Christmas down under..

 

is very bizzare! despite shopping for xmas cards and gifts, wearing shorts and sunglasses, you will then get a blast of 'let it snow, let it snow' etc... and with all the festive stuff going on everywhere is quite surreal. it just doesn't feel like Christmas at all. we weren't going to bother with a tree or anything, but then i saw these summer themed decorations, so we succumbed!

we were surprised that some of the houses really go to town with xmas lights and decorations outside their houses (like in the UK really!) it does look quite festive, but as its not going dark until 9 O'clock..the effect is lost unless you stay up late :)

so we're not planning on a big chrsitmas dinner- too hot to cook like that!
we plan on walking down to the beach for a champagne picnic, and Jacqui vows to have a swim in the sea, wearing a santa hat! then later in the day, we will be going to our neighbours BBQ, for dinner.
we are looking forward to our first kiwi Christmas, but will be thinking about all our lovely family and friends in the UK. we will say a little toast as we raise our glasses to you...(but you will probably be asleep!)

Click below.....
                                                                                                                                                                                                          
              Merry Christmas Everybody!     

December

welcome party at the ferry?

Billygoat point- Motutapu

having a coffee before the ferry

WoW! we cant believe we have been here 6 months now. time just flies, and getting off that plane onto New Zealand soil seems like only last month. and yet we have done so much since we've been here. December is no exception. the highlight of this month was exploring Motutapu, one of the treasure islands. they're doing a big restoration things there, by re planting native trees, and eradicating foreign weeds and animal pests. then I guess they'll put back some kiwis and other endangered birds. the ferry only goes there twice a month, and only in summer, so we took the chance along with some buddies, to explore and do the 8 geo-caches on the island. there's lots of interesting bunkers, buildings and tunnels left over from WW2, which made a nice dry spot for lunch, as the day we picked, it rained all day. it was still very warm, but we were soaked non the less!

the cache is here somewhere near the bunker

let us out!!

geocachers in da rain

November 2010

its been a hot hot month. the locals tell us in is unusually warm for this time of year, and already farmers and such like, are complaining for lack of rain. the excellent weather has meant the we have been out and about most weekends, exploring bits of our new home country. weve just got back from the Thames (familiar name??) in the Coromandel. we stayed in a cool Back packers hostel aptly called 'Sunkissed', and were glad we werent the oldest guests this time! the highlight was enjoying a nice bit of fizz on the first floor sundeck, soaking up the evening rays, before heading out for a nice meal in the sleepy Thames village. we needed to be well rested as we planned a trek to the Pinnacles the next day.

Pinnacles in the distance..wow we climbed up that!!!

The Pinnacles track follows the old pack horse trails from the car-park, over the river and up the valley to the Pinnacles hut. about a 3 hour trek. The track was used in the good old days to bring supplies up to the millers and tree fellers, who cleared out hundreds of acres of kauri trees in the valleys. In the late 1990’s, the track (which had become a bit scungy) was upgraded, and rebuilt, close to what it looked like at the start of the century. The result is spectacular . . .  stone steps, wide enough for packhorses, dominate most of the track, crossing the river three times as it rises steeply to logging / power camp at the ‘near’ top.  the stone stairs are great to look at but hard on the legs .

near top

Whilst not dangerous, it isn’t for the faint hearted. It only takes 45 minutes to get to
the top from the hut, but you go up some steep rock faces, and several ladders before negotiating a large boulder, to get to the narrow ledge at the top. From the top, you can see both sides of the Coromandel – Tairua / Pauanui on one side, The firth of Thames and Hauraki Plains on the other. The view is
breathtaking...

what goes up..must come down

It was quite a slog in the heat, -but a great adventure, boulder hopping across streams, crossing bouncy rope bridges, seeing lots of bush birds, (saw and heard Bell birds!) and hardly any people! We did pass some trekkers on their way back, who didnt all make the last push, due to vertigo/dizziness! we were now worried at what lay ahead.. but bravely pushed on and climbed ladders, foot holds, and boulders and made it to the top! yey!
once at the top, we were feeling the effects of too much sun (no shade on top of the world!) so a quick lunch break then on to start the journey down again! very hard on the thighs and knees! we made it down in double quick time, even stopping off to find a geo-cache or two!


thats one to tick off!http://www.aatravel.co.nz/101/MustDo_The-Pinnacles.html

10-10-10 at 10.am

a special date, and lots of events happening. we chose to go to a geo-caching event in Auckland domain. our first social event, and we had a great time. met lots of fellow geo cachers, and able to put faces to the names we have seen signed in logbooks and on the website. It was a fun day, and the couple that organised it, had gone to great lengths, and put in place a type of scavenger hunt around the park, using GPS to find way points and solve clues to gain points. it was a beaut day, and quite busy in the park, the locals must have wondered what was happening, seeing lots of adults (and kids) racing thru the park, rooting in the bushes, groping statues, and generally looking dodgy! we teamed up with this Dutch guy and his 8 year old son, and we were amazed to find that we actually won it! go team Howick! More photos here

It must be here somewhere?

The Winners - Team Howick!

The Geeks gather at the Geocaching Gala

Dino Island

Matty's Legs apres Cutty Grass!!

Motukaraka Island

There is a small Island off a headland near us, and if you get the tide right, you can walk out on the sandspit to reach it. Its called Motukaraka (or Flat island as its affectionately known, due to it looking like a big cake!) there is also a geocache on the island, that we've been meaning to do for a while. so off we set one bright and early morning, armed with the GPS to find the cache. it was a lovely walk over, but once on the island there wasn't much else there (apart from the geo cache!). This cache hadn't been found for 7 months, and the whole site was overgrown with cutty grass and bush. We had never really heard of this grass before, but it is aptly named, as you can see from poor Matt's legs. We located the cache, after ploughing our way through (which when opened revealed an Island scene, complete with little volcano, sand, rocks, trees and dinosaurs! Cute az!) and signed the logbook before having a little walk round the beach and a look at the birdlife around.

Bay of Islands

View from apartment

Time for a break. Jax had been working lots of extra hours and got Friday off. This meant we could sneak off for a long weekend and after the recent storms we decided to head towards the sun and go North. The bay of islands is where modern NZ started with the first European settlement in Russell.  We stayed in Paihia (across the water from Russell) which although is only about 5km away from Russell is a boat ride or a long drive around.

View of Russell from ferry

We got a great deal on wotif and stayed in a lovely seaview apartment right by the beach. We walked to Waitangi (where the treaty between the Maori's and the English was signed), had some great meals and took the ferry over to Russell.

Police station in Russell

Hunternwasser's Toilets

Beach at Paihia

The weather was fantastic and it was a wrench to have to go home. On the way back we stopped off at NZ's most famous toilets - (Hunternwasser's in Kawaka) and the Shakespear Regional park on the Hibiscus Coast just North of Auckland. More photos here

Lambs in Shakespear

Raglan

Aranui Caves

Last stop before home - Raglan the home of NZ surfing on the wild West coast. On the way we stopped off at the Wiatomo Glow Worm caves - here (we went on a little boat which floated into a cave filled with millions of Glow Worms which was amazing) and the Aranui caves (full of stalactites and stalagmites).

In Raglan we stayed at a lovely backpackers which was right on the waterfront. It would be lovely in summer as you could go swim, kayak and surf - definitely worth a trip back.

Raglan Beach

We did go and check out the surf beach but it was so choppy the sea was like a washing machine and no-one was out. More photos here

Viewpoint

Taupo

famous for its huge lake and good fishing of trout. whilst here we did a walk to Huka falls, and the boys went snowboarding for the day at Mt Ruapehu. an hours drive from Taupo to the snowy mountains. they had great views of 'Mount Doom' (from Lord of the rings)



snowboarding



at Huka falls

Waikato river(check out the guy having a bath in thermal pool!)

Napier

Napier is famous as it got hit by a massive Earthquake in 1933. all the buildings were then rebuilt in the style if the time- Art Deco. the buildings today have been preserved in this style and its a real retro feel as you walk down the street.



shops in town



art deco fountain. all lit up neon at night

famous tobacco building

WET AZ!!!

off for a 9 day tour of the North with the kids, and had the wettest week ever! record rain falls and flooding in the next town meant for a miserable time in Rotorua. we stayed in some funky backpackers during the holiday, and Niall made lots of new friends along the way..


rain in Rotorua



polynesian spa by Lake



Rotorua is a very geo thermic area, with hot bubbling steaming and stinky pools everywhere. just walking down the street you can see steam rising and smell the sulphur fumes!



Meg at a Maori Marai

we found this amazing cafe called 'The Fat dog cafe' whic was very cozy, funky and served great food in huge portions! a hot chocolate after a day out walking in the rain made it all worthwhile!


this is a bowling green..honest





bowl of hot choc mmm!

 





Matty's burger





Rainbow's end

This is NZ's answer to Alton towers....but a LOT smaller! a sunny day with the odd burst of showers made it not quite an ideal day, but then again we were bound to get wet on some of the rides anyways!

Space Alien Ride

Corkscrew Rollercoaster

clash of theTitans

Sky Tower

our last chance to go up the sky tower with Meg and Niall, on a beautiful clear day. We were rewarded with fantastic views of Auckland, and surrounding islands, and even a wave from a daring (controlled) bungee jumper on her way past! walking around on the glass floor was very strange, even with the reassuring sign "this glass is as thick as the concrete"

don't look down!

wave!

harbour bridge

Rangitoto island

a nice day forecast so we planned a ferry ride out to explore one of NZ's newest and least altered volcanos. only around 600 years old. there are no shops or water on the island so we had to make sure we had enough food and drinks to last us the whole day. it was a pleasant hike to the top and the view inside the crater was amazing. (see pix), and then we followed some of the trails to see rare ferns, and walk through some lava caves.

inside the crater


rest of fotos

view to Rangitoto

view back to the city

Pomms arrive!

yey! Megan and Niall finally arrive after their mammoth journey which started 2 days ago UK time! we watched their plane coming in to land which was cool! they were welcomed to the land of sails to a bright sunny day. we must say they have coped with the jet lag far better than we did. went to bed quite early the first night, slept right through and almost as normal the next night. it took us over a week to be able to keep our eyes open past 9pm!

Megan - Jetlagged Az