James' parents arrive in NZ

I finished nights at 8am on Friday morning and after an hour sat in Auckland rush hour I arrived home. After a lovely chat with dad for about 2 hours on skype I went and picked up Emma and Johan (A Swedish couple that Si got to know well on his Erasmus in 2007) from Auckland. We then had a lovely catch up on their trip to South Africa, Australia and New Zealand whilst driving down to Raglan. We arrived in Raglan at 1.30 and just as we went in to a cafe for some food it started to bucket it down with rain. Luckily it rained at all the right times and just as we finished lunch it stopped raining and we headed out to the beach. As the weather wasn't quite swimming weather we went for a paddle and wandered up the beach (we managed to get caught by 1 rogue wave and got my jeans soaked up beyond my knees - not amused!) At around 3pm we went back into Raglan town for an ice cream before heading back into Hamilton to meet Sal after work. That evening after grabbing something quick to eat we headed out to watch the rugby.
The major rugby tornament on at the moment is the super 14 championship. The super 14 is the biggest rugby team in the southern hemisphere with teams from South Africa, Australia and New Zealand playing in a league. We watched the Waikato Chiefs versus the Canterbury Crusaders, we were supporting the Chiefs and unfortunately they lost but a good game all the same.
The next day Sal, Si, Emma and Johan headed down to Rotorua, as that was a little far for us for half a day, James and I took our surf boards back to Raglan. We had an amazing surf with both of us managing to ride the waves all the way to the beach several times and managed to get to our feet almost every wave, awesome fun!
After lunch we headed back to Auckland to pick up James' parents. Karen and Ian arrived on time at 4.30 and we took them straight back to ours to shower and refresh themselves before heading into Mt Eden for dinner. We had a lovely evening with plenty of catching up, and managed to keep them awake until gone 10pm.
Sunday morning we got up at 9.30 and after coffee and pancakes we packed the car and headed up to goat island for some snorkeling. We hired Karen and Ian wetsuits and snorkels and went into the marine reserve. After an hour in the water and having seen plenty of fish we got out and headed slightly north to a beautiful beach for a picnic lunch. The sun came out and we enjoyed a nice lazy afternoon. (Karen and Ian managed to get a nap in) We then headed back to Auckland. (via Matakana for ice cream) That evening I then cooked BBQ Gurnard with hollandaise and new potatoes, we talked to our mothers/ grandmothers before turning in for the night. Back to work tomorrow!