My Stay at Nga-Niccy’s House

Wow, what a long flight. I was so jet-lagged I woke up a couple of times to play with Dad at 2am; but in spite of being a little confused, I got some pretty good sleeps in the bassinet from Uncle Craig and Aunty Alice. Besides, those first few days there was so much going on I couldn’t sleep anyway. 

First of all, I have to tell you that there are sheep everywhere in New Zealand. In fact, there was even a little lamb tied up outside the front gate on the neighbour’s section. 

He was so cute, I called him ‘ A-Baa!’.

Not only that, but the view from Ni-ni's house was so great and all that sea air rolling in off the beach. Even though it was really misty for some of the days, Purakaunui (where Dad's from) is such a beautiful place. There is one little house called, As Ye Like It. Dad took me there one evening when the tide was coming in, and I thought the little huts would lift up and float away!!!

Oh, and did Mum tell you about the grocery store already? It was really neat. You stop off there on the way into the township when you're coming home from the city. Apart from Cheerios (the breakfast cereal, not the cocktail sausages), they have almost everything you need to bake a loaf of bread, or cook an egg with your bacon (and Mum's coffee) in the morning.

As well as good coffee, bacon and eggs every morning; Ni-ni (aka Nga-Niccy) was full steam cooking and baking all the most wonderful things. There were cherries, chocolates, cheese, apricots, chocolates, candies, lamb, chicken, pork, and… did I mention there were chocolates. 
Best of all, everything was at my height and it wasn’t long before Mum and Dad were in holiday mode and weren’t paying such close attention to me and my “confectionairing”.

Dad said that apart from the organic pork from the local butcher, that most of the yum things we had to eat came from Ni-ni's fantastic 'Secret Garden'.

Best of all, there was always lots of people there making plenty of fuss and giving me lots of attention, which I love. Even my great granddad David came out to meet me which was fun for both of us. I even got to see the korowai (traditional Maori cloak) that was made for me by Aunty Briar in Christchurch. 


The note with the korowai says, 'For The Hurricane Baby' and it has lots of feathers that came from Canadian Geese. Dad says the koru represents Hurricane Earl that came through Nova Scotia right after I was born. It's funny, but with all these people around me now, somehow I feel like I have been here once before!

 

Speaking of people. My all time favourite people (apart from my Mum), was my Nga-Niccy. She was so happy to have me stay and kept grinning at me all the time... (even when I was being a little naughty). She was so proud to have me there stealing all the cherries.
I remember Ni-ni from her visit to Halifax, so it was really nice to relax with her while I had my evening bottle...

Yawn! I'm so tired. So much going on, and it feels like breakfast time when Mum tells me I have to go to bed. I don't understand, but there are more cherries and chocolates on the table now, so I'm going to stay awake as long as I can... zZz zZz zZz

Ni-night, love Tiggy.

xxooxx