Today I drove up through the wooded valleys of the North Island, past Lake Taupo, up to Whakatane in the Bay of Islands. Wood is a massive export of New Zealand so as I was driving up through the forests I noticed how there were large swathes of area with trees at different stages of growth. Some area was totally barren, having recently been harvested, but the rest ranged from a sampling up to fully grown pine trees. I arrived at Kathy, my grandad's 3rd cousin, and Terry Jones' house in the early afternoon and met Kathy's grandchildren; Lucy, who is 3, and Madie, who is 2. At first they didnt really wanna talk with me as they were shy but after we took them to the park and gave them a push on the swings
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