Diary | Long weekend family trip down memory lane

Yesterday my family decided to spontaneously use our long weekend by visiting our old town Thames! Th day was gloomy but it was warm (it was hard dressing accordingly). On our way to Thames we made our usual stop at Pokeno for ice cram and a bathroom break.

Next stop was a creek our uncle that lived with us in Thames used to take John and I all the time. The creek was a path in the middle for cars to get across and it's always covered in water but you're not suppose to cross if the water is too high, for obviously reasons. I was a very paranoid kid and would be so scared every time he drove us on the water covered path. Now it's a different story and brings back so many memories.

 My grandma asked to borrow my hat and sunglasses.

 She's more swaggy than me.

 Johnny's sense of style is pretty average but everything was in the wash that morning and he was stuck with these disgusting board shorts from Sonny's closet.

Me: ....why...r u wearing that???
Johnny: hey now, mum made me.

 Tee - Glassons | Jeans - Glassons | Plaid - Thrifted | Boots - Dr Martens | Hat - The Warehouse

You can hype this look [here]

We stopped at the Goldfield mall for lunch and mum ran into a few friends! The town is so incredibly small we can't really miss anyone.

 The first friend we visited was Lisa! Johnny became best friend with her son Lockie in the first grade and since then we had been going to her house almost every day after school to watch Disney channel and have afternoon tea. My parents were always working so that was why Lisa was always so kind and just expected John and me to show up at her house after school until my parents picked us up. Lockie had a younger sister too so while the boys did...what ever they did, Isla and I would play doctors (much to my protest) and played with her Barbies. I was like babysitting because she was at least 4 years younger than me but I can't lie and say I didn't enjoy the same tv shows as her.

 Lisa went to fridge and bought out a container asking us if we reminded her Ribena popicles and of course we did. Turns out she still makes them after all these years and we got one each as we sat on the patio. It weirdly nostalgic because she used to make us kids eat out there when we were younger because there was always dripping but that day we just happened to be sitting outside.

 I took this picture on our way to visit another friend. Her house was on the same block so we didn't bother driving. Brad was someone always helped my parents when we have electricity problems or just English problems. Sadly we didn't caught him at the time he was home but his wife was there with their youngest son Pheonix (he was just a baby when we left). We chatted in the backyard for a long while about everything that was new. I wish I got to see their son Boston because back in the days he had the most adorable stutter! He would be 11 or 12 now and his older brother would be 15 I believe.

 Next stop was the Butterfly and Orchid Garden because our old family friend own the place. They ahve two daughters, one my age and one Johnny's age. Jessie and I were besties back in the days. We used to swim in the pool near by, build "bridges" at the creek, attempt to catch whitebaits, play scramble egg on the trampoline and once helped a duckling stuck under the cracks of some boulders get an adoptive mother!

 Butterflies are VERY hard to photograph because they never stay still.

 There was sooooo many butterflies but the most I can get in a shot was three, sigh. Wildlife photographer is not a career path for me.

 There's at least three blue butterflies in this shot but they're all blurred!

 Work that pose ma.

Can we talk about this change! The one on the left was taken when I went to Taupo with their family to celebrate Jessie's 11th birthday. Six years is a very long time! Oh and I should mention that her birthday is only 3 days after mine.

 Avocado tree!

 The butterfly house is in a holiday park so my family roamed around to take in the scenery because saying goodbye again.

 Come back here and love me!

 Since the drive back was along a coastal road we ended up stopping at Thornton Bay to relax before dinner.

 We found a swing!

 Some of the local kids.

 We went to Gastronomics for dinner. It was previously owned by another family friend who used to by French sticks from our bakery. We chose the restaurant in hopes of saying hi but found out he sold the place a few years back. Nevertheless we had a wonderful feed.

Chicken

 Lamb.

 Fish.

 Steak.

We didn't plan it but we ordered every type of basic meat.

 After dinner we drove straight back to Auckland. This is a bridge we've driven across countless times.

Bye bye Thames! Until next time.