After 3.5 months in Central and South America, we arrived in New Zealand and struggled to shake the feeling that we were cheating. We guzzled tap water and snacked on raw vegetables without fear of becoming ill. We took transportation and bought tickets without issue, and understood the surrounding signage. If that wasn’t enough, the exorbitant cost of everything reminded us that we were back in the Anglo world.

While our time in South America was about connecting as a family, New Zealand and Australia were about reconnecting with friends. I spent key years of my youth in Australia, both as a Rotary high school exchange student in Eden, NSW, and as a new graduate nurse in Brisbane, QLD. Steve and I lived in Melbourne for a year in 2005 while he completed his fellowship and I worked at the Royal Children’s. We made special friendships during these years, friendships that have withstood the test of time and distance.

New Zealand was a quick stop. We knew we couldn’t travel this far without dropping in to see our good friend David Bettany, a fellow psychiatrist who worked with Steve back in Melbourne days. We didn’t have time to venture through the beautiful and adventure-filled South Island this time around, so we stayed close to Auckland and explored the area. Local Waiheke and Davenport were great day trips from the city before venturing south to Tauranga and finishing up with a long weekend on the beach at Mangawhai Heads, north of Auckland. We did mange to sneak in a few visits to local wineries with minimal grumbling from the back seat. NZ Sauvignon Blanc continues to be a fave.

Back in August, in Costa Rica, we began reading The Hobbit as a family. Bilbo Baggins entertained us during the road closures in Costa Rica, long bus rides in Colombia, the Amazon in Ecuador, and in the desert in Atacama. As we neared Hobbiton, we were closing in on the final chapter. The long awaited Hobbiton Dinner Feast did not disappoint. Our tour through the shire was just as we had envisioned, and the lantern walk late in the evening was magical. The superfans kept me entertained all evening. An American dressed as Bilbo spent the entire night barefoot as he wanted to experience Hobbiton as a true hobbit. We only realized he wasn’t a paid character after making him pose with our children for half a dozen photos. Another fan brought his girlfriend to record his reenactment of entire scenes from the movie, complete with props he had carried with him from Australia. The dinner was a true feast, and we were encouraged to eat like hobbits and indulge in seconds and thirds. Fortunately, the Mathias girls all inherited my “dessert stomach”, as the second spread was almost as spectacular as the main.

We couldn’t leave without a quick lesson on the Maori culture, so we stopped at the Auckland Museum en route to the airport. It was valuable for the girls to see a country that has embraced it’s indigenous heritage and integrated Maori language and culture into the community and school system. This was a sharp contrast to the devastating histories and even the genocide of some indigenous groups throughout North and South America.

Securing christmas in Queensland was the first step in planning our year away. The direction of our travels, timing, countries, etc. all fell into place from there. Nerissa, Sue and Ian hosted us at their home on the Sunshine Coast and Christmas week was a lot of back and forth between the beach and the pool. Insert multi-family volleyball games, a round of golf, and some fantastic evenings with good friends.

We discarded our idea of hiring a camper for the month when our friends started reaching out with offers to host us during our time in Australia. These stops stretched from the Sunshine Coast in Queensland all the way down to Melbourne, and we couldn’t imagine missing out on any of them. So, we rented a car and embarked on an epic 4000km road trip. The girls thought this was fantastic, they made new friends at every stop along the way. They traded email addresses and Instagram handles, and the next generation of friendships began. The girls learned Aussie slang and summer holiday pastimes. Anna caught the surfing bug. She was a natural and left Steve behind as she caught wave after wave during their lessons together. Amée and Elise spent hours boogie boarding and building epic sand castles.

The far south coast of New South Wales holds special memories for both of us. Not only did I spend a year as an 18 year old exchange student, but I brought Steve back in 2004 to meet my friends and host families. We returned for one final visit at the end of 2005 before moving back to Canada, and we were engaged during that visit on a rainy day on Asling’s beach. It was emotional for us to bring the girls to Eden/Merimbula and share with them our stories and introduce them to friends and family who have been such a big part of our lives.

We settled for awhile in Melbourne. Steve cracked open the computer and headed off to work for a good part of two weeks, learning from the crew at Headspace Australia and Origin, and sharing stories of Foundry with Australian colleagues. Our time in Melbourne was perfect- the weather was warm (Hot! Like, hottest day on record HOT), the people were on holidays, and the tennis was on. Family day at the Aussie Open is held two days before the tournament begins. The concert stage was in full swing, the kids had a chance to have have a hit, and the players were warming up and wandering around the grounds. The girls found a big yellow tennis ball and a pen in the gift store and spent the afternoon watching the stars practice and catching their signatures as they left the court. By the end of the day, they had caught the tennis bug. They were all in and the tournament hadn’t even started. They loaded the AO App and learned the players and their statistics. We spent most of the week cheering on the Canadian players with our grounds passes. Steve and I had a night out with Ryan and Lori (thanks, guys!) in Rod Laver Arena and will not soon forget watching Tsitsipas eliminate Federer in an epic 4 hour match.

When we weren’t at the tennis, we were barbecuing, picnicking and dining our way around the city as we caught up with old friends. We introduced the girls to beach tennis in Port Melbourne, a game that kept us in shape and introduced us to some of our dearest friends back in 2005. Steve and I hit some of our old running routes around the port (why did they seem so much longer this time??).

Melbourne was supposed to be the end of the road trip, but the girls had other ideas. Back at school in Costa Rica, they had become fast friends with three Australian sisters who were abroad for a year in Samara. They had returned in December to their home town of Mount Gambier, South Australia. The Mathias girls put their foot down. They wouldn’t leave Australia until they had visited the Attiwell sisters, and they promised not to groan ONCE about the travel time it would take to get there. So we added an extra state to our list of places traveled. It was worth it to see the girls have so much fun and rekindle their friendships. We couldn’t venture in that direction without travelling the Great Ocean Road and seeing the 12 Apostles (now 7 or 8). Even in record setting 47 degree heat, that drive is breathtaking and wonderful.

My love affair with Australia has not faded after all this time. Life in Vancouver is wonderful and I have no regrets about our decision to settle in Canada, but there is, and always will be, a part of me that belongs in Australia.

To all of our amazing friends in Australia and New Zealand: Thank you for opening your homes to us. Your hospitality was above and beyond in every way. The Christmas season could have been a difficult time for the girls to be away from their friends and relatives back home, but you made them feel like family and had them so involved in friendships and adventures, they didn’t have time to notice. The meals, the wine, the laughs, and the stories- we will never forget our visit. Thank you.

My parents met a couple named Kelly and Paul last time they were here, so we got to hang out with their daughter Siena. The first time we met them was at the beach when we learned how to play beach tennis, which is tennis on the beach with no second serve. We played a couple games of that, got dinner, had ice cream, walked on the beach and played some other fun games. There was also another couple there named Kylie and Stuart. The next week we all had a barbecue at Kylie and stuarts place where we played Just dance which was so fun! We went down to the park and played cricket. Cricket is a popular Australian sport that requires a ball, a bat and three sticks. The positions are: the bowler (who throws the ball to the batsman). There are two batsman (who bats the ball that the bowler throws). Then there are the Fielders, there can be as many or as little as you would like. There job is to try and catch the ball that the batsman hit without it touching the ground. If it does you have to throw the ball to the fielder behind the three sticks and they have to touch the three sticks before the bowler passes the line that is about two feet from the three sticks. The reason there are two batsman is because one of them has to stand beside the bowler and the other one has to bat the ball. Once the ball has been hit, the two batsman have to run as fast as they can and switch places. That’s when the fielders get into the action.

Wen we first wok up at 6:00 in the morning we got ready for NYE!

We hopped in the car. Wen we got there are mom was already in the line. We got to the place that we were going to stay tell after midnight. We stayed there for 14 hours so we set out are towel and ate lunch. We played card games and met new friends. We were so tiered. We saw the 9:00 family fireworks and I had a nap in the park in between the midnight fireworks!

Wen they were dun we started walking to are car and we got to a gate

and they let us go thru but the roads were closed. We had to stay in are car or sleep in are car tell 4:00 in the Morning. NO!!!

Elise has blogged about New Years, so I will blogging about the remaining of Sidney. After New Years night we slept in until 10 so that took up half of our day. We had a quiet lunch at home then headed out for the afternoon. We took the ferry up to Darling harbour and went for a walk around the rocks and the Sidney opera house. After walking for a couple hours we found a nice restaurant right by the water and had a lovely dinner over looking the opera house. The next day, we went to manly beach (a beautiful beach with great border walks) and dipped our feet in the rock pools. We also rented bikes and rode around the city. The next day, we had to leave so in the morning we got up early and went for a nice long walk called the Bondi coogee hike, before sitting in the car for a very long time. Sidney was fun but tiring. If you ever spend New Years there, then make sure not to park in the same place as we did!