School Holiday Trip

We ventured out of Wellington on Monday morning, the 26th of September. Our drive began with a VERY windy road up and over the Wairarapa Valley, and then on to south east coast of the north island, Hawkes Bay. We stayed in Napier for three nights, which is the art deco city of NZ, and has a great street called Marine Parade that parallels the beach. There were a variety of places to visit along the street, all lined up one after another – at one end the National Aquarium, the other end some hot thermal pools. We got to Napier in the afternoon and went to a great playground in the middle of the Marine Parade strip, then went to a little local dive for dinner where fish and chips were the specialty. On Tuesday we went to Marine World, saw a terrific dolphin show, as well as a variety of seals, sea lions, otters, etc. A very cool place that is all located outdoors. We then decided to leave Napier for a little side trip, and went down the coast a bit to a place called Ocean Beach. The kids had a great time romping on the beach, and eating the picnic we brought. That night we decided to go the McDeco McDonalds, which was rather disappointing. Don’t know why we really expected much out of McDonalds, but the idea of an art deco one sounded cool – oh well… Wednesday we went to the National Aquarium, which was good, but not great, also a bit of a disappointment due to our expectations. We then went up to the thermal pools which was fun and relaxing. It was raining in the afternoon, so Rachel and the kids went to see Shark Boy and Lava Girl while Tony had a bit of time to himself.

Thursday morning we left and headed up to Taupo. The motel called Cottage Mews that we stayed at was right on the lake (which is huge) and had a little walkway down to a little beachy area at the edge of the lake. There were also these beautiful black swans that hung out in the water right there. We had a picnic by the lake while the girls played “shark boy and lava girl,” and I think at times Zeke was allowed to be “baby shark boy” – it was a nice and relaxing afternoon. Late in the afternoon we went into town – the kids played at a playground next to a huge “Super Loo” (aka bathroom), and we then had dinner at a place called Breakers which Maddy had helped pick out. Friday Rachel and the girls went on a Huka Jet boat ride. The Huka Falls are a big attraction in Taupo which are not high, but the volume of the falls is what is impressive about them. We were told that the amount of water flowing over the falls can fill an Olympic swimming pool every 5 seconds! The jet boat ride was quite and experience – it is apparently one of the thrill-seeking activities that Taupo offers, and lived up to the reputations. We zipped up and down this river, the driver purposely going extremely close to little trees that were growing out of the water, and every few minutes he would do a 360 – spinning around so fast and soaking us. It was definitely a part of the trip that the girls will remember. After the boat ride, we stopped into a place called the Honey Hive where you can see bees in their hives and try all different kinds of honey. We had a picnic by the Huka Falls, then went on an hour hike down a trail there to some natural hot springs. The kids and Rachel went in while Tony hiked back to get the car and meet us at the other end of the trail by a playground called Spa Park. We then went back to our motel and had a casual dinner - egg-toast, or I think as Amy Jean calls it, “bulls-eyes,” while we watched the movie, “Big.”

Saturday we got up early and left to get to a place called Wai-O-Tapu by 10am because at 10:15 every morning the “Lady Knox Gyser” goes off. Apparently it would go off on its own every 48-72 hours, but the give it a little juice each morning to make it a bit more predictable for tourists. It is pretty cool. Also at this attraction are thermal pools (not to swim in) all different colors, lots of sulfur smells, and boiling mud pools. Wai-O-Tapu is one of the many places to visit in the town of Rotorua, which boasts a variety of volcanic happenings. On our way out of Rotorua heading up to Auckland, we stopped at a place called The Farm Show, aptly named. During the show they teach us different things about certain farm animals, sheer a sheep and then ask for volunteers to help with certain parts. Jordy got to go up and try to milk a cow, Rachel churned some cream into butter, and Maddy bottle-fed a baby lamb. Zeke was most impressed with the enormous bull they brought out. The show was definitely one of the highlights for the kids.

We got up to Auckland around 6:30 pm, to the most depressing motel we had ever seen. We were staying in Auckland for 4 nights, so quickly decided that we needed to find a different place to move to in the morning, which we luckily did easily. More money, but well worth it! Sunday morning we got up and moved to our new motel in an area of town called Parnell – a cute little area that has shops and restaurants. It was a rainy day, so we set off for a place called Kelly Tarlton’s. It is an aquarium-type place that had a very long line to get in (apparently everyone and their brother also thought it’d be a good rainy-day activity). Once we were in, it was great – We saw huge stingrays that were in a short tank trying to hug the people that were in there trying to feed the fish – their bodies flapping all around in and out of the water and all over the people; we walked through an underwater part where there were sharks and stingrays swimming all around and above us; we went on a Snowcat ride through a faux Antarctica with lots of cute live penguins sitting on snow and swimming through water. After that, we went back to the motel where we had pizza and watched Mr. Mom on T.V. for our family pizza movie night.

Monday morning we hung around the motel in the morning, and then went to see a movie called The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill at a very cool, artsy theater. The seats were so big and cushy that Zeke fell asleep on his! When we came out the weather was better, and so we headed over to Mission Bay to see where we might have lived if we hadn’t gone to Wellington. It had a very nice beach, with cute shops and restaurants, and a nice playground, but we are still glad that we chose Wellington. The kids had fun at the beach and playground. Rachel and Maddy stopped by the Swiatek’s house (friends of friends whom we had been in touch with from the states) while Tony, Jord and Zeke stayed down by the beach. The five of us then went back to our hotel and actually had a really nice Erev Rosh Hashana dinner at the restaurant attached to our place. Although it was hard not to be home with extended family for dinner, we had a nice quiet time together, and went around the table talking about what we would like to do differently this new year.

Tuesday was Rosh Hashana, the hardest day for Rachel, being here in NZ. We went with the Swiatek’s to their temple in Auckland, but it was very disappointing. Nothing like being at home of course, and just no real connection for us there. Luckily Rachel had a chance to speak to Susan Retik on the phone that day, which helped brighten her spirits. We went to the Swiatek’s house for dinner that night, which was nice.

Wednesday morning we met up with our friend Sam (from Wellington) and her two boys at the Auckland Museum. It was great to see friends, and also to go to the museum which was terrific. After leaving the museum, we left Auckland and headed for Hamilton where we were doing a Farmstay for the night. We had a bit of a tension-filled experience trying to navigate our way out of Auckland, but finally made it, and arrived at Mountainview Farmstay around 3 pm. The couple was getting ready to go and feed the baby calves they had, but since it was raining hard, the woman told us to go out and get a snack and if it wasn’t raining so hard when we returned we could go down and join them by the calves. The kids were disappointed, and I promised them that we could go down whether it was raining or not when we returned from getting our snack. Luckily we returned to better weather, and Rachel and the girls went down while Tony and Zeke relaxed at the house. The calves were adorable, and the girls so excited to see them. We then came in and the girls helped make steak schnitzel with the woman who owned the farm.

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Hopefully Rachel will finish this post soon. Click this link if you want to see pictures from our trip.