Xmas in the UK

Apologies for the tardy writing of this entry.  We've been sucked back into our busy world in NZ and along with the transition to a new laptop, haven't been able to add this post as quickly as hoped!

Anyway, we jetted back to England in mid-December to spend Xmas and New Year with family and friends.  We landed at Heathrow to be met by Hannah's Dad, who'd travelled the length of the country for a coffee with his daughter.  Tash's Mum, Lorraine, kindly met us, fed us and looked after us for our first evening back in England.

Tash, Lorraine and Daisy

The next day, we travelled around London, firstly catching up with Hannah's grandpa in Wadhurst, then spending the evening with Hannah's two uncles in Palmers Green.



Claude, Hannah's Grandpa




Jenny, Mike, Anna and Simon

The following day we visited Hannah's schoolfriend Lucy (and her husband Chris), who gave birth to her first child (Freya) on New Year's Eve. We also briefly caught up with Rob and Alison (Gareth's ex-colleagues from the NAO), before catching the train up to Bolton.



Lucy and Chris pre- Freya's arrival!

After the hectic first weekend in London, we managed to spend a more relaxing few days in Bolton with Gareth's family.



Gareth and Grandma - with marathon medal!!!



Family gatherings

Whilst back in Bolton, we had a very quick catch up with Heather too!



Catching up with Heather

Hannah then made a trip over to Rome to see where Alice is living (whilst Gareth traded this for the cultural and culinary offerings of Bolton). The two sisters had an amazing time sightseeing as well as eating and drinking their way through the highlights of the historic city.



Authentic tiramisu



Exploring the local history



The colloseum



Yummy pizza!



Parmesan cheese

The two sisters flew back from Italy for a Bourke family reunion at Rose Cottage.  Hannah's Dad had made a massive effort transforming this into Santa's grotto.  It felt every bit like the Christmas we had dreamed of.

Log fire and decorations

We kicked off Christmas Day with Champagne and Smoked salmon, before hiking up the local hill to open the first present of the day.



Champagne Breakfast



The summit of the Christmas walk

After all that exercise, we munched through a traditional Christmas dinner.



Mr Christmas serves Christmas dinner



Together in 2008!

We also managed to visit some old friends:



Andrea and David



A church close to our hearts

Gareth also managed to visit his best friend Paul, and meet his new wife Frances for the first time.



Paul and Frances at Rose Cottage



A flying visit to Newcastle

After Christmas, we headed back to Bolton to see Gareth's Aunty from Australia.



Gareth's Mum and Aunty Beverley



Gareth's Nana and her beautifully knitted matching jumpers

The penultimate stop of our trip was in Cambridge, catching up with Karen and James, who kindly hosted our other friends from Cambridge for a New Year's Eve party.



Karen, James and Isabella



Hannah, Tash and Karen







Catching up with great friends in our alma mater

The final stop was with Richard and Mel at their home near Norwich, along with their son's family (Jonathan, Jay, Tamar, Nathaniel and Eliana).



Hannah and Mel



Gareth holding Eliana, with Tamar



Nathaniel

A whirlwind trip back, but an amazing time catching up those nearest and dearest to us both. We've returned to a 25 degree summer, but bring back wonderful memories of our trip. Thanks to all who looked after us and made the effort to meet up. G & H xxx



A wonderful Christmas