Outdoorsy Outings

Whereas we did not do any real family outing the weekend of the "Whip It" video, we have since done two outdoorsy family outings the past couple of weekends (hoping to get Tony's Devo focus a bit behind us). We first went to the Karori Bird Sanctuary, a 5-10 minute drive from our house. It has some nice paths to wonder along, and even an old gold miner's cave which people can go into with hardhats on. The guide outside tells you that just beyond the gate inside the cave are thousands of wetas (somewhat similar to grasshoppers) along the sides of the cave which you can see. However, what he didn't mention (to the great upset of Maddy, and the slight upset of me) was that the gate was open, so before we knew it, we were standing inside this very small cave with wetas all around us. Maddy and I decided we would wait outside while Tony, Jordy, and Zeke finished visiting with the wetas. We were much more interested in viewing the wetas in their "weta motel," which was a tree trunk cut out with panes of glass in them so that you could open up the little door and view them behind the wall. Besides the wetas, we also saw some ducks and ducklings, and just enjoyed the hiking trails, hearing the birds, particularly tuis, the local NZ bird here.

This past weekend, after having a great brunch at our house with new friends and neighbors, we took our family outing on Sunday to Matiu Somes Island, which is about a 20 minute ferry ride out in the harbor. It was a truly beautiful day, and we had a great trip. The ferry ride was a bit chilly when we got going a faster speed, but also very sunny, with a terrific view of Wellington harbor as we moved away from it. The island is a nature reserve with no shops or restaurants on it, so we packed some food, hiked around, and had a picnic at the peak of the island. The kids were excited because we walked up a path and found ourselves going into the pasture where the sheep live, but Tony and I were less excited, as we had to tread carefully to avoid stepping on the sheep poop, which was basically everywhere. And to add to it, as we were leaving, Zeke (I think believing that it was a rock) picked up a terd and threw it. It was lovely. However, despite the excremental factor, and the bits of grumblings we had to endure on the up-hills, overall it was really a fantastic day, again full of beautiful views and great exploration. We even saw some skinks (a kind of gecko) along the paths.

Click here to see more pictures from these two outings. And for those of you who really enjoyed the "Whip It" video, don't despair, I'm sure that Tony's creative juices will produce another inspiring video soon!