Wedding bells for adventurous teachers

Anna and Morgan Lewis will honeymoon in Bali, then finish off their last year in Cairo. QUINN & KATIE PHOTOGRAPHY

Anna and Morgan Lewis are about to start a new adventure after tying the knot on a Te Puke orchard yesterday.

The couple, former Otumoetai Intermediate teachers, made headlines after their public engagement at a restaurant on The Strand in July 2013, then again when violence broke out in Egypt in August 2013, killing hundreds, while the pair were mid-flight to Cairo.

The couple stayed on in Egypt despite the unrest that began when security forces, authorised by the new military-backed Government, cleared out two Islamist-led sit-ins demanding ousted president Mohammed Morsi be reinstated.

Speaking to the Bay of Plenty Times yesterday, Mrs Lewis said she and her husband had been planning their wedding while in Egypt, but it had been a hectic few weeks getting ready while on their school's winter break.

"Planning a wedding from so far away hasn't been so much fun but I've had a lot of help from my parents, my sister and my family," she said. "We always planned to get married here. We did talk very quickly about an island wedding but there were too many people we wanted there that wouldn't have been able to travel ... "

Instead, the ceremony was at her parents' kiwifruit orchard and the reception was held in her dad's tractor shed - which he spent days clearing out.

The wedding photos featured similar signs to the ones Mr Lewis used to propose on the Tauranga Waterfront. They were held up by 30 of her friends and family as she looked on from restaurant Volare.

Mr and Mrs Lewis will honeymoon in Bali for four nights, then return to Cairo to complete their final year at the school.

Mrs Lewis' favourite moments in the last 18 months were tracking gorillas in Uganda and "having a blast" in the Serengeti.

"It's been absolutely fabulous, we've had so many travel experiences and met so many amazing people. Egypt is fabulous and we've managed to stay safe."

After Cairo, they would work at an international school in the Philippines for two years, then probably return to New Zealand.

Current travel advice for Egypt
• There is extreme risk to security in the Sinai peninsula (with the exception of the Sharm el Sheikh resort areas) due to the threat from terrorism, kidnapping and criminal activity and we advise against all travel.

• There is extreme risk to security within 50 kilometres of the border with Libya (with the exception of the Siwa Oasis) due to the threat from terrorism, kidnapping and the presence of armed groups and we advise against all travel to this area.

- New Zealand Foreign Affairs and Trade