March 24

Zhoel’s brother, Haydn, and his partner, Amber, decided to fly back to New Zealand for a visit.

They work on a mine site near Perth, Australia. This whole lifestyle fascinates me; it is known as fly in, fly out. They work for four weeks on and then they fly out of the site for a week. They are provided housing and food while they work and then many people fly to Bali for their week off or just store their car in a storage unit and take it camping for a week when they are off. It is much cheaper than keeping an apartment for only one week out of every five. However, Haydn and Amber rent from Amber’s brother, who owns a house in Perth. Many people who work on mine sites plan to do it for about five­ to seven years. This allows them to bank about a million dollars. Then they can head home and buy a house or land.

Haydn and Amber haven’t been able to make it home to NZ very often during their time at the mines. However, due to Gee’s illness, they decided to make a trip back. What they didn’t tell anyone is that they decided to get married during the trip. The ceremony was at the courthouse and it was very intimate. They only invited family (and me). Then afterwards, we all went out for dinner. It was great. They both looked wonderful and their vows were touching. I was so honored to be part of their wedding.