Happy 2nd Birthday Klawdi!!

Have a great birthday Klawdi, lots of love your big sister and Graham xxxxx

Dinner with friends...

Caught up with some friends last night. They moved over to NZ 11 weeks ago. I have been chatting to James for sometime on the computer...so it was great to meet again with his partner Lucy and her cousin Katie. Really great night.

Speed Boat Race-Napier

Graham and Sand flie's don't get on!

There was a power boat race from Napier to Bay View yesterday...Westshore ( where we live) is in the middle, so we took our chairs over the road and watched the race. The boats were F1 Powerboats and reached 160k, and we're 12oo HP. Tried to get a good pic...but failed! You get the idea!

Opouahi Bush Reserve-Anzac Day

Views when we first arrived...from the car park!

Bank Holiday...car park was packed!

We did feel like we were in a scene from Jurassic Park...felt strange!

Opouahi Reserve

It's taken a few years, but Graham has finally got me interested in birds!

We visited Opouahu Bush Reserve today, which plays host to the 'Pan Pac Kiwi Creche'. We just went out for a drive,with our walking boots on and a flask of tea and stumbled upon it. As you can see from the pictures...the car park was heaving with it being a bank holiday!!! The reserve is about half an hour from where we live.

Kiwi chicks we're released into the 'creche' in March of this year in the hope that New Zealand can help save the decline of Kiwi's in the country. The creche has an electric fence all around the perimeter...and looked like something resembling Jurassic Park! The walk itself was about an hour and unfortunately we didn't see any kiwi's...not surprising given they are part nocturnal and apparently very secretive...we did however, see lots of other birds and were both 'dive bombed' by Tui's...I kid you not...we we're both crouched down...couldn't get a picture as I was scared I was going to loose my head!!

Nice walk though, beautiful scenery as always, this place truly is magical scenery wise.

Helen and Jon are coming around for dinner this evening, before they head off to the Coromandel Peninsula for a week.

Flax

This week I was given some hand weaved flax from a lady at work. She had made some flowers out of the flax at a local playgroup and I had commented on how lovely they were. A day later, she gave me a bunch of flowers she had made me...

Happy St.George's Day

We have our England flags flying proudly in the back garden..ha ha

Visit to Shine Falls-20th April 2008

Shine Falls...amazing

Boundary Stream

Graham bird watching

Wooden box with a lid attached to the tree, Graham opened it and it had HUGE insects behind perspex in a kind of maze???........

Australlian Hawk.....great pic!

Cat...in the middle of nowhere....

Today we decided that we would go and visit Shine Falls, which is about an hour and 20 minutes north of where we live, in between Napier and Wairoa. The roads to get there were extremely windy and a lot of the 'track' was dirt and gravel...not good for the car! We got about an hour and ten minutes into the journey and nearly turned back...as if it had started raining, we we're not sure the car would get us back through the roads! There were no other humans to be seen anywhere....only cows, sheep and a stray cat!!!

We arrived and parked our golf next to three 4x4's....hmmmmm...think we may have to purchase one!

Shine Falls was about an hours walk from where we had parked, and we couldn't see a track marked. We asked a lady who pointed and said 'you see them sheep...well...follow the bottom row of sheep to that hill and follow the track...you can't go wrong!'...

So...off we go...chasing sheep! ha ha....the track was really easy to follow, there was just lush greenary everywhere and all you could hear were the birds and the waterfall in the distance. We saw fantails, fly catchers and lots of bell birds. The first part of the walk was very open, lots of hills, sheep and cliff's...then we went over a sty into bush, which was equally as lovely. We walked along the Boundary Stream....until we came to a small bridge...the water of the stream was so so clear. Then it started raining........or so we thought...we turned a corner and we're amazed at the sight of a 58 metre waterfall....absolutely breath taking. The best waterfall either of us have ever seen, we just kept looking at it in amazement...to think you travel for miles and miles and tucked in the middle of nowhere was this magical sight!

The sound was incredible and we we're both soaking wet! We then walked about 5 minutes and stopped to have a picnic lunch. Walked an hour back to the car...and came home for a good old Sunday lunch.

Great day...sorry for all the pics...it was just fantastic.

Journey to Work

Although we both travel further to work now that we are in New Zealand...these are the views when we are on our way!...not bad eh??

Autumn

If we'd have known the weather was going to be this bad we would have stayed at home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Veg Watch!!!!

Cauliflower and Broccoli

Silverbeet

Lettuce and Celery

Carrots

Your impressed aren't you?!*!!!!!!! ha ha

Happy Wedding Anniversary Mum and Egan

Have a great day!

Kuirau Park-Rotorua

Struggling to keep my face straight...it STUNK

This weekend, Graham has enjoyed fishing, watching sport, fishing and watching sport.....and I have been away at a conference with work. The weekend was very busy, and I had a gap of about an hour in between work where I could nip off and do a bit of exploring! Given the limited time, I only got to Kuirau Park, which is close to Rotorua CBD. This is not a 'normal' park, it has lots of geothermal activity going on!! Lots of mud pools, hot springs and gas. Speaking of gas......WOW....Rotorua SMELLS......eeeeeeewwwwwww, rotten egg smell...worse in the morning and seemed to get better throughout the day, although that could have been because I was getting used to it!!

The last time this park erupted was in December 2006...the mud blew 15m high and the mud pools we're 30m radius. Trees were singed...you can see the damage to tree's on some of pics.

I have enclosed some quick pics taken of park...excuse my work attire!!!!

Graham and I will go back there so we can have a proper explore.