Whitianga to Treasure Island wedding

Whitianga has become something of a January tradition for the Armstrong-Scotts and the Smith-Watts. They (the A-S's) go there every summer and we try to join them there for a few days or a week whenever possible. 2010 was still a bit cool by the time we got there so wetsuits were the order of the day for some of the water pursuits. Donald is very good about taking the kids out for boating activities and Ollie and Jessye wasted no time in getting on skis. For the non-skiers, the biscuit is great entertainment.

It's not all go, though.

And while the kids frolic in the water and on the sand....

sometimes the mothers are happy to sit and chat at a safe distance and watch the more hectic goings on.

It's always too soon when the Whitianga holiday comes to an end.

Jessye and Peter went back to Melbourne from Auckland, Peter to work and Jessye to prepare for rowing camp, while Rosie, Sophie and I spent a few days in Auckland before going directly to Fiji for another fabulous 6 days of holiday - a wedding was the excuse. But firstly, in Auckland we always visit the two wonderful ladies who were formative influences in my musical life, Janetta MacStay, my piano teacher at Auckland University along with Bryan Sayer and Heather Smith, my violin teacher pre-university.

It was also a chance to get together with my 1968 classmates from Normal Intermediate, at Bill Liley's house for a BBQ and again at the lovely little restaurant in a historic stone building on the Mission Bay foreshore. Between those events, Aunty Tina popped in to see us at our motel. She is an amazing powerhouse of energy in her late 80's.

Although the weather was a little dubious, I decided we should take a boat ride to Waiheke Island. I had never been there despite growing up in Auckland and thought, why not? The boat ride over was blustery and the girls were not dressed for it with their tiny shorts on but it was much calmer once we arrived. We walked around the little township, bought a few souvenirs and had some lunch. It's much bigger and more settled than I had imagined.

Luckily, the weather during the trip back was much more pleasant and we had a great view of the beautiful sailing ship, Spirit of New Zealand, cruising around the harbour.

On the 18th of January at 7:20am Rosie, Sophie and I took of from Auckland airport to Fiji for the wedding of my chamber music colleagues, Svetlana and David from Melbourne group, Ensemble Liaison. The other member of Ensemble Liaison, Tim, was best man and Tim's wife, Anna, also a fine pianist, was one of the bridesmaids. The other one was Jill, sister of the groom and partner of Chris, former Associate Principal violist of the MSO and now Principal Violist of the Australian Chamber Orchestra (he once did a successful trial for a job in the NZSO 1st violins but never took up the position because he decided to switch to viola and, blow me down, when I moved to Melbourne, there he was sitting opposite me in the viola section). To top it off, Svetlana (the bride) was also Sophie's cello teacher so the whole thing was very intimate - the entire wedding party, including guests, was 14 big people and 2 tiny people, daughter of the bride and groom and daughter of Chris and Jill. If you managed to follow all that you deserve a medal! After landing at Nadi airport, where Rosie and Sophie reluctantly but gamely posed with the welcoming Fijian troubadors, we took a taxi to nearby Denarau where we boarded our small boat. The wharf cargo scene was on a different scale from the massive container equipment we'd just recently motored past on Auckland Harbour. We could see little faraway shapes that would turn into beautiful islands ringed by white sand. We'd let off a few passengers and then head for the next one until we got to our very own home for the next 6 days, Treasure Island. In the distance we could see and hear a group on the beach singing for us. It soon became clear that all Fijians sing and that no matter what your job was on the Island, you'd turn up and have a sing whenever it was called for.

We had 3 days before the rest of the wedding party arrived during which we got to know our little island pretty well and Rosie and Sophie made the most of some of the activities on offer. The most daring was the paragliding or whatever it was called - you wouldn't catch me up there in a million years. Rosie loved it and tried to do it again on our last day but the wind was going the wrong way or something so she couldn't. Sophie was probably quietly terrified but wasn't about to miss out. The hair braiding was a bit hit with all the girls on the island.

We felt like old hands when the day came to welcome our friends to the island. I'd told them we'd be waving to them from the beach and we were. We had a couple of days to frolic and relax together before the big day.

Finally, the wedding day arrived. It was to be held at the exquisite little mostly glass chapel at the far end of our tiny island. The central aisle had glass panels over a sand and shell display and the front of the chapel looked out towards a distant island.

The celebrant was a lovely Fijian lady who travelled from the mainland. She got acquainted with the groom, the best man and the groom's parents. The only other non-family guests, John and Lynn, were enjoying the singing while we all excitedly anticipated the arrival of the bridal boat from the other end of the island.

The band left the chapel and went down to the beach to welcome the boat complete with 2 Fijian warriors (who had probably served lunch that day). The wedding party came ashore and they all looked gorgeous, especially Svetlana. The little girls dealt with the pageantry of the occasion with aplomb.

The ceremony was lovely and was followed by champagne outside on the grass and lots of photo opportunities. Svetlana threw her beautiful frangipani bouquet and Rosie was tickled pink to catch it! She hardly let go of it for the rest of the day. After lots of photos had been taken we all strolled back up the island (it took about 3 minutes of very slow strolling) to our bures. Ours was next door to the bride and groom so we peeked in to have a look at the decoration of the marital bed which had happened while we were at the wedding. We had a little rest and then convened for a sunset dinner by the pool which finished with more serenading and a night-time dip.
18 photos from Dave and Tim waiting to the serenading after dinner.

We had to leave before dawn the next day but we still had a farewell serenade of the famous Isa Lei, the song of farewell that I knew from my childhood. It was a very touching part of the service. One of David's sister's photos of little Isabella watching the cava ceremony a day or two after we had gone epitomises the lovely way the Fijians take care of the children at these resorts. Although there were quite a few kids on the island we still managed to have a really relaxing and laid-back time because the children are catered and cared for so well and are genuinely welcomed. It was one of my favourite holidays ever.