And so glad of it.
I found myself taking huge gulps of the swampy salty Māngere air as I crossed the tarmac at Auckland Airport to clamber up into the final plane in the long journey home to New Zealand from Illinois.
Landing in Wellington, I discovered that my son had come to pick me up in the Ford Fiesta. I always think of it as the party car.
And guess where we went first?
Yes! To the bakery for a party pie. They don’t sell much bread in the bakeries in NZ but they sell a lot of pies!
I chose steak and pepper. And it was the best pie I have eaten in my whole life. They say hunger is the best sauce.
Later another son popped in for a cup of tea and a welcome and brought me custard squares. So I was all sorted.
Tomorrow we drive out to the beach.
Today I am going to putter around Senior Sons garden and drink tea.
And that’s it.
Just popping in to let you know I arrived safely.
Talk soon.
Cecilia
The Kitchen's Garden 
49 responses to “Back in New Zealand”
Welcome back.
Thank you and thank you for the wind-free day!! It was the smoothest landing ever!!
Lol. I wish I could take credit for that.
It was a rare and beautiful thing!
glad you arrived safely and had such a nice welcome
It is good to be home!
ROFL – car of choice for The Professionals and gym teachers in the 1970s!
I hope you have a fantastic holiday!
I thought you might like that!!
I remember The Professionals! Ha!!
There were two macho gym masters at my school who dressed like Bodie and Doyle …and both drove Ford Capris, that look a lot like your son’s car, which does not look like a 1970s UK Fiesta 😉
You are right – it’s not a Fiesta but a Capri!
Oops sorry my mistake! Don’t tell senior son!
You can blame it on jet lag, perfectly understandable!
Oops you are right Mad. – Blame it on sleep deprivation!
Ha ha – hilarious – to be honest I looked at the car and thought Professionals, I didn’t think about the name until later …and at the same time, international brands use different names in diferent countries 😉
What a wonderful welcoming!
I love coming home for my visits!
Of course I didn’t get the reference to The Professionals so over to Mrs. Google & up came a 1966 western set during the Mexican Revolution with Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin & Claudia Cardinale, soooo no Ford Fiestas there. Anyway I finally found the British rock group & got it, (somewhat…) Fun! Fun! I’m so glad you arrived home safely & had a fabulous party pie celebration with you family.
Welcome home. Priorities like pies, custard and tea are the best way of breaking you in sorta speak. Have a great time with your family.
That Fiesta is a bomb.
There’s nothing quite like the first bite of ‘home’. You must be absolutely shattered.
Sounds like a wonderful arrival, making me hungry! Looking forward to pictures of the garden and beach.
The garden is beyond wild!! But I am having fun!!
I used to have one of those cars! She was a beautiful shade of blue, went like stink but was a heavy beast to steer… The air of home, your own around you and a proper pie. What could be better?
“Went like stink!” I am going to remember that expression!!
Welcome home. We’ve had a lovely run of calm days in Wellington for a few weeks now. But we are all about to be reminded of just how close we live to Antarctica if the forecast is to be believed. And you are here in time for Matariki…..enjoy your family time.
Oh no!! Well I hope the really cold weather holds off for a few days. Today is gorgeous!
Is that a lasagne pie?! I’m in awe. We get macaroni cheese pies here but lasagne is an innovation.
Macaroni cheese pies!! That sounds interesting.
So pleased you arrived safely and were picked up in style! How great to be with your family. When we live far away from each other, time together is special indeed. I look forward to more pictures and stories.
Ahh~ so happy for you Celi!! And such a smooth landing ~ great!!! And a steak n pepper pie!! Now you’re really home!!! Wonderful to see your family again!!
Funny I was thinking of you yesterday that you’d be taking in great gulps of NZ air. How wonderful you have a garden to potter around in today… as well as some NZ tea & food in your belly some NZ soil under your nails. Then the beach. Maybe some NZ wine?
Yes! We drunk the wine!!!
There’s no place like home! Cheers!
There really is no place like home. And the birds!! No place like our childhood birds!