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Horrendous boat trip to great barrier island.  Storm with big waves/swells and pouring rain made the ferry journey a very unpleasant,  wet and chunderous five hours!

When we landed we drove to our holiday house through the stormy rains, parked at our alloted parking spot then carried all our stuff up a slippery clay path another 50 metres up hill!

The house is off the grid and uses a combination of solar and a generator that I need to go out and start.  Hopefully we’ll have enough electricity so I won’t have to go out this evening.

The wind and rain is meant to be done by tomorrow morning so we can enjoy the view, dry our clothes and start exploring.  Our stomachs should be over our jetlag by then too!

 

you can’t see the wind in these pictures, or just how wet we were!

hi – we’re off to Great Barrier Island for a week.  we won’t have internet access and mobile coverage is patchy so i won’t bother attempting to update the blog remotely.  normal service will resume Saturday 16th !

meanwhile, here’s some clouds:

here’s a worry – we’ve got a four hour boat trip tomorrow on a car ferry to get to Great Barrier Island for our week long holiday.  and there’s a storm on the way

i did some packing this morning then i took kezia to her friend susie’s house.

i drove over to the zoo to take some photos but the car parks were so busy i decided to go to a normally calm east coast bay to see some big waves

so i ended up spending a couple of hours at Campbell’s Bay beach

here’s another photo of this container ship a few minutes later.  look at the little sailing boat!

it was still more than two hours until high tide, but the waves were already crashing over the walk ways

jane has been doing all the amazing work of getting us ready for holiday and doing more tidying

here’s kezia and her friend susie

we were all up early this morning to take jane’s parents to the airport. 

we said our goodbye then i helpfully directed them in to the air new zealand premium check in.  only they were flying singapore airlines so were directed back out again!

we left them in the correct queue

the rest of the day was spent tidying etc.  esther went shopping and to the museum with her chums and kezia met up with one of her friends.

we all had Charles Junior for tea and i felt so full i had to go to bed at 7pm (i’m awake again three hours later though)

and jane had gone out for a coffee with debbie

we went to karekare beach today to recreate some fun we had 4 years ago when P&P were last here

the fun mostly involved nearly falling in this stream – we took a drier route this time

the day started with a well packed picnic and some colour coordination

we then went over to the waterfall

and from there the trek to the beach

 

the beach is classic west coast – endless vistas of black sand with a few dramatic rocks thrown in for good measure

i had forgotten but last time we came here i chased some tumbleweed down the beach and jane’s dad was keen to capture it on camera

so, they found a piece on our walk through the dunes and i chased it with my camera while jane’s dad caught it on his camera

meanwhile kezia was capturing the two of us on my big camera

here’s a load more pictures

temperature control was difficult due to the sun and wind

pooch inspected the facilities on the way back to the car but after a quick look closed the door and walked away.  she wouldn’t speak about what she saw/smelt but it wasn’t new zealand’s finest!

the trip ended with ice-creams.  this evening P&P have been packing

today was spent at mahurangi beach with some of our church friends

we normally do this on new year’s day but the weather has been bobbins, and today was the first good day

that said, it was still pretty windy and chilly by the beach front

jane’s mum retreated to the car at one point, and jane’s dad put on his waterproof over trousers

that made for a classic kiwi combo of people wandering around in bikinis fresh from the sea while others were layered up for the warmth

i too P&P for a walk up to the lookout and as soon as we left the water front the breeze dropped and the sun came out!

you might need to click on the picture below to watch some sheep rushing down the hill

by the time we got home the sun was out proper and there was afternoon fun in the pool for young and old (not pictured)

jane took pearl for a walk with belinda this morning

then after lunch we all went to devonport for a wander round mount victoria and north head

the rains have mostly subsided but the dampness has bumped up the humidity level

this evening esther’s been out to a birthday party

another rainy day.  i managed to somehow zip my rain coat to my jacket

esther and kezia stayed at home and watched Sherlock with a friend.  they were confused (as were the grown ups when we watched it later that evening)

jane and i met up with Andrew Cheese-on-toast and his wife Christine for coffee this morning

while we were there P&P had a look round the museum

we then met up and had an in the car picnic at cornwall park

there were some computer games and snoozing this afternoon

then after a quick home photos session (see results below) we were treated to dinner at The Harbour restaurant thanks to P&P.

it’s one of Auckland’s top restaurant and with good reason – the food was amazing!

had you ever wondered what the plural of cheese is?  if it’s two or three cheeses its ‘cheeses’.  any more then it’s just back to ‘cheese’

here are some family portraits

our usual new year’s day trip to the beach was cancelled due to the storm so we stayed in most of the day

jane went for a wet weather walk with pearl and pearl’s friends early.  jane’s parents went for a walk in the rain at one point too

and kezia stayed at her friends most of the day (having been there over night).

the rest of the day was spent watching telly, taking the decorations down, playing with cameras

and of course … racing demons … for those that play that.

jane, P&P and i went out for the day today, leaving the girls to go shopping/fend for themselves

we started off with a trip to the Morris and James pottery and went on the little backstage tour

the pot is actually spinning (trick of the camera)

we had lunch at the sandspit cafe then went to the brick bay sculpture park where we did the 2km walk

kezia has gone out to a new year’s eve sleepover. the rest of us were going to go in to auckland but it’s a bit late and there’s a storm brewing!