Bay of Plenty - Katikati Reservoir & Waihi Beach

We woke up to a stunner of a day on Sunday. Fully fuelled with pancakes, the children trotted on down to the lake in an attempt to rebuild part of the pier which had been demolished in the strong stormy weather a few nights earlier.

An hour later, project bridge reconstruction was abandoned ... option to fix bridge vs get out and about on the water... hmmm tough choice, so they all headed back lugging out their canoe, stand up paddle board and inflatable orange boat.

One by one they all headed out for a little jaunt along the river, such a beautiful setting to have right on their doorstep.

After lunch we then headed back again for another walk at Waihi Beach. The track to the left of the beach took us round the headland to another long stretch of white sandy beach lined with Pohutukawa trees. This beach has no road access so we had it pretty much all to ourselves and the children had a whale of a time busying themselves dam and bridge building… clever little things when left to their own devices!

Have to say, not turning into a tree hugger or anything, but I'm totally taken with the Pohutukawa trees here in New Zealand, just beautiful.

Finally on return back to Waihi Beach we met up with Chris, who had spent the day out on his canoe, hunter gathering sort of stuff, who proceeded to proudly show of his hunter produce, well chuffed with himself.

And then one last glimpse of Waihi Beach as the sun was setting before we said our fair wells and homeward bound back to Auckland. Stunning little break, fantastic friends. Thank you so so much for such a wonderful time. Until next time Nx

Bay of Plenty - Te Aroha & Butlers Incline

Our last weekend in the North Island and no better way to spend it but down in the Bay of Plenty with good old friends Kate, Chris and their children. On Saturday we met up at a mid way point at a little sleepy town, Te Aroha, and after a brief play in the playground (children not adults) and a quick picnic lunch we went off on a tramp in Waiorongomai Valley, New Zealand style.

So there we trot, little fluffy lambs to the slaughter comes to mind. It was a lovely walk up through the forrest…passing a little tunnel and wee waterfall...

... and then we reached the 'Blinkin' nora' Buttlers Incline, the oldest known railway in New Zealand where the original railway still exists. Now on initial inspection it looks totally feasible, a short little uphill climb up the track… up we trot all keen and eager,

15 minutes later children have gone on ahead and are out of sight, calves are burning, knees are trembling, lungs are wheezing and then we hear the faint distant call “yeah we’re at the half way point”… what the…!!!

It was one of those moments we’ve gone so far we can’t go back and we will not be beaten especially by the five children who have rocketed up the hill, the youngest being only 5 years old! So we plod on, lots of “just taking a photograph” stops to catch breath allow heart rate to calm down. To be honest I don’t think I’ve got one good photo as there was serious camera shake going on! But yeah, we got there in the end and such a sense of achievement. Now I know to your average super fit out door Kiwi this would have been a breeze and probably skipped up there with weights and a backpack, and repeat it a few times over at that.

At the top there was the informative Butlers Incline sign indicating that the climb can be compared to climbing a high as 845 steps, 400m rising steeply at 25 degrees and should take approx 15 - 25 minutes walk… nice pre warning after we’ve completed the walk!!!

The walk back down again in comparison to the up hill hike was a stunner with beautiful views across the valley... end destination Te Aroha Grand Tavern to experience a pub New Zealand style, which was an added bonus and well deserved me thinks.

Then back to Katikati to Chris & Kate's for a pork roast, super sized slow cooker hard at work while we were on our endevours. Now I’ve never sampled a slow cooked roast before but all I can say is I’m a total covert, it was sooo damn good! One down side to slow cooking however was the Chris' crackling issue being a touch on the soft squidgy side and lacking the crackle... but never one to be defeated it endured a quick roast in the oven, fry and final explosive microwave zapping sessions - the crackling was spot on, yum!

Revival - School Play at the Bruce Mason Theatre

Well all I can say is wow. My boys had their school play "The Revival" tonight, and I can honestly say they did me proud. They have been practicing all term for their performance although you wouldn't have known it as they did diddly squat in the way of practice at home and never really talked about it either - male genes here as I know mums with daughters who said it was the complete opposite and was the terms obsession.

The children were lucky enough to perform their show at the Bruce Mason theatre, and it was as sell out... brave children. I don't think I would have been able to perform in front of over 1100 people, but they took it in their stride.

The essential pre-show drinks with Susan

Sell out show of over 1100 people!

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of my eldest as he was dancing in the side wings, however here is the youngest doing his MC Hammer dance, getting into the groove!

Waiheke Island - Mudbrick and The Shed Vineyard and Restaurants

Fab weekend which started off on Friday evening with dinner round at our friend's pad in Auckland… Roast lamb à la Ant style, yum. Great food, good company and a lovely evening. Our little man got to do some bonding with Bentley their gorgeous Labrador and we even got to see Bentley’s report from Doggy Daycare… pure genius for the person who thought up this one!

Now Doggy Day Care is serious stuff where we learnt that some owners become distraught if their pooches are awarded a grade C or lower.

Saturday and another promise of glorious mid winter blue skies and sunshine combined with the kind offer for the use of a bach (holiday home) over this weekend, beckoned another revisit to Waiheke Island. Our last visit a couple of weeks ago was a rather short and sweet affair and we really didn’t feel we did it justice, so back we headed for a little more vineyard sampling.

Have to say Waiheke Island is a  beautiful little gem, and so close to Auckland too. First port of call after our quick 30 minute ferry journey was Mud Brick Vineyard… we’d tried to go here last time round but unfortunately it was closed for a wedding.

All I can say is wow, I totally fell in love with the place. It’s what I would describe as my little slice of heaven, stunningly kept with meticulously manicured gardens, crammed full of sculptured hedges, lavender bushes and herb beds dotted around. There was a beautiful indoor restaurant, but we opted to sit out on the lounge chairs enjoying the sunshine, stunning views of Rangitoto Volcano and Auckland Skyline in the distance while sipping our chilled vino - just perfect. Dan and I ordered a platter to share and the food was spot on too, a mixture of cold meats, olives, squid, bread and dips and salad, yum and yum again.

We also were joined by a super tame sparrow who flew by for a visit much to the delight to the boys.

I could have quite happily sat there all afternoon, but we decided to press on and see more of the island. Now for some reason I had illusions that Waiheke was a smallish island, similar to others we’ve visited such as Rangitoto or Tiritiri, walkable, with a ring road that looped around the island, but no… how wrong was I? Waiheke is massive and you really need a set of four wheels to get around and do the place justice! 

We wanted to go visit the Stony Batter Historic Reserve but unfortunately by the time we found it they were closing the gates, so we headed back to our batch on Palm Beach in time for a quick walk on the beach and a sit down to catch the stunning sunset.

On Sunday we had a calling for banana and chocolate milkshakes all round so headed into town to Wai Kitchen for breakfast, and then down to the sandy beach of Onetangi. Dotted around were lots of blobs of beached jelly fish, and there commenced the boys conservation project of rescuing the jelly fish and transferring them to deeper waters…. amazing how initially there were the one or two, but on closer inspection there were hundreds of the darn things… but hey ho it kept the boys entertained.

Then it was onto The Shed at Te Motu Vineyard to meet up with Helen and her family who coincidently were on Waiheke having a squiz of some real-estate prospects Waiheke had to offer. 

The Shed in Te Motu is yet another beautiful vineyard - very child friendly and relaxed atmosphere - perfect to catch up with friends and enjoy the wine it has to offer - such a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Helen and Ant had brought along their labrador Bentley, so a certain little man was one happy little bunny.

Inseparable