Back Home in NZ now

Well Im back in NZ now. Didnt update my blog more as it seemed I couldnt upload the pix from the PC's I was using but home now and know I can do it here. Trip was pretty darn good. I did plenty of shopping, lotsa DVD's, books, some clothes. I've done all the shopping I can do for the rest of the year but it was fun to just go into a shop & be like I want that & buy it.
The week leading up to the wedding was slightly hectic but not too bad. Went to the mall almost every single day. Doing shopping and last minute stuff for the wedding. Met Stace's Aunty Carol & Uncle Jim spent a day with them. Stacey's mum and dad were staying with them as well for the time before the wedding.
On the thurs & fri before the wedding more people started turning up to the house and eventually we all made our way down to the Gold Coast on friday. Garry, Stace, Troy & I all ended up at a bbq at my Aunty Sandy & Uncle Jeff's Hotel where they were staying on Gold Coast. That was pretty nice. Got a nice catch up with everyone & a relax in the sun. That night everyone headed to Hogs Breath Cafe for dinner. Not a bad place. Good to have everyone around.
Sat 12th arrived and Unk Charlie dropped me frm our hotel off to Sea World Nara resort where the bride & groom were staying so I could take getting ready photos. I started off all nervous but didnt take long & I was in the swing of things enjoying taking photos. Got some good shots once the girls had all their make up & outfits on. What was cool was the boys were all getting ready in the same hotel so went for a walk and managed to get some photos of them all getting ready and done up smartly. The wedding was held at Philip Park Sea World drive in this cute lil spot with some nice tree cover. The wedding ceremony was beautiful and relaxed which is always really nice. Got some good photos there the lighting was really nice. Didnt end up doing the creative shoot which was a bit of a bummer but everyone was rather tired & didnt feel like getting eatin alive by sandflies so we all headed back to the surf club for the reception. This was a nice atomsphere no formal sit down just relax chat and nibble on the food out. I got a coupla nice pix with the beach in the background of Stace & Garry. . It was fun photographing the wedding but I have a lot to learn. I'm pretty critical of the photos I took although there are plenty of good ones. Garry & Stace seem to be pretty impressed when they looked through them before they flew to Fiji but well it was my first wedding & I've never really had any training. I think there are some pretty fantastic pix there though & it was neat to watch them look through the pix & go WOW at their faves.
After the wedding that night my big Cuz Robbie took me to Hard Rock Cafe as I had never been before & there was a pretty wicked live band playing. Was fun just sitting having a drink & clapping away to the music. Rob introduced me to the very alcoholic Long Island Iced Tea, but talk about yummy. It was nice to just hang out with him as dont get to overly often with him living overseas.
I made a few new friends over there which is always great. Stacey's best mate Tracey is a real sweetie. She saved the day on the Sunday when we went to SeaWorld & I had my dolphin adventure. She was there for me so I wasn’t alone as the others all got held up at the other swim for an aunty. Trace took photos & some videos for which Im so greatful of. Before the swim she walked from one end of SeaWorld to the other with me twice over (its not a small place).
So the dolphin adventure was amazing. The dolphin we had was named Noah & he is only 2years old. But wow sooo cute. You hear of just how intelligent they are but you totally don’t know just how much till you are there with them in the water. They are totally a cross between a cat & a dog in the sense that cats love attention & are almost like kings of the house & are like dogs in the sense that they are very playful, you can teach them tricks & are totally happy to see you again. We got to pat Noah heaps which was cool, he feels like rubber but apparently there was a kid once who described the feel of a dolphin as a hard boiled egg with the shell still on - I reckon with the shell off but either way its a pretty good description. We swam out to deeper waters where he mimicked us doing a washing machine in the water, he fetched a ball, did handstands for us, we had a water fight with him, had a photo with him where we held his fins (picture is better to look at), but I mean wow I have always like dolphins before but have never been obsessed or anything now I am totally in love with them. Such amazing mammals.
After seaworld ended up staying in Gold Coast for a few days and had a relax down on the beach and a swim. Gold Coast is stunning I really liked it & would love to go back there to spend a bit more time there.
Caught a train back up to Brissy & had the last day or so with Stace & Garry before they flew to Fiji for their honeymoon. Then for the remainder of the time there had Garry's groomsman Davin, his girlfriend Nae & her 2 cute girls Tailya & Montanna with us. I ended up enlarging one of Stacey's fave wedding pix and putting it in a frame for them to see when they get back home. On the sat before I came home we all toddeled off to South Bank where I caught up with Jenny & Paul (my other parents). It was soo good to see them I miss them heaps. We had lunch together & walked around checking out the markets. Im happy cuz they are coming over to NZ next year & I'll get to see them again yay!!!! :O) Flight home was all good & I came home with a nice tan. Oh in the last week I was there I ended up getting a sinus infection bugga so have this god awful cough that when I returned to work made my boss send me home. Im off today resting up & getting better before my boss Paul heads over to Oz himself next week & I have to cover his work there. But yup had a fun trip to Oz. Happy to be home in my own bed though. Next post I'll upload wedding pix