well, it was perhaps (somewhat) inevitable that a mere decade (give or take, look you see) after vowing never to be on a plane again that i would take just about the longest journey one could via this method of transport. yes, indeed, as some shall have concluded from my previous (to this post) i went to go and see Aotearoa, or if you like New Zealand.
quite a few posts on this subject are rather likely to follow, since i took what seems like a formidable amount of pictures and yes, video. but for now, well, the primary - actually only - reason i went there. which would be to see family. those in the know would know that this isn't the usual sort of post i would do on this particular date, but here we are. obviously this is likely to be all of interest only to friends and family, but what the heck you are here, read on.
one has to start somewhere with these pictures what i have. it would appear to make sense, then, to do so with one of me with Mum & Dad. and here it is.
to state the obvious as a perfect understatement, absolutely brilliant to see them once more. it had been more or less (or around) a dozen (!!) years since i had last seen them. not a subject to dwell on or give too much contemplation about, but it did appear, seem or (sadly) feel that i might not have had the chance to see them again. yet, well, i have, and am glad to have done so. certainly i do not rule out seeing them further, for i absolutely would love to go over there again. even, yes, with the prolonged periods of being unable to smoke on the journey.
go on then, to give some sort of quasi "reverse bookend" to the above picture, here you go. another image of the three of us, but one which was taken, give or take, fifty (50) or so years ago.
no, alas, i don't have too many memories of when that (directly) above image was taken, but of course shall forever treasure the memories of the previous.
about a dozen or so (give or take) years since i last saw Mum and Dad was one thing. yet it had been longer still since i had last seen my sister. one or two of you may be curious, or at the least mildly interested, in exactly how long it had been, so the answer is 17 (seventeen) years. and so here we are, on my very first afternoon (although time was a vague concept) in New Zealand.
from what i recall that picture was taken at Mission Bay, but also it may well have been the one a bit down from it, the name of which escapes me. co-ordinated wardrobe was a pure fluke and very much based on whatever i pulled from my suitcase.
it strikes me as appropriate to do another sort of "then and now" picture interlude fr you. and so here i am (or here am i) with my sister, some 42 (ish) years ago, or at the least that time from the time what this all went live on that internet thing.
my understanding is that the above image was taken in Brisbane, and yes the Australian one. which is kind of (sort of) next door to New Zealand. there, i have saved you looking it up on a map or atlas or similar.
now, it was not just reunions that i was there for. indeed, a primary driver for my decision to go "yes, let me get on a plane again" was to meet someone i had not met before but expressed a wish to meet me. that would be my nephew, Daniel. he had asked his mum (as in my sister) why this curious person called Uncle Lee couldn't quit smoking and come to visit them. for some reason this pulled at heart strings that i was unaware i had. also, well, challenge accepted, really. it turned out that i could indeed, with some planning, go and grant his wish without doing anything silly (or sensible) like ceasing my unwavering support of the tobacco industry.
under no circumstances at all had it occurred to moi that anyone would actually wish to willingly meet me. just how i see myself, i suppose. my basic understanding is that if you care to name the connection, be it son, brother, father, uncle, nephew, cousin, friend, lover, partner or what have you, then i am pretty lacking (or wanting) in having any decent qualities. several people have been extremely kind indeed in pointing out my flaws, shortcomings and so forth, and indeed there are so many more such forms of folly that people aren't even aware of. but here we are, or there i was.
hopefully it is so that Daniel got what he wished, if not hoped, for in meeting me. and of course his sister, or if you will my niece, Katie, who(m) i last saw when she was sort of around 1 (one) year of age. for me it was truly epic to meet both and spend as much time as was possible with them. they, as is the case for my whole family there, are truly wonderful people with a sensational life.
and there above is all of us together, with the most excellent dogs Freddy and Charlie. this was taken on my (for now) final afternoon in New Zealand, just before it was time to bid farewell to all. quite strange, my time displacement of it all. ostensibly, or technically, it was just north of two (2) weeks that i was there, but it thankfully felt longer. and i do not mean that in a bad way at all, things did not drag, it just turned out to be a most beautiful time together.
many more pictures and tales as i promised (or if you are of a mind to feel so, threatened) shall follow, assuming i can find the time to write and "upload". but for now, one final image, one of them selfie things taken as i was going down the escalator to the international departure thing. oh no hang on this was going down so i could go outside and have one more cigarette before flying.
perhaps i have shown some unexpected emotional restraint into this foray of sharing, or maybe it was just me. anyway, whatever your reason (except odd strange ones) for stopping by and reading a happy thing for me, thanks!
kia pai tetahi ki tetahi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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