Arkiwis

After our weekend of racing cars, we decided to take a little break and visit McClaren Falls for a picnic. The Falls have been pretty dry lately because of the lack of rain, but the surrounding countryside is still beautiful. While trying to find the perfect spot to picnic, we happened along a rope swing by the river. The slope was just enough to swing you out over the water and bring you slamming back into the dirt. I tried it once, hurt myself, tried it again and really hurt myself. Ben, however, won the prize for the highest fling. Autumn is slowly coming on Tauranga although the air temperature is still quite warm. The oak and maple trees are turning colors and there is a new crop of never before seen tropical flowers growing in ... read more

Good Friday brought the arrival of my parents and my sister, Brenda, to New Zealand. They arrived very early and took the Kiwi Shuttle from Auckland to Tauranga, arriving tired but happy at our house. As usual, we gave them the quick tour and headed over to the Mount for some beach and hiking. Not wanting to completely tire them out, we elected to take the trail around the base of the mount instead of climbing to the top. This trail gives you a great view of the water that surrounds 80% of the mountain and provides a good brisk hike. Afterwards, noting how tired they were looking, we opted to come home and order "take away" from our neighborhood fish and chips shop. Mother was the only one awake by the time the food arrived. ... read more

Many may wonder what happened to the Robbins since their South Island adventure. Well, we have been fitting in a lot of routine stuff in the months of January through March. The South Island Trip ended mid January. Since that time, summer came into full swing, and when not working or schooling we have tried to enjoy the local outdoor life. For me, that occurred mostly on the week ends. Because there is no free lunch, I had to pay for my NZ raising. I have covered 15 call days in a short period of time and managed to squeeze in 15-20 CME hours. Sarah and the kids have been equally as busy. School has started back. Grace has been attacking homework tenaciously. Ben’s curriculum includes Photography and Oceanography. Sometimes he wears shoes to school and ... read more

The route to Christchurch from Dunedin took us up Hwy. 1 which runs parallel to the east coast. I assumed that we would enjoy views of the coast the entire way up but that was not the case. Most of the scenery was of rolling hills and farm land with very few glimpses of the sea. (Mark - The scenery was beautiful, but all of our WOW Receptors in our Brains were saturated from the previous weeks tour of the west coast.) As I related earlier, we had missed out on breakfast at the train station because the café was closed on Tuesdays. Now we were headed into our half day drive with two tired, hungry, growling kids. Mark and I were always ready to get up early and get on the road, thinking the kids ... read more

Our goal was to leave Te Anau early for our long drive to Queenstown. Easier said than done. First we had to stop off at the Sand Fly Café for some ‘breakie’ and let the kids get a little internet fix. Then we had to make a few more pictures of the scenery. The drive to Queenstown was just like all the rest - spectacular! All along the way were deep caverns with rivers running through and the occasional bridge where tourists can defy death on a bungee or canyon swing. The Roaring Meg is on the Kawarau River and is made by two hydro electric power stations. They cause the water through this 'stream' to rush through about 40 mph. You can river surf through this section on a 'sled', something like a boogie board. ... read more