Over "the pond".....

......being the Tasman sea, we finally got to go to New Zealand. Obviously, we didn't make it last month given the circumstances, but the badly needed break eventually came along. Aibhe stayed at home with Barb (Baba) and Geoff (Jess) for the few days and appeared to have a cracking time. So then, New Zealand, a new country for us both. A few words on the myths that go with the territory.

1. Sheep. Yes, they are everywhere. 40 million of them in fact, 10 times the human population.
2. Cold. Yes, fricken freezing in Christchurch, but then it was the equivalent of January/February in Dublin.
3. The accent. Oh man. The Aussie accent can be funny, but the NZ accent is actually quite hard on the ears. It's the vowels, they're all over the shop. Almost the German of the antipodes. For instance:
- Check-in desk = Chucken disk
- Six = Sux
- Ticket = Tuckit
4. Rugby. Yes. Obsessed. Totally. 4 pages in the main paper on it pretty much every day.
5. Stunning. Yes. Quite breathtaking scenery once ye get out of the "city" (Christchurch barely qualifies I reckon but anyway). Snow capped mountains practically jumping out of the flat plains of Canterbury to really give an idea as to why the Lord of the Rings was filmed here.

Did I mention it was cold?

A few days of eating, drinking (though we got so pissed on the first excited night that it pretty much took another two days to recover), driving through mountains, jet boating (very cool and very cold), wine tasting and sleeping. Pretty much covers it. Next time (and working for Virgin Blue, there will be a next time) we'll probably try get further south on the south island to Queenstown and Dunedin which are meant to be even more spectacular in a swiss Alps kindov way. I thought parts of Ireland were relatively unpopulated, but Jesus, we drove for HOURS without seeing another car on the road on several occasions. One bit was a little over hyped - Akeroa on the Banks peninsula. I'd compare it to driving through the Wicklow pass to arrive in Baltinglass. Nice, but not knock me down amazing though to be fair, time of year probably didn't help in that there was barely a soul around.

We of course missed Aibhe, and it was pretty cute that she was eagerly anticipating our return, as we walked through the arrival doors at the airport, there she was, swinging off the bars trying to attract the attention of others around - but thankfully, didn't ignore us....... and the requisite hugs duly arrived.

Not much to add right now.

But photos of Aibhe have been requested so here goes..... and we're finally getting to New Zealand this week - didn't happen last month for obvious reasons. Will give a decent report on our return.

For Georgia, Jen and Marian

For a while I thought about whether or not the recent events should be written up on the blog, and whether or not it would belittle the scale of what has happened. But I believe that this has been a pretty consistent, occasionally flippant, account of our lives here, so it would be pretty much a false restart if I were to begin writing again without somehow "verbalising" in writing what we've been through.

The last week of June has certainly become the saddest time of the year for the Foley family. The 26th is now the anniversary of the passing of Georgia Foley, our little girl who was born prematurely after 22 weeks with us. Following the 18 week scan, we knew she had been sick for some time and had developed a condition called "Hydrops" - an extremely rare occurance. We knew then that the outlook was bleak and that it would be a matter of time so we had a little time to prepare ourselves for the worst. However, having to go through the entire labour experience in this kind of circumstance is something I would not wish on anyone. We had a hell-ish 24 hours which included some post delivery complications for Alissa (requiring some minor surgery). We spent 12 hours with Georgia then had to let her go.

Battered and bruised, Alissa badly needed to spend some time sleeping and resting, but of course, about an hour after we arrived home from the hospital, little Aibhe came down with a fever which lasted 3 days (she's actually still not quite over it yet), resulting in 2 GP trips and a visit to the hospital. She also developed an obsession with her Daddy, which given Alissa's fragile state was probably not the worst thing. There's something to be said about a child of such a young age being able to pick up on the vibes of her parents and of those around her. We fortunately had plenty of support to help us get through the few days. I'd also just like to say now, thank you to all of you who sent such beautiful and kind words to Alissa and I, I know I didn't get to text or call or e-mail back, there really wasn't much I could say.

The news of Jen's passing on the 29th needs no words. The fight she put up was nothing short of astonishing. I'd rather remember Jen not as the girl who fought with cancer to the bitter end, more as the intelligent, straight talking, party-loving and smiling girl that she was. And the one responsible for getting me so into skyping with the rest of the world. She gave us sunflower seeds when we left Ireland, we'll be planting more in our garden for her. These are the times we wish we could be home with you all.

Marian's 3rd anniversary came a day later. The memories of that day and the ones that followed are so raw and clear, and probably will be forever. And she would have turned 40 on the 1st July. We all still miss her incredibly.

That week is over now. Am currently looking outside the window at the clear blue skies (and the weird English woman next door who sings that "why don't you build me up" song at the absolute top of her voice late at night REGULARLY - so we call her buttercup amongst other things).

The family arrive in a few weeks time. Things should get better.

Georgia, Jen and Marian you won't ever be forgotten.