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!!