Kids at Parana Park - Sunday afternoon

Cathy's 40th and Brendan's 29th

The next party - on Saturday night. We had around 40 people over to celebrate with food, drink and fireworks - another fantastic night, but the early mornings (3am bedtimes) are starting to take their toll on all of us! The three oldest cousins caught up for the first time in 12 years ... and we got a few family photos too.

The Wedding

After months of preparation, the day has come and gone - it went so well. Here's a selection of photos from various cameras - in no particular order - that'd take too long to sort!

Coromandel Camping 2007

Ian, Stephen , James, Bri and Kendall spent three days at Papa Aroha. (http://www.papaaroha.co.nz/) We now know the tent is bigger than the standard size site! The boys are heading back next weekend with a boat to do a spot of fishing.

Stephen, relaxing at the camp site.

Sunset on the Coromandel Coast

Taranaki

Day 1 - 30 December 2007:

We set off to Ian's old stomping ground, the 'Naki, on Sunday at about 8am. It was a good drive down, with all the kids sleeping at one time or another, and we arrived at our campsite (http://www.nptop10.co.nz/) at about 11.30 ish .

We stayed in a deluxe cabin, foregoing the need to use the camp bathroom facilities (if you can avoid the early morning stampede to the communal facilities it's always a good thing!). The camp itself was quite small, however had everything the kids needed, including a heated swimming pool and playground.
The drive clearly wore Ian out also!

Day 2 - 31 December 2007:

We set off early for Opunake ... where Ian spent the first 13 years of his life (such a long time ago now!). Each town on the way to Opunake had an abandoned dairy co-op, apparently there were over a hundred in the Taranaki region at one time, with 43 in operation until the 70s, now there is just one. The boogie boards were packed for a dip in the ocean and the weather looked fantastic. We arrived in Opunake and Ian showed us his great fishing spots, we stopped at his school, the main beach and the lake. Everything seemed so much smaller to him, and when he used to say he walked everywhere (like it was no small feat) we could see why!

Ian was disappointed that where he used to go eeling below the bridge had been fenced off (that was one of his sources of income, selling the eels to the local maori for 50c each).

The wind was really strong - another feature Ian remembered with not so much fondness - so we called it quits (we had already circumnavigated the township thee times in an effort to see if it really did get any bigger than this!) and headed for a wind free beach.

We made it to Oakura, a spot Nicky remembers well from time spent in New Plymouth, and the boogie boards were given a christening in the ocean. The wind was almost non existent, and the kids had a ball in the sea.

It was New Years Eve, so we decided to head to Pukekura Park and check the Festival of Lights. We arrived at around 8pm, and a good covers band was on stage, so we made ourselves comfortable and enjoyed some music. We started walking around the park at about 9.30 and enjoyed seeing the great lighting displays.

Unfortunately the camera was not really able to capture all the detail.

We returned to the cabin at around 11.30pm and had a couple of quiet drinks while waiting for midnight to tick over (which it did) and we headed to bed at around 1am, with the cell phone still receiving delayed texts at 5am!

Day 3 - January 1 2008:

This morning we took a 5 minute drive to Lake Rotomanu, and stopped north of the Fitroy Golf Course and beach for a look around. It was a still day, and no matter how long we waited, the cloud that covered the top of Mt Egmont wouldn't shift!

We decided to head for Pukekura Park again, this time to show the kids the Bowl of Brooklands and to stop at the 'zoo'. We went on a nice walk (nice because it was so damn hot and the shade was a relief) through a section of the park and took a break with some food before our next stop, the Aquatic Centre.

We arrived at the Aquatic Centre at midday, and it was dead quiet in comparison to how Waterworld would've been! First stop was the diving boards, although there was not so much diving going on! Kendall and Brianna weren't too keen on going on the hydroslides, but after one ride, were hooked, and spent the next couple of hours coming and going on the rides, with Ian and James. One good thing was there were no 'half hour' slots so if it got too busy, you just went elsewhere until it quietened down a bit. Yes - there is a picture of Ian coming down the speed slide, it's a shame I didn't capture the splashed spectators on film at the end!

After yet another swim in the camp pool, Ian and James had a gruelling game of chess. They had quite an interested foreign audience at stages through the game (we think they were Czechoslavakian chess grand masters as they laughed a lot at the moves being made).

At the conclusion of the chess game, a new (and more exciting) game was developed. The only rules were NO HEAD SHOTS and IF YOU STEP OFF THE BOARD, YOU LOSE:



Our final night was pretty low key, and everyone was tired after a full day.

Day 4 - January 2 2008:

We packed up the car and left the campsite by 9am, first stop was Puke Ariki, the museum. We spent about an hour there, then took a walk along the coastal walkway, watching a rock carving competition. It was another awesome day, and a shame we were going to spend it in the car, but at least it was air conditioned!

We arrived back in the Waikato at about 4pm. The verdict from everyone, New Plymouth is a nice place to visit but we probably wouldn't want to live there .... but we'll be back!