We retrieved our luggage, grabbed a taxi and went off to our hotel down by the Viaduct. It was exciting to be in a place I
’
d only ever seen on a map. The hotel was beautiful, overlooking the Harbour and we ended up on the top floor with a balcony over the water. As far as I was concerned we had the best room in the place. We felt quite comfortable in Auckland
–
a lot of the people were tall, so Sheelagh felt like she belonged and a lot of people had red hair, so I fit right in. Put that together with being in a gay friendly country and we were thrilled.
We found the Auckland train station. It was as big as Union Station, but not as pretty. The people who worked there were lovely and extremely helpful. We took a train to Sylvia Park and walked around and admired the Christmas decorations and the different types of stores they had in the malI. It
’
s always intriguing to see what people in other countries like to buy versus what we like. We bought some souvenirs and enjoyed the train trip back to downtown Auckland.
We poked around city streets and found a liquor store so we could have wine that night without paying two arms and a leg for it. On Saturday we were so excited - it was concert day! We took the train to Smart Stadium and found out we had tickets six rows up from the stage and right on the aisle. Best seats ever!
There were forty thousand people there that night and it was easy to get caught up in the atmosphere of excitement. It was a monumental, once in a lifetime event complete with fireworks. There was a little bit of rain but that didn
’
t spoil the night. The concert was everything we hoped it would be. Unfortunately when it was over all those people had to leave either by train or bus because cars were not allowed there. We thought it would be a logistics nightmare getting out of there by train, but we were some of the first people out and even got a seat on one of the first train cars.
We left the station and walked back to the hotel at midnight along the waterfront and felt totally safe and happy.We both had an absolutely fantastic night!
The next day we slept in and walked around the Victoria Market and bought some jade jewelry. After that we walked up a mountain to Ponsonby. It was a quaint little town with cute shops and a bookstore with plywood as the floor. After a drink and a rest we took a taxi down and back to our hotel.
After catching our breath we decided to head east to see what we could discover and we found a grocery store called
“
One World
”
. We love grocery stores in different countries because you get to see all the different types of food other people eat. The most bizarre thing happened when we were there shopping, we heard someone say,
“
Hiya! Hiya Sheelagh!
”
Turning around we saw Gus coming towards us, he was the steward who looked after our section on the flight to New Zealand. What are the chances we would run into the only Brazilian Kiwi who knew Sheelagh by name in a grocery store fourteen thousand kilometres from home. It was a hoot! We bought some nibbles and on our way back we came across a huge green space and discovered it was Victoria Park.
We found a bench below rows of mature trees and sat close together in the shifting light provided by the swaying branches above us. After the long walk from the grocery store we were hungry and started looking for something to munch on from our grocery bags. Peeking in the bag we discovered two gaily wrapped Santas-on-sticks. We
’
d found our prize! We ate our chocolate-covered marshmallow Santas while we watched a cricket game, a yoga class, people boxing, as well as people practicing bagpipes. Definitely quite the experience for us while relaxing after the Rolling Stones concert the night before.
We had transported ourselves to this far away place, and the sounds and the sights of the day were transporting us to a new and warm place within ourselves. We strolled back to our hotel holding our happiness for this place and each other, close to our hearts.
We laughed as we fiddled with the controls of the elevator we had to use to get back to our room. The antics needed to swipe cards, push buttons and balance bags amused us and had quickly become a familiar ritual of entry to our seaside hideaway. Our room was close to the elevator and we quickly reached the door and swiped our card again. Home at last! We put our bags on the little table by the door and threw ourselves happily on the king bed overlooking the harbour. Sheelagh rolled towards me, put her arm around my waist, and drew me towards her with a happy glint of desire in her eyes.
The warmth we brought to our room was inflamed by the way she looked at me, and my heart was happy that we were there together. I reached for her shoulder and drew her towards me, and our lips met. The heat of our bodies matched that of the Auckland sun that streamed through the huge windows beside the bed, illuminating our bodies. We could see the world, but it could not see us. Far above the city, our bodies met, our passion flared, and we were carried away to a magical place.This was even better than the fireworks that ended the Stones concert the night before!
Auckland was a lovely city and the people we met there were the nicest most polite people we have ever met. We thought Canadians were nice but the Kiwis definitely have us beat. Sheelagh was going to miss her flat white coffees but planned on telling people back home how good they were so she could have them at her local cafe.
We had reached the day when it was time to leave and fly to Hawaii, another place we both wanted to visit but had never been to. We were amused by the flight status signs at the airport. In true Kiwi style instead of using the word “Delayed” to indicate a delayed flight, on the sign they used the word
“
Relax
”
. We loved it!
Hawaii
It was dark as we flew over Fiji on the way to Honolulu airport where we witnessed a constellation of lights from the nearby city. After an hour of standing in line at immigration we had to wait until the next day to fly to Maui because there were no other flights available that night. We spent the night, at a nearby hotel and were introduced to the friendliness and charm of the Hawaiian people. The next morning we had a sumptuous breakfast and then flew out to Maui that afternoon.
We were met at the airport by a limousine service and were presented with fresh floral leis. They scooped up our luggage for us and guided us to their car. We left without delay and drove past field after field of sugar cane until we arrived at our hotel in Wailea. We were in awe at the sight of this gorgeous hotel that was even more grand than the one we had left in Auckland. We felt it was obvious we were two women travelling together and we were treated exactly the same if not better than everyone else. We had a room on the top floor of building Hana Seven overlooking the South Pacific ocean.
We had an exquisite time beginning with cocktails and lunch by the pool as the palm trees swayed in the warm trade winds, and the sweet perfume of tropical flowers wafted around us. As far as I was concerned I was in heaven. I had found my favourite place and I was there with my favourite person in the whole wide world.
I couldn
’
t imagine being there with anyone other than Sheelagh, and it didn
’
t matter to me that my spouse was a woman. I
’
d reached a point within myself where I was becoming more comfortable in the world with my wife.
We swam in the infinity pool, jumped waves in the Pacific ocean and went shopping at the Wailea shops. We attended a luau which was fun because it was new and culturally different, but we didn
’
t enjoy the people at our table. For the most part it was a family who had other members of their family at the next table so it was annoying that they kept going back and forth talking during the dinner performance.
The next day Sheelagh and I rented a jeep for the day to explore the west side of the island. We made our way through Kihai and up to Lahaina and spent some time looking in stores and the odd gallery. All the people we encountered were friendly and cheerful. We enjoyed our day out but it was wonderful to head back to our little bit of heaven in Wailea. We enjoyed many happy hours there, ate amazing food, and needless to say we never wanted to leave for home.
Sheelagh and I felt very welcomed and comfortable at the resort and all the staff we met were extremely friendly and talkative. We will definitely be returning in the future.
When it was time to leave we had to go to the Maui airport, then to Honolulu airport, then to Vancouver and then finally home to Toronto. It really was exhausting due to all the wait times and security checks. We walked into our house after midnight and fell into bed, happy to be home safe and sound.
Return to Home
At this point things were going well at work for Sheelagh and I was feeling well. It was nice to be home, but also exciting to know that we would be leaving soon for Scottsdale. It was at this time I received a message saying that our breeder was looking for a home for one of her stud dogs. It seemed that Harley (our puppy’s father) was being put out to pasture. I loved Harley, he was a beautiful Havanese with a great disposition. I asked Sheelagh if we could give him a home. We talked about him and us, and she said that as long as we were good as a couple and were going to stay together forever we could get him. I wasn’t planning on leaving, and I knew she wasn’t, so I contacted the kennel.
I quickly discovered that Harley had never been leash trained or house trained or neutered (obviously), that’s when I knew he wasn’t the dog for us. That decision not to get him was a sad one, but I looked at another kennel and they had recently had a litter of Havanese puppies. I asked the breeder to send us a photo of the male puppies in the litter, because we were after a male to go along with Shay. She sent us pictures of two little guys and we fell in love with the look of them. It’s funny, we were beyond having children, but having a puppy felt like it was cementing our relationship and it felt right.
An Unexpected Change
After returning home, I wanted to see Sissy because I
’
d been gone for awhile and she was about to leave for Florida for three months. Having her come up would give us an opportunity to catch up on everything before we all went our separate ways for Christmas. I asked Sheelagh if she was okay with the visit and she said she was. I told her that Sissy planned to come up from Thursday to Saturday. Sheelagh didn
’
t like that we wouldn
’
t have Friday night alone together, but was okay with the plan. On Friday evening, after Sissy spoke with her husband on the phone.
She had a favour to ask and said,
“
Peeter said picking me up on Sunday would be more convenient for him. Would you mind if I stayed another day, and leave on Sunday morning?
”
Sheelagh went silent and looked away. She was my sister, what could I say? I was caught between a rock and a hard place.
“
No problem Sissy! You
’
re welcome to stay,
”
I said.
After those words were out of my mouth Sheelagh got up and walked out of the room. I wasn
’
t aware of how much having time alone together meant to her. I went and spoke with her and reassured her that Sissy would leave on Sunday morning and we would have the afternoon together. As it turned out, Sissy did not leave until later on Sunday afternoon. Needless to say we didn
’
t go to bed together. Sheelagh was extremely angry with me, accusing me of putting Sissy before her. Going over things I could see how she would feel that way, but I was angry with her for not understanding.
That evening, December 14
th
, Sheelagh wrote to Montreal requesting the first available date for GRS. To her, what had happened was a signal that our sex life wasn
’
t nearly as important to me as it was to her. She had hoped that the spark that had been ignited on our vacation would stay lit. I didn
’
t feel as strongly as her about this, but I sure as hell did not agree with her decision to book a date for GRS. I felt like she was getting back at me for hurting her earlier. Her new date for GRS was March 30 2015, and I was mad.
One thing about Sheelagh and I, we can get riled up and angry with each other but given a few hours we can come back together and talk like two sane people. We really truly love and respect each other and know neither one is out to purposely hurt the other, so we are always able to find a common ground.
It took a good day for us to come around to each other, but come around we did. We talked through the problem until we got to the GRS part. Sheelagh figured she may as well get the surgery because our sex life was virtually over. She was no longer able to orgasm and she knew I didn’t initiate anything because I didn’t want to deal with the frustration and sadness.
I could see her point - I really could. I just didn’t want to give up all hope and have her lose a part of her anatomy she could never get back. I didn’t want to lose it because that would just make everything so final and I found that hard to accept. She said she would keep thinking on it and nothing was written in stone. The fact she was willing to keep an open mind meant a lot to me, and I didn’t want her making such a huge decision out of anger.