When Daniel's hopes of an overseas honeymoon were dashed, his partner decided to treat him on an 'overseas' staycation holiday.
When Daniel's hopes of an overseas honeymoon were dashed, his partner decided to treat him on an 'overseas' staycation holiday.
A Kiwi man whose adventurous overseas honeymoon plans were all but ruined thanks to Covid-19 has had a stunning birthday surprise, all thanks to his creative fiancee.
Tuakau woman Brigitta Cooper was gutted her husband-to-be wouldn't be able to celebrate his birthday with friends and family, and even more disappointed their overseas honeymoon is likely just a pipe dream.
Instead, on Tuesday, the creative physiotherapist decided to bring the adventure of an overseas holiday into their home during lockdown by planning six-country holiday hop for her partner Daniel Peacocke.
Wanting to give him an escape from his gruelling job as a firefighter, Cooper shut off certain areas of their home, turning each room into a specific holiday destination accompanied with appropriate food and drink for each location.
"I came up with the idea mostly down to my original plan birthday plan for Dan falling through. I thought Dan deserved an amazing birthday and also because we might not be able to go to the destinations for our honeymoon like we had planned," Copper told the Herald.
"It gave me the idea of taking him around the world instead.
"I didn't get the chance to go shopping for a present so I wrapped up his clothes as presents. I did 6 presents and each represented a different country for what outfit was in the present. When we rolled the dice for the game the number he rolled represented a gift. When he opened the present there was a poem and he had to figure out which country we were going to."
Peacocke's six destinations included Rarotonga, India, Antarctica, Taiwan, Bora Bora and Africa.
For Rarotonga, Cooper had set up their bedroom like a hotel, with the pair sharing a glass while eating watermelon as a tropical storm blew outside.
Up next was Bora Bora (French Polynesia) where they went snorkelling before venturing to India for a mango lassi fix.
Over the course of the day, Peacocke was then taken to Antarctica where they shared a hot chocolate in an igloo while Cooper presented her husband-to-be a piece of Antarctic-themed artwork.
His adventure soon saw him "fly" to Taiwan where he received a massage before finally he arrived in Africa where he lay down with his safari pets to sleep the night away.
While Peacocke couldn't physically go overseas, he says Cooper's adventurous lockdown holiday was an incredible and thoughtful surprise.
Daniel and Brigitta share a cup of hot chocolate during their staycation to Antarctica. Photo / Supplied
"I had no idea we were going to play a game like this," he told the Herald.
"I knew something was up. The original surprise, she left me some clothes and said get changed. She managed to fill the lounge up with balloons with all the animals and had a strobe light going. We had a bit of a dance party.
"This was at 9am in the morning! We had some beers and cake while talking to family on Skype. That was just the start of the day until bed time.
"In Rarotonga we had ukulele music on. It was such a good vibe. It was pouring with rain outside so it was like a tropical storm!
"It was hard to pick a favourite destination, but I got a good massage from Taiwan. It was very creative."
