August 21, 2024

Meeting my cousin Gerard for first time in person.

My maternal grandmother, Anne Conway was the fourth born of twelve siblings. Her brother Tom was #10 and ten years younger. My Mom Mom left Castlebar, Co. Mayo Ireland for the USA in 1929, at the age of 21. Tom later moved to England, first Liverpool and then married and moved to Birmingham, England. I believe my grandmother never saw her brother Tom again, who would have been 11, after she moved away.

 Gerard is Tom & Nora's only son and he goes between Birmingham and Stoke on Trent and works as an electrical engineer, for GE. Gerard and I have exchanged emails and notes over the years, as we were introduced by other Mayo cousins and both of us had looked into tracing our family's history. I reached out to Gerard to see if we could possibly meet when I went with group to Liverpool, this past weekend. Gerard agreed, since his home is only about an hour away. So Sunday, we meet at the Albert Docks and caught up over a nice brunch at Botanicals Cafe. Then we enjoyed the sunshine and open air on top the Hop on and off bus getting off to see St. Luke's Farm Market and the interior of the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral.   

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After a couple of hours touring and getting to know each other, we went back to Albert docks to join the Beatles Magical Mystery Tour.

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND

By Patricia Patrick • March 4, 2026
We had a beautiful sunny day to explore Wellington ! Was a very nice change from the stormy, big swells weather we have had the last two days! Wellington is the Capital city of New Zealand and the CBD is nice and big with lots of shops and museums. We didn't make it to the LOTR studios due to the time crunch but we took the cable car up to the top, for a scenic overlook of the port and then leisurley walk down through the Botantical Gardens, parks and historical cemetary.

ROTORUA CITY HIGHLIGHTS - NEW ZEALAND

By Patricia Patrick • March 3, 2026
Rotorua became a bonus city for us. Our Port stay in Tauranga got cut down to one day, due to NZ biosecurity regulations and since we really wanted to do Hobbiton, we decided to get off the ship and stay in hotels and get back on the ship, in a few days. Due to a variety of factors, the Ship ended up doing a quick pick up of us in Tauranga, three days later. The Kiwi's we encountered along the way, who helped with all our last minute details, were amazingly kind, hospitable and generous. Below is our tired, chilly group huddled at the security shed, outside the Port in the wee hours (1:30 am) Monday morning, awaiting our final hurdle of getting back on our Home. Home sweet home! What an adventure!

ROTORUA, NEW ZEALAND

By Patricia Patrick • March 3, 2026
Rotorua, New Zealand is known for it's geothermal activity ( geysers, mud pools, hot springs) and rich Maori culture . I saw lots of that last time I was here in 2016, so this time I wanted to see their Redwoods in Whakarewarewa Forest. John and Colleen joined me in exploring. Their redwoods are smaller than the ones in Muir Woods California, but still impressive. Both are planted forest dating back to around 1908.