We are now HOME at 41 Guthrie St, Waiwhetu, Lower Hutt, NZ!
Back in the Hutt we have had the last few weeks settling back in
or re-rentry as one of our friends called it! Quick family update, Phoebe is walking - so
very cute, Sari has started kindy and can already do the monkey bars
there so is looking for the next challenge, Bella loved being back at
school for a week and then there were school holidays much to her horror 'I have
just had 6 months holiday!', Steve has been back at work at Ignite sport and continuing his work with NZ elite middle distance runners and Caro is trying to find her feet as she
adjusts back to routines and sorts so much stuff in the garage it almost makes her feel sick! We lived out of three suitcases while we were away! We are all really enjoying seeing all our friends and family and reconnecting with our church and homegroup family.
To bring you up to speed on the last few weeks here are the final adventures of our big family OE...
After our amazing two days in Paris we stayed in London with my old school friend Mel Grace and her husband Dom and their cute kids Ferdie and Daisy. We explored their local parks and had a lovely weekend catching up. On the Sunday morning we flew out of Stansted airport to Perugia, Italy, north of Rome. We then travelled to an amazing town in eastern Umbria called Spoleto where we stayed for 5 nights.
Spoleto is an ancient walled city that climbs up the side of a hill to the Rocca Albornoziana - a fantastic 12th Century castle right at the top!
When we arrived we wandered down to the local Piazza and explored the markets and also met Nick and Steve's friend Piergiorgio who owns the gelato shop and newsstand. Nick and Sierra have based themselves in Spoleto for their last two european campaigns since being introduced to the town by Mariah who was part of the Festival dei Due Mondi, music festival.
The first day we explored the 'moving staircase' which was a series of elevators that took you up the side of the city.
We crossed the amazing Ponte delle Torri, a striking 13th-century aqueduct and had a picnic with a million dollar view.
After creme cafe and orange slushies at the Portello cafe we headed home for siesta.
The next day we were taken up into the mountains to the Villa Marianna where there was a beautiful pool and no guests!
We came just at the end of the summer so the busy season had finished and had the pool to ourselves. The next day we explored the Rocca Albornoziana castle in the morning...
then Piergiorgio lent us his car and we drove through the countryside towards Terni. We passed the most amazing towns perched on the side of the steepest hills and just amazing country. We arrived at the The Cascata delle Marmore (Marmore's Falls) falls at 4 o'clock.
This is a man-made waterfall created by the ancient Romans. Its total height is 165 m (541 feet), making it one of the tallest in Europe and the tallest man-made waterfall in the world. Most of the time, the water in the canals above the falls is diverted to a hydroelectric power plant, so the flow in the falls is reduced to the level of a creek. Its flow is turned on and off according to a published schedule, to satisfy the tourists and the power company alike. We arrived at 4 o'clock just as the water was released and it was spectacular!
One of the things that Caro liked best was just the Italian way of life; wandering through the streets of Spoleto by herself exploring all the ancient buildings and churches
and taking in all the things that make this an Italian town...the very narrow streets where you had to back yourself into a door way to let cars past
rooftops gardens at the end of summer heavy with grapes
drinking from the water fountains that were all over the town
and dinner on the terrace of our apartment enjoying some pasta - the restaurants often didn't open until 9pm so we had some great local pizza and cooked some fantastic pasta with the local ingredients!
We had a wonderful time and maybe some day we will return to Spoleto. We caught the train from Spoleto to Rome and then flew to Birmingham airport which is only 10 minutes from Mieke and James house. We had two great days with them. James cooked us a feast that we all enjoyed in the back yard. It was very sad saying our goodbyes and packing our bags.
We had a loooong flight home and we tried to stay up for the whole 11 hour stopover in Hong Kong ....
and then we were back in NZ.
