Yogurtberry - we are fans!

Yesterday we discovered “Yogurtberry” a frozen yoghurt shop just a stones through away from our apartment. It is always busy so we thought we’d pay it a visit and it was lovely. 

How it works?... You basically grab your tub of desired size and fill it with different flavours of frozen yoghurt at the designated pump. There are loads of flavours from chocolate, strawberry to mascarpone, coconut, pomegranate, blueberry and apple. Next select your topping; be naughty and opt for sweets, chocolate, fudge, wafer flakes and so on, or wear the good halo and choose from the fruit selection, kiwis, strawberries, blueberries etc. Finally put on your topping a sauce, chocolate powder, sprinkles and finally place it on the scales to work out how much you pay.

The yoghurt is not as rich and creamy as ice cream however was still delicious and it is definitely the healthier option which makes it even more acceptable to have a frozen pudding, or maybe an excuse to have more of it or more often?

It got a medium rating from junior S, not due to the actual yoghurt itself, but due to the brain freeze he got when he tried to wolf it down. 

The lady in the shop gave us the spiel that it was all natural (bar the sweets), the yoghurt was home made in the shop, but I don’t know what it was that affected the boys but they were exceedingly happy bunnies, laughing their way though to bed time; the taller of the two choking his way through dinner with the giggles.

Well I think there is a high possibility that we are going to become a regular, in fact I’m almost certain of it! Reward card at the ready.....

 

Brain freeze!

Taro (a root vegetable) a new one to us, is one of the flavours on offer.

Oh yes on the way home the boys managed to hunt down the culprit of the shrill noise being made... an insect tucked away in a crack in the pavement... amazing how something so small can make so much noise!

Getting Ready to Start School

Thursday 30^th Jan– a productive day, we headed back to the school with our visa details which the school needed, and then purchased the uniform for the boys – a pair of navy shorts, a navy and yellow polo shirt and the all important navy sun hat – I love the uniform and can’t wait for Monday to see them both kitted out in it. 

The school also hand out a list of essential stationary – which you simply fill out, hand into the local stationary shop and then go back later to collect – such a good system and makes life so much easier. The boys loved going through their boxes with their crisp new exercise books, sets of colouring pencils, pens, highlighters. So now everything is labeled, packed and ready to go on Monday morning...oh for once in my life I'm feeling quite organised!

Rock Pooling at Takapuna Beach

Even better than the day before so no question it was down at the beach again…. back to our little (and my favourite) rock pool area. It’s a beautiful sheltered part of the beach enclosed with a backdrop of the most stunning rocks, above which precariously hang huge trees defying gravity – I'm sure one day they will take a tumble down to the beach, however for now they are just hanging on in there. Slightly set back from the edge stand some luxurious beach pads, probably worth a bob or two…. Now I know they must have the most magnificent views and are quite literally on the beach, but personally slightly too close for comfort for my liking. 

Hidden gem - my favourite corner in the whole of Takapuna

I managed to squeeze in a few pages of my book while the boys decided to rebuild their marine reserve from the day before as the tide had completely demolished their earlier attempt. They met up with another local boy in the know, and together they managed to add crabs and star fish to their rock pool wild life list.

Not sure what these are but were like a blanket covering this massive rock

Don't think they should be up there

The afternoon was spent going back and forth to various shops to look for a school bag for my eldest, who unfortunately has inherited the indecisive gene from me. So we took a few photos for the shortlist. It's an important decision so need to sleep on it before making the final decision, oh happy days!

Beach Day at Takapuna

Tuesday 28^th Jan and another glorious day, Dan had his list cancelled so ended up coming home early which was great. In the morning we paid a flying visit to the boys' school to show our faces and find out which class they were in and who their teachers are. 

School snap

We also briefly met up with Fredrick (the other fellowship doctor who Dan is replacing) who was back from his camper van holiday down south with his family. They have been a huge help in making us settle in so quickly – passing on their bits and bobs and hints and tips during their 6 months stint here.

Back at the apartment and after a slapping on the sun cream session we headed on down to the rock pool area in Takapuna beach. The boys entertained themselves making a “marine reserve” in one of the rock pools, planting seaweed and strategically placing rocks to attract sea life in their own personal aquarium. Following a little dip in the sea we found some teeny jellyfish see-through bodies and a red blob in their centre – harmless, well I blinking well hope so anyway!

Auckland War Memorial Museum and Mission Bay

Monday 27^th and yet another bank holiday so Dan had the day off. Yesterdays rain had finally given up and the plan was to catch a ferry to Tiritiri island to see all the rare birds New Zealand has to offer for our nature-loving son. However, in true Neen style we were running late and missed the morning ferry over to the island so plan B… we decided to explore Mission Bay and see what that was all about... a long straight stretch of beach, a busy market and a couple of scenic look out points over the beach.

We also squeezed in a little pit stop at Michael Joseph Savage Memorial Park who was the first Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand and the creator of the welfare state a tidy if rather windy beautiful little spot.

Michael Joseph Savage Memorial Park

As it was it turned out to be quite a blowy day so probably not the best day to be stuck on a ferry over to Tiri Tiri… everything happens for a reason I say. 

Auckland War Memorial Museum

In the afternoon we headed over to the Auckland War Memorial Museum. This was a fab place to visit and we got good dose of the Māori culture on the ground floor. On entering the museum you are greeted by a large impressive Māori war canoe (waka taus) and lots of beautifully carved displays. There was also a traditional Māori House which you were able to walk inside and see all the carvings of the Māori ancestors – quite eerie but beautiful and fascinating at the same time.

The second level was the “Nature” level which the boys loved – there was lots to see here from dinosaurs, birds and ocean life. 

Seeing as volcanoes feature quite heavily in New Zealand, there was a section dedicated to explaining the ins and outs of volcanos including a simulated apartment room, complete with a sofa, TV and a large window looking out towards the sea. We got to safely experience a volcanic eruption with the ground shaking, volcanic ash cloud (looking out the window) and ocean waves rolling towards you and then blackness as the TV went fuzzy and then the lights went out…very well done. 

Back in the UK there are always fire drills as schools etc, but here there are TV adverts demonstrating the earthquake drill... i.e. go under a door frame etc. We keep bumping into people who are from or know people in Christchurch, and listening to their shocking stories it does bring it home to you how scary and devastating a real earthquake is when it hits.

There was a very kiddy friendly interactive section which was fantastic, full of computers with lots of  interactive buttons, aquariums, stuffed animals and vivariums with live bugs of various kinds. The most fascinating of which was the cockroach tank – where the cockroaches were going forth and multiplying making more cockroach babies. It is true what they say, if you have one then it won’t be long before you’ve got an infestation – we watched as their egg cases dropped in a conveyor belt fashion from their butts, quite disgusting really.

Pub quiz fact: The Kiwi bird is related to the emu and ostrich, and has the biggest egg to size of bird ratio – ouch that must hurt!

We only had 3 hours parking and unfortunately we were not able to cover the whole place, and the 3^rd floor which covers world war 1 and 2. Definitely a place worth another visit as there are so many things to do and see – brilliant for the boys.

Brotherly love