Home. Land.

Dear Princess Normal & Fat Pete,

The 2nd leg of the flight to Auckland wasn't as much fun as the first. Maybe it's because we were both a bit tired, maybe the bed wasn't as comfy as the previous plane. Maybe we were both getting impatient it was so near the end.

But in the end, Er Indoors and I cleared security and found Feefs sitting right in front of the arrival gates. "Oh my god! OH MY GOD! You live here now! This is WILD!"

It was a lovely welcome and put a 2nd wind in our sails. Then we settled into regular family conversation:

"Did you poo on the plane? How many times?"

Then we went to see J-Bar, my mother in law. She gave me a big hug and a kiss and told me how neat it was to see me again. "Ten years!" she reminded me. I told her that if it weren't for George W. Bush and his financial meltdown it might have been a lot sooner.

Feefs decided to get us all a snack so she went to get some chips. We were all very grateful for them. "Here's your sauce," she said, passing me a can.

"What sort of a country have we COME to?" I asked. "Where the miracle of KETCHUP in CANS exists??"

Then it was over to Feef's house in Papamoa where we met her son, who I shall call The Nipper and her husband who I shall refer to as The Big Nipper. I gave The Nipper a big bag of exciting superhero things and he was BESIDE himself. Add to this Tiggy the Big Excitable Dog and two cats and soon the house was abuzz with activity.

It's still all a bit unreal to me. I couldn't put my finger on how I feel. Not like a tourist. Not like an immigrant. I guess it will feel unsettled like this until I get a job. But for the moment I feel happy. It's lovely to be with Feefs again after all these years, and she's got a lovely family.

What does it feel like? It feels like coming home.

S.