friends

Caitlin and I have just spent a week in Christchurch with some very special friends. When I was there I thought about the people we were catching up with and realised how extra special these friends are.

Firstly there was Amanda and Abby who we were staying with. Amanda has been a very wonderful friend of mine for about 17 years now, she's not only special to me but is also one of those friends who is also important to my parents and brother with so many shared times over the years. Abby is her 8 year old daughter who was the cute little flower girl at our wedding. Although Amanda and I have known each other for so long we haven't actually seen each other in 4 and a half years due to the distance between Auckland and Christchurch. Thank goodness for phones and email.

The four of us girls had a lot of fun and special times over the week the highlights for me were spending the afternoon at the snow, this was Caitlin's first snow experience and she loved it! Hanging out at the cafe and just spending time chatting.

This was the first time Abby and Caitlin had met, Caitlin adored having Abby around, poor Abby didn't get much of a break from Caitlin but they have a really lovely kind of sisterly friendship.

Thank you Amanda and Abby for such a wonderful and precious time we had with you both.

The cold was a bit of a novelty for Caitlin and I, it was quite fun dressing up in all those layers, scalves and mittens / gloves, trampling on crunchy grass, having windows frozen shut and seeing the dogs water in the morning with 2cm of ice on top. How warm the Sunshine Coast feels today in comparison despite having a much colder than average winter!

The next very special friend we caught up with was Nikki. I have known Nikki even longer with a total of probably ooooh 24 years! Nikki and I were best friends in the Taupo years and lived across the road from each other. Since leaving Taupo in 1986 we have caught up 5 times, 4 of those being in the last 10 years. Nikki, Caitlin and I spent our afternoon hanging out in a cafe, visiting Nikki's parents and husband, and finally chatting over pizza and a glass of wine after Caitlin had gone to bed, what a lovely time - thank you Nikki!

I share with both Amanda and Nikki a friendship that we can pick up where we left off and the times between catching up just doesn't matter, you guys are both awesome friends.

The third extra special friend we have only known for 2 years but another special bond. This is a little friend of Caitlin's called Grace. Grace and Caitlin went to kindy together in Auckland and right from Grace's first day a wonderful friendship developed. An added bonus of our Christchurch trip was that it was Gracies 4th birthday - how perfect and completely unplanned. Like it is with my friends and me, so it was with Caitlin and Grace and they picked up from where they left off last September. While I got to catch up with Grace's parents, Grandmother and meet her little brother.