Surprise Surprise
- Mar 23, 2017
- 4 min read
Location:
Dublin, Ireland
Since jetting off on the adventure of a lifetime, we have had such an amazing experience. We got to live in the world’s most liveable city, Melbourne and experience all of her wonderful delights. My most memorable moment has to be popping the question against a backdrop of the city’s sky line. Take 2016 for example. The year started off with me celebrating my big birthday surrounded by wild Orang-utans in Borneo and gliding through the air, thinking I’m Superman, in the Philippines. Let’s not forget about learning to dive in the tropical water of Indonesia. Of course, Australia has been a huge part of our travels over the last few years. Spending time with our friend from home, Jean in her Aussie home and meeting her family was really nice. While we were in Perth, Jean was the perfect hostess. Having the opportunity to live in Sydney will always stay in my heart. Its where the ‘Bounce Crew’ were born. We were lucky enough to enjoy the cities incredible light and sound festival, ‘Vivid Sydney’ which was amazing. Our East Coast of Australia adventure was unbelievable. I had some surreal moments like diving in the world renowned ‘Great Barrier Reef’ and swimming by myself with a turtle while cruising around the paradise islands that are the Whitsundays. Although moving not only to a new city but a whole new country can be scary, it can also be incredibly exciting. Lucky for us, everything just slotted into place, well after a few weeks, when we moved to New Zealand. One of the best things about travelling, well, it’s the people you meet. We became great friends with our landlords Gordon and Valda and let’s not forget about Ralf. They were the polar opposite to a particular Aussie we met along the way. While Christmas can be a hard time when you are away from home, last Christmas was amazing. Being able to explore the North Island thanks to Ralf and his little red car meant we got to experience Hobbiton, sleep under the stars next to a beautiful lake, white water raft down a seven-metre water fall and enjoy a road trip up to ‘Cape Regina,’ the country’s northern most point. And that is just a snippet of what we got up to!
On our way back home, one could not miss out on an opportunity to explore one of the most interesting countries on the planet, Japan. The food, the people, the scenery are all equally epic! It is an amazing country and we can’t wait to go back. It’s one of the few countries that gives me goose bumps every time I think about it. As special moments go, it doesn’t get more special than seeing our two mammies in Barcelona after almost two years away from home. Yes, we live in an age where it’s easy to keep in touch, especially with video calling, however, it’s just not the same as face to face. It was wonderful being able to spend time with them both before we headed back to the mayhem!
There is simply nowhere like a home. The excitement! It felt like Christmas, we surprised everyone by flying home a week earlier than we previously planned. We made our way over to Jason’s house by bus. The driver left us off at the N4 and from there we had to walk for about thirty minutes with our big heavy bags. When we got to his house, Aaron opened the door and pretended to Joanne there was a salesman at the door and that she should come down stairs. The excitement in the house was surreal. Unfortunately, as Danielle was over in Stephen’s mothers house, we had to take a drive over to her. We were very excited about meeting little Kobe for the first time.
After a little bit of time the French’s, I was anxious to get over to mine. As my mam opened the door, I hid and jumped up to surprise her as she answered. I was warmly welcomed by Laura and Bowie as well. It was so nice to be home. Even though I have loved travelling and had a ball, you really can’t beat your home. While the house had not changed a great deal, it wouldn’t be like my mother if it were the exact same as when I left it two years ago. How I missed my home comforts and my mother’s wonderful cooking. Either Bowie has grown or he has gotten fluffier, but boy does he look huge!
Later on, that evening, we all drove over to Susan’s to surprise everyone. As we drove into Susan’s estate, I got my mam to park the car away from the house. Without knocking, I walked in. No one could believe it was me. Susan was walking up the stairs, John was in the living room and the kids were floating around. With all the noise and excitement, everyone came into the hall to see what was going on. It was so nice to see everyone. The kids have gotten so big. I couldn’t get over the length of Jack’s legs. Ever the gentleman, John went down with Katie to get me a big bag of chips. He insisted on bringing Katie with him so she could go inside for him. When they got back, we all sat down together, chatting with each other. After our tasty bite to eat, John prepared one of his famous suppers: tea and biscuits, for us all!
And at that moment in time, it dawned on me, I am back home surrounded by my amazing family!
By Andrew Pender
Comments