Pukawa Bay

So after a busy week at work we all (bar Si - boo) had the weekend off! I finished work at 5ish and Em at 4.30ish, James and Andy both finished a little earlier so they headed over to Middlemore hospital and waited for me to finish work so we could all set off down south in the lemon! Di and Ash (Em and Andy's friends from home) live in Wellington so they arranged a weekend away all together half way between Auckland and Hamilton, which just happened to be the south west end of lake Taupo. We headed off down south via Hamilton where they dropped me off to wait for Sal and keep her company on the drive down.
As it happened we arrived down in Taupo not long after the others, and we all enjoyed a few glasses of wine/ beer together before turning in for the night.
Saturday morning we woke up to an amazing day with clear blue skys and a beautiful view through the trees of lake Taupo. We headed out after bacon butties to pick up our Kayaks. Ash had arranged a 4hour kayak tour in the local area which started in the back yard of the lady who owned the kayaks. We started off down a beautiful brook that ran through the fields, it was amazing, a real feeling of being in the middle of nowhere, and would have been really peaceful if it wasn't for the boys having water fights with everyone. The brook eventually ended on Lake Taupo where we pulled up and had some lunch. We then continued in the afternoon down a wider river where Em and Sal were sharing a 2 man kayak and thought it would be good fun to try and capsize my kayak, we nearly perfected the dry capsize with me climbing onto their kayak however the final tip meant I went in, pulling both of them in with me! On the way back, following along the brook we found the amazing little hot springs, incredible kayaking along, and dipping in to a little bay where the water is so hot it is steaming and then kayaking a few cm into the brook where it becomes as cold as any other river. After finishing kayaking at around 4.30pm we headed up the road to the natural hot springs where we relaxed in the sun with the hot pools and a cold drink. We went back to the bach via the supermarket to pick up food and alcohol for our first BBQ of the season.
That evening we had a lovely BBQ followed by a few too many drinks! I got sufficiently inebriated after a few too many drinking games and decided to turn in for the night - one of my better decisions!
As expected we woke up Sunday morning to a grey sky. We spent Sun morning cleaning the bach and enjoying bacon and egg butties before heading into Tirangi to find out what to do with our day, as there wasn't much to do in wet weather we spotted the crazy golf and spent the next 2 hours enjoying a great game before heading off home! Another great weekend in NZ, thanks to Di and Ash for organising it!

Raglan and Rotarua

So this weekend was a bit of a last minute weekend. James and I both had the weekend off and so did Andy and Si however both Sal and Emma were working, and with Em's hours being so crap we didn't want to do too much without her. After a week of work and a few evening drinks we went out for a nice evening to CAC with Em and Andy. James had won a $100 voucher for food and drinks so we decided to make use of it! Saturday morning after a lie in and pancakes for breakfast we decided to head down to Hamilton with Andy to meet Si. That afternoon we headed over to Raglan for my first surf of the season. I managed to get up on the board a few times and despite the messy surf we still had a fun time. After surfing we headed into Raglan town for a coffee then headed back to Hamilton. After much pestering from James we went out for a curry in town followed by some drinks.
We woke up Sunday morning and unfortunately Si was feeling terrible with the flu so we left him behind and James, Andy, and I headed over to Rotorua for mountain biking. We intended to only do 2 hours of biking however Helen and a few friends turned up after an hour of biking and convinced us to keep going for another 3 hours. We cycled a killer uphill for a 1 hour then enjoyed the downhill even if it did result in one of the guys (not James or Andy) face planting and having to go down the mountain with concussion and me going over the handlebars twice, resulting in a few scrapes and bruises!
After leaving the other guys as they headed back to Hamilton, James, Andy and I decided to ease our aching bruised muscles in the Rotorua Polynesian spa, a great way to end a fun weekend.

Mum, Dad and Si arrive in NZ

Si, Mum and Dad all arrived in NZ on Friday afternoon, unfortunately I was at work so James went to the airport at 2pm to pick them up, as Sal had the afternoon off she got the bus up to Auckland and was at our house to greet them when they got back. After getting them cups of tea and eating the lovely carrot cake Em had helped me bake the previous night, James took them into Mt Eden to show Si around and take them for some drinks. I managed to get away at 4pm and went to join them in Liquid Molten. At around 6pm we headed back to our house where Si joined us. As it was our mission to keep them awake I managed to delay dinner till later before they headed off to bed.
Saturday morning we were woken up early (curse our visitors jet-lag!) We decided to split up for the day with the boys heading off on a Waiheke wine tour and Me, Sal and Mum heading off for some wedding dress shopping (one of the only opportunities I'll get with both Sal and Mum) We met up with the boys again in the afternoon before heading to Mulberry in Mt Eden for a lovely dinner.
Sunday morning (another early wake up!) we headed into the centre of Auckland and up sky tower for an amazing brunch, also a good chance to show Si Auckland, we then headed back home to back for our week in South Island as well as taking them up Mt Eden for a lovely view of the city. That evening we boarded our flight for Christchurch. We arrived in the city, and after a hunt around found a small curry house for some food before turning in for the night.
Monday morning we headed in to Christchurch for a quick wander round the city, breakfast and a look around the arts centre. After breakfast we headed out over Arthur's pass. After several stops along the way to climb on rocks, take lots of photos and wander into hokitika (not for getting Si's brief dip in lake mapourika) We made it to Franz Josef at 7.30pm. We checked into our motel, had a dinner of fish and chips in a local pub the headed round to the hot springs. Beautiful spa pools located in beautiful rainforest settings in the middle of Franz Josef. We then went back to the pub for another beer before turning in for the night.
Tuesday morning was spent up on the Franz Josef glacier, and surprise surprise, it was raining (with only 50 dry days a year how could we expect anything different!) A great morning! Because it was raining so heavily we decided to miss Lake Matherson and head straight over to Wanaka. The sun came out as we were heading over to Wanaka and we arrived to much nicer weather. After checking in to our motel we headed straight out to a nice bar with massive outdoor fire where we spent the whole evening only interrupted by going to the Italian restaurant next door for dinner.
Wednesday morning we got up at a reasonable hour and headed up the mountain to Treble Cone ski field. We started the day going up and down the main side of the mountain before having some lunch and heading over to my favourite side of the mountain - the saddle basin. Great fun skiing with Si, trying to pick up some tips on how to improve my skiing style, had a couple of spectacular falls while trying to follow Si down the mountain (he's a little faster than me!) After a great day up the mountain we went down into Wanaka for a beer (Si and I had another sneaky pint while we left Mum and Dad to get food from the supermarket) before driving over to Queenstown. That evening Si had his first Fergburger, and there was no going back! That evening we spent the night having some beers in Queenstown.
Thursday we spent the day around Queenstown, we started our day by heading over to the Canyon swing office and booking our swings - terrifying and exhilarating experience - a tandem 'Gimp boy goes to hollywood' followed by the 'Chair of Death'. That evening we went for a lovely meal having a feast in the Botswana Butchery, we ended the evening with some cocktails out of tea pots and a gin and tonic in the Dux de Lux bar.
Friday started off as a bit of a disappointment when our flight to Milford Sound was cancelled, but luckily we found out just in time to book on to a rafting trip down the Kawarau river. Mum and Dad had a great day swearing that in future they'll tackle some more challenging rapids. That afternoon we headed to Arrowtown to check out a few LOTR location spots and have some coffee and cake before flying back to Auckland.
After arriving in Auckland airport at 6pm we picked up the hire car and set straight off on a 5 hour car journey down to National Park. We arrived at 11pm shortly before Sal, Si and James and had a few beers before heading to bed.
Saturday morning we woke up to beautiful sunshine with clear skies so we headed up the mountain. Unfortunately most of North Island also knew the weather was going to be amazing and so they all joined us up the mountain! We had a great day skiing, with 2 spectacular head first falls by Mum, followed by a pretty good fall by Dad (which I missed) and so we decided to call it a day. We spent the rest of the evening in the pub having some food and plenty of beers. After discussion that evening we decided to head up to Rotorua on Sunday to show Si the mud pools and geysers.
Sunday morning we headed up to Rotorua to Kerosene creek, Te Puia geysers and Zorbing, Mum, Dad and Si then headed back to Hamilton with Sal and Si whilst James and I headed back to Suckland. A great week!