Wonderful Wedding with Marching Girls!

Saturday 31 January

A chores morning - printed off final wedding script after few changes from rehearsal, some shopping in Rangiora, quick lunch at Ella & Josh’s where a working bee was going on prior to putting the house on the market next month, then we packed everything into the Pajero and set off to the Edmonds Factory Gardens for Mickayla & Hamish’s wedding.

I took on this lovely couple back in September just as my celebrant licence looked set to expire… their booking ensured that it got renewed - yay!

It was a lovely wedding - held in the shade on a sunny warm day, with huge bridal & groom’s parties, 4 ring bearer siblings & nephews, and mums carrying their grand daughters down the aisle. I wrote a fun script about their unconventional romance having chapters in the wrong order until finally reaching their “happy ever after” and it seemed to go down well.

As a huge surprise at the end, a guard of honour snuck in, comprising Mickayla’s old marching colleagues who she had competed with and the newbies she had trained ❤️ Such a special moment!

Paperwork signed, marriage declared, I hopped into the waiting Pajero and we whizzed off west to Arthur’s Pass and on to Jackson’s Retreat where we had a cabin booked for the night. The sunshine as we drove was fabulous - lighting up the stunning landscape of the high country roads.

We stopped again at Arthur's Pass Village and heard the kea and saw two of them flying high up in the tree line (recognisable by the glorious flash of red under their wings). At the Otira Gorge we pulled into both of the view points and at the top one, helped to jump start a poor fella who had left his lights on and got a flat battery - doh! No keas here, despite the signs, but the views of the road ahead were pretty special.

We stayed at Jackson's Retreat in Banjo at the end of January 2024 so it was fun to be back almost a year later to the day, but this time staying in a cabin. Our little room had just a bed, table & chairs with the communal facilities available just a few steps away. Very cosy communal kitchens and living room space and very nice bathrooms for campground. We had dinner then I went to ask if we could buy some fresh eggs. The custodian took me out to the chooks in the hen house to have a look, but they hadn't laid any since this morning. But I did get to meet Duckie, his pet honk-wah duck that he had raised from an egg! Louis and I went for a wander around the grounds as the sun prepared to set, meeting the iron troll at the entrance bridge and the peacocks on top of one of the larger cabins! A lovely break on a cool, mostly clear evening - perfect!