Catching up with the Aussie branch

We've had two nice days this week and one of them was Friday when the family sailed in on the Ovation of the Seas. A blessing :) We caught the bus into town and they caught the shuttle from the ship and we all met in the city. They were in Starbucks when we arrived so we joined them for a hot drink then bro and his partner went in search of the Scottish Shop, which had moved since he lived here. 

We sisters went in search of replacements for things one of us had left in the hotel in Sydney! I won't name names :) My GKB knew just where to take her he said and he proved to be right. Then we headed back to the mall and same sis bought MORE stuff for me to distribute amongst the little people, five and under. So we had to find somewhere to sit and sort it all out as I had one or two things for them to take back with them as well.

This is another little break we took while I was trying to contact another one of our brothers to tell him when they were heading back to the ship - he works on the pilot boat and they thought they might all be able to catch up at the Port somewhere. I still don't know whether they did or not as he was working. I hope so.

I'd booked a table at a nice wee cafe that was tucked away in a little shopping court off the main street. A couple of the family members work just a couple of blocks away and were able to get extended lunch breaks to join us. I think everyone had a good time, I hope so. We spent a good hour and a half or more just chatting and eating, several conversations going on at the same time and maybe a lot of talking and not a lot of listening :) But a lot of laughter.

And then it was time for a stroll back to The Octagon to catch the shuttle back to the ship, say our farewells and wave them goodbye. The shuttles were supposed be running every half hour on the hour and half hour but they were more like a production line. As one filled up it pulled away and another one came into line at the back of the queue. Maybe it was the time of the day, people not wanting to be late for gangplank up (is that what it's called these days?) and it was starting to cool down.

The line of shuttles through the centre of The Octagon. We watched as we waited for Vanessa to come round with the car to pick us up, she became an unofficial shuttle for the rest of the family heading back to our homes :)

While we were sitting I spotted this carved gateway and went to have a look. Apparently it has been there for about five years but I've never seen it before. We don't normally go to The Octagon when we're in town, we usually stay a couple of blocks further north, so it was new to me. I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed to discover it is an aluminium replica of the gateway at the Otakou Marae and not a carved wooden one.

And I think I'll finish there.

Have a great weekend whatever you're doing.

Diana