Tairua

Tairua has everything you could ask for, a not to busy nor too remote place with surf, beaty and lifestyle. I think we've found the perfect place for our summer home, or bach as the kiwis call it. You know, somewhere we can come for three weeks around xmas time every year. one day....

papa aroha

Papa means place (I think)

and Aroha means Love

so you can see why I was excited about going there. A lovely place it was too but unfortunately we were extremely lazy and the camera action was next to none. Lazy in a good way too though, four days with Rochelle, Paul and the kids, Flynn and Gracie, plus three other families from "The Ville". Twelve kids between four families plus a bunch of randoms that were floating around, communal dinners as well as parenting where we were the fun uncle and auntie (a role we're very familiar with) made for fun days and some delicious dinners. Paul had his boat in action every day we were there for fishing and giving rides on the biscuit, you know one of those round tyres attached to the boat by a rope flying along at a hell of a speed (Me:28 mph). But more than anything for us it was nice to spend some time with Rochelle and her family. Harland really loved being around the kids and I think that's great, as long as he doesn't turn clucky on me.

Me, Gracie and flynn by the creek
The fisherm... er.. hang on... people. fisherpeople...

with 59 scallops on the bbq

Chinese New Year

So I saw on the telly today (breaking news it was with a long interview to follow, this country is just too cute) that NZ's new prime minister John Key had a bit of a tumble and broke his arm. This happened during the celebration of the Chinese New year he was partaking in. But apparently Mr Key has nothing to worry about this year should bring him good luck as he was born in the year of the Ox.

I was born in the year of the ox (a few years after Johnnyboy but none the less).

So I'm going to have a lucky year then, that's fab news!

But to be perfectly honest I struggle to see how life could possibly get any better.

rotorua

note the steam at the back of this lake.

Last stop on the roadtrip was rotorua and a return to some favorite places plus a few new ones. Being a thermal area Rotorua is infamous for the sulphur smell that hangs around the town but I really don't think it's too bad at all. That might have something to do with my company for the last four years though:)

You can't tell from the photo but the water in kerosene creek is incredibly hot! To hot for me to get into as we'd just been down the road where this river meets a cold river and makes for perfect relaxation if you sit in the right place.

picnic bay

Towards the end of our stay in the south island we spent a couple of lovely days in a little bay in Marlborough Sounds called Picnic Bay. We just chillaxed completely, swimming, sunbathing, walking, napping....

I've discovered a lot of things on this trip down south. Walking barefoot down for example, completely socially acceptable here and really quite a nice feeling, you've just got to look out for glass. Sleeping al fresco is another thing. Nothing personal against our mini tent but falling asleep under the stars, feeling a drizzle of rain on your face in the middle of the night but not being bothered to move inside, and waking up with a view like this one, you just can't go wrong.
By request- pictures of quirky creatures

Till Lo, jag hoppas att jag hittar fler spannande djur at fota till dig.

Sofia & Hampus, har ni nagra onskemal?

Matthis e lite for liten an... eller?

ytterligare en sjostjarna, orange denna gangen. och en liten krabba med stora klor

Amazing people

We've spent the last couple of days at Scott's (a childhood friend of Harland's older brother Mark) house in the cool Nelson area. It's been so nice, Scott is one of those amazingly genuine and kind people who gives you the feeling that life really is fantastic and well worth making the most of. He's looked after us so well, fed us on venison and wild pork produced by his passion, which is hunting, he even gave us some to take with us. Hunting in this country is something different to the rest of the world, it is necessary here as animals such as deer, wild pigs, rabbits, possums, goats, etc aren't native and are ruining the bush and killing the native wildlife. It was not a good idea to bring them here, but the problem exists and needs to be taken care of.

We're now heading for Marlborough sounds to explore its beauty and as the loop of the South Island is nearly completed we're looking at returning to the North a bit earlier than planned.

Hej Lo, pa den har bilden haller jag i en sjostjarna, inte labbig eller farg glad men hoppas att det duger for tillfallet, ska leta vidare efter andra spannande djur! nedan ar en salunge som ligger och leker, eller kliar sig eller vad den nu gor, i vattnet. Kram! / moster emma.

Abel Tasman

Finally back in summer land and we're soaking up every second of it, it feels so good! Rented a kayak for the day and paddled around Abel Tasman for a bit, a good upper body work out but the focus was on soaking up the sun, relaxing, swimming and saying hello to the wildlife. Saw quite a few stingrays (yuck), a seal, shags and a few other interesting little things like starfish and massive mussels. An amazing day out on the water and the weather couldn't have been better if it had tried. Unfortunately we weren't the only people in paradise today but I'd rather share paradise with a few people than not see it at all. I had a moment of "this is too good to be true" when I was running into the water at full speed, feeling the warmth at the same time as taking in the beautiful surroundings. On of the best days.

ahoy matey!

even though it was busy we did what we always do and found a place to ourselves for lunch

and there was even time for this (posing that is)

Abel Tasman National Park

Long drive today, all the way from the west coast, through Buller Gorge to Abel Tasman, where we are now. We've rented a kayak for tomorrow and plan to explore the coast line. The forecast is for 27 and sun so it should be a cracker! It is so nice to be back on the coast, we went for a swim earlier and the water was nice and warm as it's really sheltered here. Can't wait for tomorrow and the rest of the week, exploring the area. Also looking forward to getting back to the north island and the proper summer warmth in a couple of weeks time and I know Harland misses his little rug rats in morrinsville:)

Fox glacier

Grattis pa fodelsedagen storasyster Annette! Har kommer en slang kyss bara till dig! (Se till sa du ar narmast datorn sa den inte landar pa nan annan!)

In the background, Fox Glacier. A bit cold and we're currently looking forward to warmer weather up north. We're heading up the rough and rugged west coast and our aim is to make it to Ross tonight where, apparently, there is a road kill restaurant............