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Andrew and I booked to go on a coach tour to the tip of new zealand on day 3.  it was a 12 hour bus jaunt so we didn’t think the kids would be up to it

the first thing of the day was dune boarding down these massive natural dunes

i decided to take photos rather than hurtle myself down the hill, but andrew was game

he got a bit sandy

it was a backpackers tour so we had a completely hyperactive bus driver kiwi chap

here he is doing his second sand boarding trip (whizzing across the river bed which is also a designated road)

here he is running around the bus in bare feet opening a gate to let us in to a bit of forest we probably shouldn’t have been driving through

and here he is body boarding at a beach later in the day.  the bus driving was just an excuse to have big fun

we made it up to the northern most tip of new zealand which is cape reigna

it was busy with tourist which is a novelty for us as we haven’t really seen masses of people like this since we were in england !

here’s the famous sign post

(here’s where the tasman sea meets the pacific)

then in the afternoon we whizzed along 90 mile beach at 100km/hour

like the river which feeds it, 90 mile beach is a designated road (although it disappears under water except a couple of hours each side of low tide)

we stopped at one point to have a wander

so, all in all a great day out !

meanwhile the ladies did some diary writing, relaxing up, swimming and visiting a beach not too far from where we were at one point

here are some sugar sachets with wise words on them

it was back to work for me today which was a shame

but i got to have my daily walk by the viaduct so that was nice

meanwhile andrew went to tiritiri matangi and had a good time (our photos from when we went last year here)

meanwhile the ladies drove down to Rotorua for two nights downs there.  i’ll let them fill you in with the details when they are back

 

i met andrew after work and we then picked up our neighbour Warren and drove up an extinct (or perhaps dormant) volcano called Mount Victoria

there was a great view from there.  and some nice mushroomy things

then we headed in to Devonport for a meal

and drove back just as sunset was brewing, so stopped for some pictures

that’s all !

we’d only got two ‘free’ days with our visitors left (jane and the ladies are heading down to rotorua tomorrow for a couple of days), so we decided to make full use of our wet suits by heading up to tawharanui.

 

i’ve mentioned tawharanui loads of times here as it’s our favourite beach

the wind was quite strong today so there were some decent waves

swellmap.com said they’d be

it were a bit messy out there …

despite it being really busy with surfers and boogie boarders there was plenty of space on the beach

we took it in turns to watch (and play with) the kids in the sea

i read the paper oblivious to the naked ladies behind me it seems (photo by julie!)

the littlies made sandcastles when not in the sea

when we got back katie kindly hosed the cars down as they were both covered in sand and dust from the metal (gravel) road to get to the beach

here’s yesterday’s dinner and outside eating in case you were wondering

and here’s where all the photo magic happens

thanks again for julie and andrew’s photos (i don’t usually have many pictures of me, so i hope you notice i’ve included a few today!)

 

what a lovely day.

 

back to work for me tomorrow 🙁

on our second day we caught the passenger ferry across to the town across the bay called Russell

whilst people were getting organised, i popped down town to buy some coffees and a newspaper

and got to see a very nice red tree

here’s a big stingray floating about by the wharf

the boat trip was very pleasant

we took katie with us and met andrew, julie and olivia there a little later and we ate ice creams

the port of russell is very nice.  it was once new zealand’s capital (or a place nearby it was)

i then forced everyone to walk up a big hill with a great view to find some geocaches

we were rewarded with this great view of Long Beach which we went down to explore

we visited NZ’s oldest church

which had some great hassocks

 

 

 

here’s the beach

there wasn’t much shade on the beach, but even where people made their own shade they didn’t use it properly

jane helped olivia make some sand sculptures

 

then julie took olivia and kezia back to get the boat to our holiday apartments whilst the rest of us walked up an even bigger hill

 

we took a longer route to get to the summit via a bush path

 

here’s a new zealand cicada (should have mentioned quite a few of these pictures are andrew’s including the one above)

here’s a video of it chirping and clicking

here’s the view from the top which was noice

when we got back to the wharf there was some swordfish weighing going on

 

the one above looked a little peeved to have his sword tied up

then we caught the boat back over to piahia and all was good with the world

 

 

so, last satuday we all got up a bit earlier than normal and drove up to Paihia to begin our week away

we stopped half way for morning tea in a cafe and to check the map

which was a nice opportunity for olivia to show off her lovely shawl, hat and sunglasses

we also stopped off at the hundertwasser toilets in kawakawa

kezia had done a school project on hundertwasser a few years ago in the UK so was delighted to find this, his final architectural creation

luckily this is one toilet location where you don’t get arrested for taking photos

i felt quite at home with the speacial spelling in kawakawa

we made good time so when we arrived in paihia we were able to have a swim in the motel pool and suss out the local eateries

and we did a spot of geocaching in the local graveyard

our two families had adjacent flats which shared a landing which made for nice friends together friendliness !

eventually it went dark and that was the end of the first day

 

we’re off to paihia for the week.  normal service will be resumed upon our return

we stayed at the party until around 10.30pm then headed home as we were variously tired

then we were up early this morning to spend the day at mahurangi beach with friends from church

we were the first to arrive so grabbed some shady space near the beach front and within a few minutes the rest of the gang had turned up

one family brought to kayaks along and the kids spent most of the day in the sea bobbing about

occasionally the adults were allowed to sneak out and go for a walk to admire the views

 

but the most part of the day was spent supervising the swimmers and chatting with friends

and swimming with ducks

we left late afternoon to get home for tea and packing as we’re off up north tomorrow for a week.  normal service will be resumed upon our return !

andrew and i went to muriwai for a big stomping walk and a gander at the gannets.

then we had lunch in beesonline.  then coffee in helensville. then ice cream at charlie’s. then drove back down the coast

lots of driving, but lots of fun

 

we’re off to the new year’s party too

hi, this is Esther and Katie here here we are having our delicious breakfast

 

kez and livvy are making kind of cut out sandwichs

oh look at us! we made the most scrumptious flapjacks

getting ready for posing, finding the right position

relax, chill-out, have a great time!

the ducks wont be hungry any more

 

jump as high as possible!

right, well, of to Biffy’s house now, a new years eve party! bye.

the day started off with some diary admin from the shorter members of the household who wrote their diaries

  

then we headed in to town to go up the sky tower.  here’s a load of pictures:

  

 

 

there’s a bit more on the magnifying glass later …

 

  

here’s my old office (above) and my new office (below)

 

we also got to watch various sky jumpers dropping by outside the window like this lady

after Sky Tower we drove over to the waitakere visitors centre for a picnic lunch and an energetic short walk in the rain forest

 

then we came home rather tired and exhausted for tea and bed

here’s some more pictures for your enjoyment of science in action

 

 

and here’s a gecko from the visitor centre:

(many of today’s photos were taken by Andrew and Julie again!)