NICI WICKES, FOOD EDITOR

As much as I love to travel, my favourite part of travelling is coming home. Without fail, I shed a tear when I catch the first glimpse of our beautiful land and as the plane touches down, I let out a breath that’s been half- held the whole time I’ve been away. This photo, taken outside Auckland Airport more than 25 years ago, is from when I had just returned from three months of cooking and snowboarding in Colorado. I was 23 years old and it was back in the days when backpacks were the norm (no wheelie bags back then), and the whole family came to meet me at the airport. Mum is in the photo and I know Dad would have been off getting the car. They were the welcome- home party!