Harry Surfing

Bethels Beach

It was a gloriously sunny day on Saturday which meant a trip to Bethels beach (as previously mentioned). It is about 40 minutes drive from us and great for surfing. Paul and I had a little go at body boarding but it was flipping hard work to get out to the big waves and so came in after a while..still amazing fun though. Best of all was watching Harry being pulled along by Paul along one of the rivers going into the sea. See above!

Amy's arrival and Auckland Harbour

Well we have made it to December and the much awaited arrival of the lovely Amy/ Auntie Pee (Rosie's sister). It has been great to show her the sights of Auckland and have her stay at chez Amess in New Zealand. The down side has been that the weather has not exactly been the kindest for Amy's arrival! Rain has been the order of the day although it is still quite warm.
There have been 2 main highlights (linked closely to good weather!). One is a private boat trip around Auckland Harbour and the other a visit to Bethels beach (out West) with Paul, Laura and Gracie.

Running Man!

I thought I should mention briefly that I have taken up running over the past few months! It is all Paul's fault. He challenged me to running a half marathon in Auckland and of course I was silly enough to take it on. So 2 weeks ago (25th November) on a beautiful sunny morning at Mission Bay I set off on my first ever half marathon having only trained for 4 weeks! The run was in aid of a charity ADRA (disaster relief). The main aim was to survive and I did...just! I managed it in just over 2 hours (it would have been nice to be just under but in reality it wasn't likely considering I have never run seriously in my life!).
I have realised during this time in NZ that really we should all take more risks...I have spent far too much time doing life "safely"...at the end of the day it's there to be lived to the full. Please remind me of this when I'm back in England!

Up North!

It feels quite a while back now but we decided to go on holiday for a week in the middle of November after a great weekend with Kurt and Sacha. We went "Up North" and contrary to popular belief it's not as grim as you might think! It may appear that we are constantly on holiday but in reality we actually haven't been away as a family for more than a long weekend since we arrived in NZ. It was brilliant to have fun as a family. We stayed at a "Top 10" holiday park in a little fully contained apartment. It was perfect. There were many highlights but perhaps the best part of the adventure was a coach trip to Cape Reinga (almost the northern most point in NZ and where the Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea meet). We had this great Maori guide who gave us a great insight into the local history. The other great bits were driving along the "ninety mile beach" and I had a go at sand dune body boarding...wicked man!
Best beach of the holiday was Matai Bay. Best fish and chips of the holiday came from the world famous Mangonui fish and chip shop. Best moment of the holiday was seeing Matilda fly the kite that I made with her during a lunchtime and it actually staying in the air!!

Mangawhai Heads

Another weekend, another Bach and more amazing beaches. I sometimes have to pinch myself that it is all real because we have enjoyed such a privileged existence in NZ (mostly because of extremely generous Kiwi friends)! 2 weekends ago we were invited by friends Kurt and Sacha (with their 2 great children Cassidy and Brooke) to a place called Mangawhai Heads (about hour and half north of Auckland). We stayed at Sacha's parents Bach which was brilliant. It has its own vineyard which produces some delicious wine (sampled during the weekend). The other real attraction was access to a massive sand dune that only the residents of the private road can explore because there are no other roads to it! This, understandably, was a real hit with the children who loved running down the sides of the dune (surprisingly Harry and Matilda were slightly fearful to begin with but soon got the hang of sliding down!). It was a great weekend with fantastic hosts!

Tawharanui

The next weekend after Papamoa was a trip slightly closer to home to Tawharanui Regional Park (an hour north of Auckland). We spent our time at this incredible bach in a place called Christian Bay (aptly named with lots of sheep on the hillside and next to the ocean...Jesus would have approved I am sure!). We spent the weekend with Rich, Kath and Amelie and enjoyed catching up/discussing life/enjoying good food and wine! They knew the owners of the bach and we managed to tag along...result!
The highlight was going to.. yes you've guessed it...Tawharanui beach which was almost empty when we went to it. The other great fun event was enjoying Matakana farmers market (pretty famous in NZ) and buying some lovely bread and salad dressings. (I must be getting old to enjoy things like salad dressing!)

Papamoa

It's been a while...the life of "male scrap booking" definitely goes in fits and starts! My main excuse is that we have been so busy enjoying New Zealand that time composing a blog is fairly low on the list of things to do! We have done loads of things since Martins Bay. The first exciting trip was to Papamoa to stay at a friend's bach. Papamoa is a beautiful little town/village close to Mount Maunganui and Tauranga about 2.5 hours drive from Auckland. We decided to make the most of the bank holiday weekend and managed to have a 4 day break.
Mount Maunganui was the first place in New Zealand that felt busy! It was stunning but had far too many people for our liking (I am slightly concerned this will always feel the case when we return to UK!). Anyway, despite this we had a great time.I actually read a book which must have meant I relaxed! The highlight for me was walking up Mt Maungnui itself...I'm not so sure the children felt the same..it was a bit of a trek for little legs! The other highlight was watching Matilda ride without stabilisers for the first time. She's a real star!

Martins Bay

We dared to travel north of Auckland the other day! We found yet more spectacular beaches and stunning scenery. We travelled about an hour to a small town called Warkworth and then drove on to Martins Bay on the advice given by tourist information ("Snell's beach is good but not as pretty as Martins Bay").
The beach was beautiful and weather particularly good for early Spring. I was almost tempted to get into the sea but fortunately had not packed any swim gear! Martins Bay had the added excitement of trees invading the beach area which doubled up as great climbing frames for Matilda and Harry (and me!)
After a brilliant morning we went back to Warkworth for some fish and chips and a play in the park...what a great way to spend a day!

Fun with Friends

Having Paul and Laura over has been a perfect excuse to do some fun things (not that we really need an excuse). I have really enjoyed having some blokey company and managed to go out to see The Bourne Ultimatum with the boys. Paul and I also found this great place to play golf in the centre of town. It had amazing simulated golf courses so we can now claim to have played Pebble Beach (a famous US golf course) in Auckland..crazy!
The 2 other highlights were a day trip to Piha Beach and a great 8th wedding anniversary/farewell to P and L meal at the top of the Sky Tower. The fun thing about dining in the Sky Tower is that the restaurant is revolving.....well some may call it fun.. but others might say it does provoke a sense of low grade nausea especially if you're really hungry! Despite this it was a great evening. Comedy of the night was watching the girls (Kath, Laura and Rosie) try to fit a whole glass into their mouth! We waved goodbye to Paul and Laura the next day..very sad ...particularly for Matilda who for some reason found Paul's magic tricks vaguely entertainly! The old money behind the ears gag is always a winner!

Gym

There are many things that NZ does very well. Coffee is one of them but another great Kiwi attribute is it's devotion to an active life. So many sporting pursuits are much more affordable (and better equipped!)in New Zealand and that is why we have signed Harry and Matilda up to go to Gym lessons.
Unfortunately, I have never actually been to see the children at their lessons because I am at work, but by all accounts it is something pretty special! Rose has drafted in the help of a new friend called Rachel to supervise the children during the sessions. She also took the opportunity to take Paul and Laura (O not KS) while they were here and managed to get some fun action shots. Matilda, in particular, loves it and has shown some real talent. This is definitely from the KS side of the gene pool since I could only just do a rolly poley (not sure of the spelling!)!

Paul and Laura Visit NZ!

Paul and Laura Oxley (not Kingsley-Smith!) have been staying with us for the past 3 weeks which has been an absolute blast (quite literally for Paul having ate something dodgy in Bangkok!). We enjoyed showing them the sites in Auckland for their first week before they set off for the Coromandel Peninsula and Rotorua.
We really did have a lot of fun but the highlight of the trip had to be a 4 day break in Turangi (next to Lake Taupo). We went down with Rich and Kath to meet up wih the Oxley's and enjoy a bit more of the North Island. The main reason for heading down to Turangi was its proximity to Mount Ruapehu and the snow!
On the first day we trekked down to Ohakune. The weather wasn't exactly ideal but we still managed to do a bit of sledging despite the freezing winds. The next day, however, we went to Whakapapa (the Maori "Wh" is essentially a "F".. and ..as you can imagine there was great hilarity with this word especially when Matilda and Harry decided to have a go at pronoucing it!). Anyway, we had an absolutely stunning day up Whakapapa (excuse the pun)...the weather was great and the company not too bad either. Harry and Matilda spent time sledging with Paul and Laura which gave Rosie and me the opportunity to ski together. We always vowed to go skiing together before children but failed so this was a bit of a dream. We were a bit rusty to start with but soon remembered the basics. We both thought to ourselves..this is why we came to New Zealand!
Another bonus at Whakapapa was that the children were allowed to go on the chair lifts..great fun.

Whangamata 2!

Took loads of photos and couldn't decide which ones to put on the blog...so here are a few more!

Whangamata

"Uncle" Paul's birthday came at a perfect time this year. One week after a hectic moving weekend we celebrated Paul's 27th birthday (is he really that old?!?!) at a bach in Whangamata (in the Coromandel). The weather was brilliant and the company not too bad either! The New Zealand coastline constantly impresses me. It is always a joy to go to amazing beaches but even better is the fact that there is nobody to share/spoil it! Call me anti-social but who wants to holiday with other people (apart from the group you are with). It's also great not to have to walk a mile or 2 to get away from the crowds especially if you've got loads of kit for the children! If only I could transport this part of NZ back with me!
Anyway, the weekend was really great. We played far too much Settlers (a strategy board game and great fun but not so good for your marriage if you're competitive!) and enjoyed some good coffee and fantastic pizza. The other highlight was flying a kite on the beach. I don't know about you but I haven't ever been able to fly a kite for more than 10 seconds. I remember spending many a frustrating time with my Dad and then with my children unable to get the stupid kite in the air. I think I have now cracked it...thanks to a little tuition from my brother-in-law I would now consider myself almost competent!