Family
Our Little Story
On the 12th of February 2002 Ellis and Sanna boarded a ship in Chile, South America, unbeknown to each other & unaware that this ship was going to alter the course of their lives – forever!
The Navimag ship was traveling up the coast, from the town of Puerto Natales, deep in the south, to Puerto Montt, almost halfway up the country. Its journey, some 1,000 nautical miles, 5 days sail, took it on a course through the vast maze of fjords & in the mighty shadow of the Andes Mountain Ranges.
Ellis had just started his work as a Television presenter for a Canadian production company & was hosting an adventure travel show.
Sanna was travelling with a friend throughout South America. Her father had just passed away suddenly 10-weeks prior & she was struggling to come to grips with this, as they were very close.
Ellis & Sanna saw each other on the afternoon and evening of the 13th of February, but no words were exchanged & it wasn’t until the following day that they finally spoke. They spent the next three days together on board the ship, getting to know each other.
After they reached their destination of Puerto Montt, Sanna & Ellis caught up several more times throughout South America over the following weeks in Chile & Bolivia. When they finally parted Sanna made Ellis a promise. She promised that she would come out to visit him in New Zealand, upon his return home a few months later.
Ellis travelled on to Argentina, Canada, China & finally Australia before heading home & Sanna returned home to Finland.
True to her word, three months later & only a few days after Ellis arrived home, Sanna flew half way around the world to visit Ellis in New Zealand. You could not get two countries much further apart, as Finland is not far away from New Zealand’s point of antipodes.
On her first visit, Sanna stayed six weeks and helped Ellis with the building of his house, The Tree House (so named because of the two huge tree trunks that go up through the centre of the construction), which he had begun prior to departing for South America.
During this time Ellis lost his builder, as he was hurt in an accident when lifting up the massive framing of a wall in the lounge. Following the accident the builder stopped working and Ellis could not get another builder at short notice, so Sanna & Ellis were thrown into the job themselves.
Sanna had never built anything bigger than a bird box prior to this & Ellis did not have much more in the way of building experience – so they made a great pair on the construction site, with the help of Ellis’ Dad.
Six weeks after arriving Sanna flew home to her family back in Finland & left Ellis to continue building.
After a forced two and a half-month separation Sanna returned to New Zealand for a second visit.
Once again she was Ellis’ right hand girl on the building site, working long hard hours daily & facing challenges she had never experienced before, from mixing concrete to milling timber.
During this time Sanna & Ellis allowed themselves one days break per week, where they would do a day trip somewhere. However, Ellis would usually sneak in something house related, whether it was visiting an abandoned rock quarry, viewing logs to be milled or buying building supplies for the coming weeks work. Despite the constant hard work their relationship blossomed & the strength of their friendship grew.
Before long Sanna had to leave again & they were forced to separate for a few more months. Christmas 2002 Ellis decided it was his turn to visit Sanna & introduce himself to her family & finally get to meet her daughter Michelle, age seven.
It was mid winter in Finland with loads of snow & ice. Even the Baltic Sea in front of Sanna’s family’s summerhouse, where they stayed, was frozen over for many kilometres off shore. Sanna, Ellis & Michelle went on to travel to Tenerife, Canary Islands for a few warm weeks and a well-earned rest from building.
After this Ellis returned home to New Zealand & his building site. There was still a huge amount to do before it would be liveable. The construction work continued as jobs were ticked off the list, one by one. Gradually the house took shape.
Soon after Ellis had to leave overseas again, this time for more filming work. The day he finished, on the 12th of February 2003, exactly one year after they met, Sanna and Michelle moved to New Zealand so they could be together with Ellis as a family. They all made a promise & commitment to each other to trial their relationship for six months & then re-evaluate things.
Michelle was really excited to come to New Zealand. To her it was a huge adventure! However, she could barely speak a word of English – just the basics – yes, no, thank you. Despite this she instantly fit right in and picked up new words & phrases on a daily basis. Two weeks after arriving in New Zealand she started school in their local Area School. Her first full day she arrived home, grinning wildly, with six new friends in tow. They couldn’t speak a word to each other, but they all used sign language to communicate.
At the end of three months Michelle spoke English fluently & another couple of months after that she had the same vocabulary as any of her peers.
The half-year came & went quickly & then Sanna & Michelle had to leave and remain out of the country, returning home to Finland, following New Zealand Immigration regulations. Once again their little family had to suffer a forced separation.
At some point, Ellis decided to ask Sanna to marry him. But he made himself a promise, he promised himself to wait another six months before asking her. He wanted to make sure that she was the right girl for him – besides there were plenty more fish in the sea . . . 🙂
Six months later on the 6th of July 2003, 18 months after they met, Ellis proposed to Sanna in front of his whole family & a few close friends, at a private function. Ellis was so nervous that he waited until close to midnight before he finally plucked up the courage. When he asked her to marry him all Sanna said was “eeek” & burst into tears! Ellis wasn’t quite sure if this was a good thing or not & was sure she’d meant NO! When asked to confirm or deny Sanna just repeated “eeeeek” again. Still to this day we’re not sure if she said yes…..?
On the engagement night Ellis presented Sanna with a dozen brilliant red rose buds & told her all the reasons why he wanted her to be his wife. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
In the winter of 2003, while Sanna & Michelle were back in Finland, Ellis officially moved onto the building site. At that stage it was pretty basic & very cold, but there weren’’t many hours of the day that Ellis wasn’t working. There was no shower, no hot water, & not even a toilet – only the old long-drop down the back. In the early hours of the morning he would literally crawl into bed, fully clothed, with his boots on & then wake a few hours later to start all over again.
During August & September 2003 Ellis went over to Finland to spend a few weeks with Sanna & Michelle & on the 25th of January 2004 Sanna & Michelle moved permanently to live in New Zealand.
All through this period the building work did not stop. However, the house looked more like a house now, rather than a construction site!
Several months before the wedding, Sanna & Ellis asked a close friend, Richard, if he would consider marrying them, provided they could apply to have him officiated as a marriage celebrant. Richard agreed instantly! They promptly applied & were informed that the licence would be shipped out to them with plenty of time.
The wedding day came, but unfortunately Richard’s official marriage celebrant licence didn’t. (It apparently got lost in the post??)
Naturally Sanna, the new bride to be, was a little concerned to learn this news at the 11th hour, but after some discussion Sanna & Ellis decided to proceed with the wedding as planned. After all, a marriage is about love and commitment rather than official pieces of paper.
The wedding day was a fantastic celebration with close to 200 friends & family attending, many having travelled long distances to attend. It was a stunning day as Sanna & Ellis married in a natural setting by a mountain tarn on the side of Mt Lyford, the most prominent mountain that they see out their kitchen window every morning.
Ellis says, with a cheeky grin, that he uses the mountain like a barometer to his relationship with Sanna. If it’s cold & stormy with howling winds & ice up on the mountain, he treads very carefully with Sanna.
Richard received his marriage celebrant’s license sometime later and has performed many more weddings. And Ellis & Sanna have since validated their wedding vows in the eyes of the law, although neither one of them can recall the anniversary of the official wedding date. To them & all of their family & friends they married on the 12th of February 2005.
Each year since, Sanna & Michelle have returned home to Finland to spend time with family & friends & to keep up with their language & culture. Sometimes Ellis accompanies them too.
Ellis, Sanna & Michelle are still living in The Tree House on the hill. It is almost finished – however it will always be a work in progress. Michelle is almost grown-up now, but she still sleeps in her tree hut bed in the ceiling of her bedroom. Sanna and Ellis are focusing on different things these days, but still get away from time to time to explore the world together.
Every day they try to remind themselves to sit for a few moments & enjoy the view from their amazing home & appreciate each other & all of their efforts.
The house is not just a house anymore, it’s a home! And everywhere there are reminders & stories of days gone by.
