05- A Delight of a Wedding

Saturday

I've been in New Zealand twice before, but never in CBD. The taxi ride from the airport to CBD struck me as a bit of padding-the-bill, but perhaps the reason the driver went off the motorway, sat in the worst line ever for 45 minutes, only to get back on a motorway that was moving quite well was to avoid some building-site slowdown that we didn't know about.
Yeah, that would be it.

Our accommodations were, to be charitable, whimsical. The design was pure bloke: multiple bits of sports memorabilia graced the walls, but there were no mirrors anywhere, and the toilet was out on the landing next to the lifts. Clearly, a guy's idea of a finished product, with no feminine input required, thankyou. The parallel fluorescent ceiling lights were Oh! so "I'm really an Office".

That whole accommodation needed a re-think and a facelift.

Good job Steph and Lister were just up the road, next to the Sky Tower:

... so that Julia could do her makeup and hair. We headed up there after I had my little interview with a GP about the care and feeding of this horrid horse-fly bite that had been making my life miserable the past few days. At this point, I was actually feeling better, so no antibiotics and just a bit of antihistamine and it's all good.

Lister looked incredibly suave and successful, and Steph essentially glowed. They are lovely parents, those two!

Another taxi -- in two minds whether hiring a car might not have been cheaper, after all -- headed us all out to Allely Winery:

What a Venue!

What an event!

How relaxed it all was!

And what a great party!

Brendan was all boy (as he does):

Julia was loads of fun:

Lister and Steph were elegant (as always):

... and of course the girls were gorgeous:

Jenna had chosen an absolutely stunning dress... she was incredibly beautiful!

The food was amazing. The event: outstanding. Kiwis are lovely, friendly, easy-going people. We felt very much at home.

Us oldies finally decided it was time to let the revellers carry on and for us to get some shut-eye: we still had a long trip ahead of us.

I'm only grateful that there's no piccies of me on this.