December 13, 2010

Man vs Tractor

Imagine Alex, Amelia, Graham and I all crowded around the arrival gate at the Auckland airport with huge smiles on our faces. Each time the doors would slide open we would all wait in anticipation hoping it was Rob and Brian and then be let down. It seemed like the moments took forever, until finally as the doors slid apart we saw two huge smiling familiar faces looking back at us. Screaming and hugging ensued and of course a few tears. After more than 24 hours of travel time they were still able to crack a few jokes and make us all laugh.

We decided to start their trip off "Perry style" and we took them out to our car and pulled the picnic lunch from the trunk and sat down in the grass next to the parking lot and enjoyed. Rob is use to life on the cheap with us but BThack is a bit new to it and he said it was refreshing and he was up for whatever we had planned. Gotta love that attitude.

Next we got in the car and headed out for a farm cottage I had rented near "Hobbiton". I thought this would be a great surprise for both of them and a nice place to decompress after their long trip. I was a bit concerned about the place since I managed to widdle the owners down to $100 a night for the 6 of us and they agreed but said they weren't able to send photos....

The farm was about 2 hours away and my gut hurt from laughing so much by the time we arrived. It was so funny because we took a wrong turn and drove down this long laneway to this unkept house with toys, garbage and lawn furniture strewn about.....I was so scared that this was the place but luckily we realized our mistake and turned around.

When we finally found our house we were so happy. From the outside it didn't look like much but it was on the most amazing piece of land, overlooking a beautiful waterfall. The house was also surrounded by dairy cows....pretty cool. Once we went inside we were thrilled. The house was the perfect farm house. It had 3 rooms with just the right amount of beds and was set up so nicely. We weren't there more than 30 minutes and we were off on a walk....absolutely stunning landscape.

We have missed Rob so much and his zany sense of humor. On the walk a huge tractor was coming down the road at us and he wasn't moving over to let us continue walking on the pavement. We were all forced to move off and into the ditch. Rob was mad and was saying what a jerk this guy was. Well on the way back from our walk the guy is making his way back on the road and I know this is going to turn into one of those Rob moments. The guy proceeds towards us, again not moving over and forcing us to head for the ditch. Rob says that he isn't budging and he continues to walk on the road and the tractor isn't moving. I couldn't believe we were watching a real life version of chicken.....man against tractor....The guy is waving in the window for Rob to get in the ditch and there is no way Rob is going to do this. Brian was walking behind Rob and at this point jumps in the ditch with us. Rob continues and thank goodness at the final moment the Kiwi moves over and avoids hitting Rob! You can all imagine how pleased Rob was.

Man I have missed him. I am so over the top happy to have him here for the next few weeks. I can't wait for more crazy Rob moments.

Brian has been fitting in like family. We are wishing he could of brought Mama Thackoorie along with him but he has promised to make us all dinner one night and he even has a name for it..."Mack Thackoorie"......I will let you know how that goes!

Loving life in NZ

Julie

1 comment:

  1. you're on your own Rob, my son is too precious! But i do want to know what "Mack dinner" consists of ...

    I miss you! Mom

    ReplyDelete