New Zealand revisited

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After a flying visit to London and Edinburgh (Jane and Guys wedding was fantastic) I flew off to New Zealand...the flight is SO long, however I did have a surprise when I got upgraded to business class (if only for the two hour flight from Sydney to Auckland) - good to see how the other half lives!

Of course my little nieces, sis and brother-in-law were awaiting my arrival as I came through customs with my bags full of chocolate and sweets!! Then it was straight off down to Taupo. Think I managed to stay awake for about an hour before I was asleep on Tamsin. Umm...the motel was ok and I bagged one of the double beds and heading straight for sleep - completely exhausted only to wake up with Tamsin snuggled into me, virtually pushing me out of bed. Good to be back in Taupo after a year but off to explore bits not seen before. Roy did a bungy, then off to the Hukka Falls and the jet ride - absolutely brilliant! followed by finding the free hot pools just outside Taupo.

The journey across from Taupo to Napier was really scenic and we passed the time playing eye spy. Once in Napier we were really pleased to see that our motel with swiming pool and spa failed to tell us that is was infact not heated. Well done to Georgia for earning herself $10 for diving in....no way! I decided we needed to get out and see Napier. On the map it only looked about a 10min walk away...well, 3 hours later we arrived back at the motel with only a few moans and groans from the girls - had to bride them with hot chocolate. Next day was dolphin day - Nic had asked me if I wanted to swim with dolphins so of course I said I would go with the girls. There was one dolphin in a pool, who was 35 years old and didnt like people swimming with her. Thank goodness for the wet suit as I had to stay in the hour so the girls could take it in turns.

Next stop - smelly ville - Rotoura...how do people live there?!? After the luge race between the Simpsons we headed out for a bite to eat and caught up with some of my friends from Morzine. Roy got up in the middle of the night to watch the rugby and we were only woken up when we heard him say 'England won' - as this was unexpected I was pretty gutted not to have seen the game. Before heading home we stopped off at the Wai-o-Pau thermal wonderland but not before hearing the result of the all blacks on the radio. At this point NZ was in mourning....

Back in Orewa it was life back to normal for the family - so walks up to school, shopping, swimming and surf club. Tamsin set me off on a fitness regime (or she tried her hardest) and decided she was going to train me to use the trampolin...which then turned into me doing a show for the family. Absolutely hilarious! Nic couldnt look at me through crying with laughter - the things you do for your nieces hey! Then I had Georgia coaching me how to swim and making sure I did my 50 lengths when they were at swim club.

The weekend comprised of us going to mini-golf (Georgia won...me a close second!), a girlie night and going to the cinema...and of course lots of coffee shops!

Nic and I took a trip to Auckland yesterday which turned into a nightmare as I lost my purse so instead of doing lots of shopping we just met up with Mat, a uni mate for a coffee before we had to head off to collect the girls from school.

Next stop - Singapore and lets hope I can find somewhere to watch the rugby final at 3am!!

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Photos

Lake Taupo
Me trying to get in on the action as seem to always be the other side of the camera these days!!

Searching for the Dolphin!
Georgia and me

The luge
The Simpsons opt for the scenic route.

Wai-o-pau
Tamsin and me

Another coffee??
My favourite past time in NZ

Me and my nieces
Cant believe at 12 years old, Georgia is taller than me!!

Comments

[Lina]

u r always invited!
Back to New Zealand again, sounds great and like always with you around; looks great! Me myself is trying to find a job, or more of trying to choose. Got headhunted from Gothenburg, and have applyed for a job in the middle of sweden. Now it's all about decissions, and I'm so confused. Whenever you have the time, come visit me in Sweden. I'll try to gather some rugby boys or something, or maybe you can survive with a bunch of fire fighters??? Big hugs from miss Sweden

[karen]

Great Photos
Hi Jacs, Loving your photos and updates. In Macchu Picchu at the mo, re-living great memories of when you and I were here.....though I am happy to say that Tim and I didn´t hike it and arrived by the luxury of a train this time. Miss you mate write soon Bates x