What a question!

Charlie and I left Chch to spend Queen's Birthday weekend on the sunny West Coast when the forecast for the east was snow and rain. When we left the house on Saturday morning, Charlie stopped the van after a few meters. A funny smile came over his face

-I have forgot something essential! he said and charged back into the house.


My female intuition told me that maybe he had forgotten "the ring". The thought came to me suddenly and left me just as quickly as Charlie came back with a black canister with "essential bolts for his mudguards". I felt a bit disappointed. Of course he had simply left behind some bike gear...what was I thinking about?

The sunny West Coast

My favourite beach by Punakaiki

The weekend offered some great biking. We had a great mission down the pretty greasy Croesus Track from Blackball. I learned the meaning of "Speed is your friend". We also tried the tracks at Denniston Plateau, an old mining site which is now restored and used as a biking trail park. It was pretty cool, but I do prefer more natural tracks.

The evening of the 31st of May, we stayed at a backpackers, which Clare and Nick have spoken highly of. This self sufficient hostel offers some of the best ocean views in New Zealand from it's extensive decks. There is a 10 minute bush walk up hill to reach the hostel. Charlie charged up the hill and I was wondering why he was in such a rush. Later he told me that his goal was to catch the sunset. Just after we arrived at the hostel, said hello to the large black dogs hogging the lounge, the sun plunged into the wide ocean. We watched the beauty from the deck and headed to our room. When relaxing on the bed, Charlie got this funny smile, an exciting smile, on his face again. -What is it? I asked and he popped the question:

-Would you like to marry me? Since I was delighted to respond with a Yes, Charlie showed me a beautiful and sparkly ring, which once belonged to his great grand mother. She wore it as her engagement ring about 100 years ago.

Kris, Charlie's mum, had mentioned the ring to Charlie and brought it over earlier in the year. Since February, Charlie has just been sitting on it...waiting for the right moment...the moment when he would bring me to the old slaughter house. Romantic! :-)

We had a large engagement gathering at one of the local pubs with heaps of friends showing up. Unfortunately I had a very bad cold, but still managed to be civil with everyone. Both Charlie and I lost our voices by the end of the night. We are planning a wedding next year, most likely in Sweden, and in Örnsköldsvik, but we won't make any further plans before we go to UK and Sweden next month. Exciting times!!