New Zealand - North Island

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We arrived onthe 2nd Jan 2009, taxi waiting and straight to my(Lisa's) sisters in Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty.

We have about 2months in NZ, we are planning to hire a car for a week to travel around and see some more of NZ, which we didnt have time to do when we last came 3years back, we may go away with Bonnie, Sy and kiddies or just sit a enjoy the time we have left.

Stu has been feeding the Chickens, moving the cows and keeping Mable the Goat happy by stroking her and giving her new areas of grass to munch on but he loves the ride on lawn mower!

We went water skiing and doughnutting the other day near Rotorua, which was good fun, Stu couldnt get up onthe skis, he tried about 3 times but it makes you cream crackered so he had a go at the doughnuts and was a professional. I shocked myself got up onthe skis onthe 3rd attempt and went around the lake without crashing, I tried here about 5years ago and couldnt manage it so i was very pleased with myself.

We have visited the lagoon which is just down the road, I (Lisa) run/walk here most mornings now, the water is normally out but its really pretty. We have been to the beach at Mount Maunganui a couple of times and just generally relaxing.

Each year the mount has a Blues, Brews and BBQs day, which has live music, food tents and lots of NZ/International Beer tents, its a good day out but started to get a little messy as we were leaving, we got to try lots of new beers.

We all went away for a long weekend to Whitianga (The Coromandel Peninsula), there was 7 adults and the 2 boys, there was 2 caravans and a batch, weather was good, we had one day which was rainy but it wasnt cold or stopped you doing anything. We had a day out to Catherdal Cove, its a 45mins walk down to the beach but its well worth the walk, we spent a couple of hours down there and then headed to Hot Water Beach, in low tide you can dig a hole inthe sand, get in and its like being in an extra hot bath, we timed it wrong and got there as the tide was just starting to come back in, but we got to try out someones pool and it scolded our toes. Going through the middle of the beach was a river and they had the best rapids.

We had a day out on Friday to Rotorua and caught the cable bubble up the mountain and we all had a go at the luge, there were 3 different tracks, I was like an extra slow granny to start but soon got the hang of it and was racing down. Stu and Sy never breaked and just went for it each time.

Stu's off walking for 3 days to Whakapapa with Sy and his dad and Sy's mate.

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Photos

Lagoon
Just up the road from my sisters house

Blues, Brews & BBQ's
Stu, Steve, Glyn and Les