1 February 2010 – A fond farewell

I’m not one for farewells – but the night before we left for Auckland, our fabulous hosts for the week - Marg, Matt, Naricca, April and Connor - cooked us a farewell roast dinner and toasted us with champagne. They presented us with a ‘warm’ Maori greenstone pendant each (greenstone is only ever given as a gift and is worn before giving so that it is warm). We were so touched. It was a really lovely way to leave. Thanks Blisses for making us feel so welcome!

The day before we were treated to our third and most special gig for the week – my aunt Marg’s band which was playing in a beer garden in Wellington. They absolutely rocked. More of my family - Francie, Neil, Brock and Keaton - came down for the day to see us which was extra special.

We had also seen Them Crooked Vultures – a supergroup with Dave Grohl (drummer for Nirvana and Foofighters), John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) and Josh Homme (singer for Queens of the Stone Age and a bit of a deadbeat). I was captivated by Dave Grohl who is an extraordinary drummer. The band was great but a bit loud for this old duck and, much to Geezer’s horror, I stuffed bits of tissue in my ears.