At the time it was taken I thought it was just another photo of the four of us. Just another photo celebrating a birthday. The four of us with easy smiles, side by side at a restaurant table looking over a brightly lit birthday cake at the camera. Some things made it different though. Firstly, we were celebrating a 21st birthday; traditionally the gateway birthday to adulthood. Our daughter was the one turning twenty one and my husband, son and I were there to raise a glass of sparkly (or maybe a couple), have a meal (it was a really great meal), sing Happy Birthday, and share some cake. The second things that made it different to any birthday before it was that we were celebrating in New Zealand. In a little town called Twizel. You probably haven’t heard of it but I can vouch for the fact that it has a great restaurant (Poppies Cafe) and a great cake maker (Baked by Mikie) because I put the hard yards into the planning before we even set foot in the country.
Twizel was the first place we stayed and from that base we visited Mount Cook, New Zealand’s highest peak. We spent the day of the birthday walking through the incredibly beautiful national park. The distant peaks were still snow-capped, though it was early January. Our path was criss-crossed by meandering creeks, the cool clear water running over the scattered smooth pebbles and stones. I marvelled at that water. It was blue! Blue like water looks in a pool except in that instance it’s the pool that’s painted blue to give that hue. Here the water is actually blue. It would be something I would continue to be delighted by on our travels through the South Island. As we traipsed along we spotted numerous waterfalls in the distance, slivers of silver twinkling amongst the dense dark green vegetation of the hillsides. It truly felt like a magical place.
We returned to our AirBnB in Twizel during the afternoon and I was impatient to put my cunning plan into action. I had covertly made plans via Messenger with Mikie to pick up the cake from her and take it to the restaurant prior to our booking time. How do we manage to do that without daughter knowing? “Hey, how about you shower first Emma?” I nonchalantly said once we got back inside the house. It would give us the opportunity to get the cake.
“Nah. Someone else can go first. I want to finish watching something on my laptop”. Hmmmm. Husband and I regrouped on the verandah to reconsider plans.
“How are we going to do this?” I asked him. He, being a husband, had no answer for me and just wore a stunned expression. This was far from his area of expertise. We went back inside. “Ok. Tell your brother to shower first then. Dad and I are just going for a quick drive and a look about.”
Well, we had already looked about in Twizel and that place really wasn’t that big, but thanks to the distractive powers of Netflix and our daughter’s distinct lack of interest in anything her father and I might be doing, I received only a vague response in the positive from the room she was sharing with her brother.
Off we shot to the local motel, the pre-ordained pick up point. “Hi. Is Mikie here? I’m here to pick up a cake.”
“No she isn’t, but she left it in the fridge,” replied the laid back New Zealander behind the front desk.
Out came the box and I gingerly lifted the lid. The cake was magnificent. A lemon tart festooned with small, delicate piped cream coloured roses. I handed over the cash and carefully but urgently made my way to the getaway car, I mean the hire car. “Ok, let’s go.” I instructed my husband in the driving seat. We travelled the two blocks to the restaurant, me cradling the cake carefully, and left it with the Head Waiter. “A few candles in it would be great. See you at 7!”
The four of us, freshly showered and spruced up arrived at the restaurant at 7pm and enjoyed the celebratory sparkling wine, as well as entrees and main courses. “I might have a look at the dessert menu,” said our son. Later, he declared that that was his way of putting his sister “off the scent” that there might be cake.
He needn’t have bothered. When the wait staff shuffled out from the kitchen with the lit cake, singing Happy Birthday, our daughter wondered who else in the restaurant was having a birthday that day. She was truly astonished when it was placed in front of her. Her eyes were shiny and her smile wide. It was a lovely moment and one I will always remember.
Along with the photo, we have some video of her reaction. You never know what the future might bring but I do wonder whether that photo is part of a record of a final family holiday for the four of us. A month later, Covid hit, ending all our plans of a trip to Europe the following year. We can travel again now but now they each have a partner so holidays are taken with them instead of us; “the oldies”. I’m happy for them but a little sad that a phase of life is over. I didn’t know it then when that photo was taken. That was the final thing that made the photo different.
Love Helen Jahn’s writing? Read more here; https://mountainashchapter.com.au/?author=7
Fascinated by the thought of Twizel? You can start here; https://www.newzealand.com/au/twizel/