Millie's 7th Birthday

Monday 12th February

Millie woke extra early today to open all her presents, cards and parcels from family and friends back in England. THANK YOU to everyone who sent her a little something. She was thrilled with everything. So after a few rousing rounds of Happy Birthday off they went to school.

The weather today wasn't as good as we hoped. Ever since we knew we were coming to NZ we had promised Millie we would go to the beach for her birthday, but the weather was a bit cooler and overcast today so we had to change plans. We all got dressed up - Millie in her new dress from Auntie Fiona and off we went to Auckland City to pick up Jes and go to the Sky Tower for a birthday meal. Sky Tower is the huge tower in central Auckland that can be seen from virtually everywhere in greater Auckland.

We managed to find an Eat as Much as You Can buffet in one of the many restaurants in the tower. They had chicken wings, chips, and battered fish on the menu so Joe was in his element. After pigging out there we went off to explore the Sky Tower itself. The lifts up to the top have glass walls and glass floors - very scary. Up at the observation deck there are glass panels in the floor as well, so you can see down as well as out. There is a 360 degree view of Auckland and the tower is 300m high so there is a fabulous view of the whole area. We were able to guess where we live because from our bedroom window we can see Rangitoto Island and the Sky Tower.

Kelly Tarleton's Underwater Adventure

Sunday 11th February
Today we bought a SuperPass for each of us - tickets to 4 main attractions in Auckland: Kelly Tarleton's Underwater Adventure, Sky Tower, Rainbow's End Theme Park and a trip to Rangitoto Island (Auckland's youngest volcano at 600 years old). We have 4 weeks to visit each of the attractions sotoday we decided to start with the Underwater Adventure.
We arrived just in time to watch the stingrays being fed. Pretty cool! We saw the oldest stingray called Phoebe feeding from the hand of the man who was in the tank with them. He said they have no teeth so can't bite him but from time to time they did try and swallow his hand. Joe has been a bit spooked about going in the sea since he saw a stingray at Sandy Bay but hopefully after today and listening to all the information about the stingrays he'll be more at ease in the shallows. As part of the deal we also went on the snowcat ride which took us round the penguin enclosure which was very impressive. There's also a travelator which takes you round a perspex tunnel in the main fish tank. Millie had to stand on a box to see properly but we all managed to spot the turtles, sharks, lion fish and the eels.

After Kelly Tarleton's we went off to Mission Bay for a picnic lunch, playing rugby on the grass, throwing a frisbee around, having a paddle in the sea and a general chilled Sunday afternoon. Millie is on Mission Bay beach with Rangitoto volcanic island in the background.

First Day of School

Wednesday 7th February
Joe and Millie were both extremely excited and a little bit nervous about starting school. Joe in particular looked like his stomach was in his shoes as we left him at 8.45am.
However when Louise arrived at 2.45pm to pick them up they both came bounding out of class telling about their day and how many new friends they had made.

Every child has to take a packed lunch to school as Mt Carmel does not have a school kitchen. They don't even have a dining room. At lunch time all the children have to take their lunch and sit under the sail shades or under the verandas of their classrooms. There are water fountains everywhere in the playground and the children take it in turns to play on the adventure playground equipment. Joe spends most lunchtimes playing touch rugby, although even he says sometimes it's too hot to play and so they just roll down the hill or sit in the shade chatting.

By Friday Joe was in the cricket team and Millie had been invited to a friend's house to play. AS expected the children settled into school and all its routines very easily.

Waitangi Weekend - Matapouri

Saturday-Monday 3rd-5th February
This weekend we were invited up to Matapori, near Whangerai (pronounced Fongeri?!) by Paul and Leah to go camping on their plot of land where they are planning to build their holiday home/executive retreat. The camping was primitive and yet tinged with luxury. No running water; the toilet facilities were a "long drop" - a little hut over a very deep hole, but it did come with a toilet seat. The luxury was the power supply which ran the fridge freezer, the kettle and the electric fry pan! There was a sink and kitchen units in the middle of the field and perfectly placed so the view when washing up was stunning. Sadly we forgot our camera for the weekend - so no photos.
Saturday afternoon we went down to Sandy beach where there was a surf competition. Joe was a little startled by the stingray he saw in the shallows but still managed to jump his share of waves.
In the evenings we went over to some friends of Paul and Leah - Sandi and Vernon with their two children Jayde and Liam. They were extremely hospitable and not only laid on a bbq for us all but invited us to use their hot-tub and their shower!

Jes' First Day at Work

Thursday 1st February

Bit of an odd day today - Jes leaving the house to travel by bus to the Central Business District in Auckland. This left the rest of us with a few chores to do before next week, namely we had to go and spend huge amounts of money on the children's school uniforms and lunch boxes, drinks bottles etc.

Even Joe was excited as we went to the School Uniform Shop in Remuera to kit them out in everything. The list of uniform from school sounds pretty strict - particularly about footwear. Millie was obviiously thrilled to be trying on clothes even if they were school pinafores etc and surprisingly Joe was quite co-operative about trying on his shorts, polo shirts etc too. He wasn't that keen on the sandals but was persuaded when we told him every child at school would be wearing them so he wouldn't feel left out.

When we got back to the house both of them were eager to try on the gear for a fashion show and photos. It's all going scarily smoothly!

Waitangi

Wednesday 31st January
This morning we opted to visit Waitangi Treaty Grounds. This is where the Treaty was originally signed between Queen Victoria's government and the Maori chiefs on 6th February 1840. The history behind it is extremely interesting and the wording of the treaty is thought-provoking.

Our first stop was to watch a Maori Cultural Performance which involved a group of Maori people singing songs, telling stories, perform the haka and the women in the group performed a dance with poi - flax balls that they swing around their heads with great skill as they don't hit themselves in the head, hit the wall or each other with them. No mean feat!

We wandered around the Treaty House and read all about the work leading up to the treaty and the efforts to celebrate 100 years anniversary of the signing.

Also at the Treaty Grounds is a Maori 'waka' which is a 35 metre long ceremonial canoe. It needs a minimum of 76 people to paddle the canoe and it was massive! Joe and Millie both had their photos taken with Barnaby Bear aka Floppy Bear for the purposes of the "Where in the World" Geography project back at St Urban's!! As we wandered out of the canoe house we saw a group of people paddling their own waka onto the beach just in front of the canoe house. They had an instructor/guide who was teaching them to paddle in the traditional manner. Millie was very intrigued as he was dressed only in a very small loin cloth. From where she was standing she could see his bottom in all it's glory!

Next we visited the Maori meeting house or 'Te Whare Runanga'. The carvings in the meeting house depict Kupe the Explorer. This was designed by a colleciton of Maori tribes. Ususally the carvings in each metting house are specific to the tribe but this one was designed as a way to celebrate the 100 years anniversary.

Bay of Islands - Hole in the Rock

Monday & Tuesday 29th & 30th January 2007

After a quiet weekend in Auckland we thought we had best get in another trip before Jes starts work on 1st February. We opted for a long drive up to Bay of Islands. We stayed in Bay Cabinz in Paihia in a fabulous and compact little cabin. After unpacking we went in search of the beach - not too hard to find and spent a lovely afternoon relaxing with the other 6 people there. As we said before, Kiwi beaches have a different sort of "busy" to UK beaches. This one was busy with only a handful od people there. Millie and Joe spent time in the water, on the beach, in the playground. They were in their element.

We took the advice of Belinda, owner of our accommodation, and took the Kings Cruise out the next morning to the Hole in the Rock and a search for dolphins along the way.

The ferry left about 9.30am and we boarded with many other tourists. On the voyageto the Hole in the Rock the captain spotted a pod of maybe 20 dolphins. They were extremely playful and were not camera shy at all. They were swimming next to the boat, in front of the boat, in the wake of the boat... It was a wonderful experience. After about 20 minutes the captain moved the boat on but then another boat just ahead of us had sighted a family of Bryde's whales, so we headed in that direction. That was just amazing. They were not as playful as the dolphins but they did surface enough times for everyone to get a good look.

The scenery on the voyage was superb - again! Clean beaches, clear water, virtually no people. Idyllic.

The Hoel in the Rock is basically a large rock inthe middle of the bay with a hole right through it. The hole was so big the captain managed to manouvere the ferry through the hole. As we can out of the hole the captain pointed out the Profile of a Princess.

Check out the photo and see if you can see it!

Cathedral Cove

Friday 26th January 2007

Left Cook's Beach cabin about 10am but still had lots to do in Coromandel.

Decided to go in search of Cathedral Cove. It involves a 45 minute walk along the cliff top to a cove that adjoins another cove by way of a large - very large hole. Check out the photos - very impressive. We hung around there for a an hour or so pretending the few drops of rain that were falling were not happening. Jes and Joe went exploring the small cove and found a natural fresh water shower. Jes took advantage of this, had a shower and managed to clean off the salt water and sand. Both Joe and Millie refused to go in claiming it was too cold so before we set back on our walk Jes thought he'd give Millie's bikini a quick rinse in the sea. He went with two pieces and came back with only one. The sea had taken Millie's bottoms!! Fortunately no tears just giggles.

Because we had such a great time there the previous day we decided to venture back to Hot Water beach before we began the journey back to Auckland. Sadly the weather wasn't as kind to us and we cut short our visit before low tide so we weren't able to build another spa pool. Did manage to get a good amount of wave jumping in though.

Hot Water Beach

Thursday 25th January 2007
The following day we visited Shakespeare's Lookout from where you can see all the surrounding islands and bays including Lonely bay which is a bit of a hike to get to. We decided not to go as J&M had already walked 45 mintues just to get the view!!

In the afternoon we took the local passenger ferry from a place called Ferry Landing to Whitianga about 10 minutes away. there we had pies - another staple of Kiwi life - let the kids play in one of the many play grounds and then caught the ferry back.

About 5pm we ventured to Hot Water Beach. At this beach, low tide reveals some hot springs under the sands. It is the touristy thing to do to hire a spade for $4 for 2 hours, dig a pit and it turns into your own private spa pool. Joe in particular thought this was fab and made friends with a South African biy who was determined as he was to dig as many pits as possible and to try and adjust the temperatures of the pools they dug. No mean feat!!
Joe and Millie (and Jes) all discovered the art of body surfing on Hot water Beach. Some big surf was the source of big fun.

You just have to check these out on google earth - incredible. Really didn't want to leave this place.

New Car & Coromandel

Wednesday 24th January 2007

First thing this morning we went to pick up the new car - a white Mazda 626 Station Wagon. Rego ACH479. Jes had definitely had enough of driving the Selespeed. Too many incidents of fighting with the gears in heavy downtown traffic!!

Throwing caution to the wind we decided to go down and then back up to the Coromandel Peninsula. It took 4 hours to drive 180 kms. Single lane roads with lots of twists and turns but beautiful breathtaking scenery. Grownups were "ooh"ing and "aah"ing at the view and the kids were in the back "are we there yet?"

We chose to stay at Cooks Beach so named because it was the first place that Captain Cook landed when he arrived in NZ. There is a wonderful long, and quiet beach there that we in fact only visited on the first night for a quick walk, play and splash before we retired back to camp to have a compulsory bbq.
Picture show Lonely Bay with Cooks Beach in the background.

First Sight of School

Tuesday 23rd January 2007
Today we enrolled Joe and Millie in Mt Carmel Primary School. It seems a bit scary on our part to enrol them in a school when we haven't seen it alive with children yet. Having said that whenever we go near the school there are always a handful of children in the playground. Last term some new play equipment (climbing frame, monkey bars, slides etc.) was erected at the school and the locals are still enjoying the novelty of it. Millie took this picture of it but needless to say it doesn't quite do it justice. This is about a third of what's there.

As you can see in the background there is quite a large amount of green playing fields for the school as well. Just out of shot is a football pitch which pleased Joe no end. They still seem quite eager to go to school.

Understanding the Layout of Auckland

Monday 22nd January 2007
Karen, who arranged all our accommodation and the children's places at the school, came round today to show us a little bit of the layout of Auckland. She drove us through Cornwall Park to the top of One Tree Hill.
Cornwall Park is a fabulous, huge park right in the middle of Auckland. When the land was originally given to the people of Auckland a condition was placed on it that no-one could build on it and it had to retain a working farm. So you can do all the touristy things there - picnic, bike ride, walking, whatever you fancy buy you have to avoid the sheep and cows - pretty cool really.
One Tree Hill is a significant landmark for New Zealand. It used to have a solitary pine atop the hill until about ten years ago when a disgruntled local (Mike Smith) took a chainsaw to it and tried to chop it down. he was stopped before he could complete the job but sadly he had damaged the tree so badly it had to be removed a short time later. So One Tree Hill is no a misnomer - No Tree Hill it should be.
The week-end we arrived here, good old Mike Smith decided to make a bit of cash and tried to use an online auction site - Trade Me - to sell the infamous chainsaw. A huge furore ensued!!

First Beach BBQ

Sunday 21st January 2007
Today we were invited by Tim from TMI to a beach bbq. The beach was about 60 mins outside Auckland at a place called Maraetai. Lovely beach with white sands, a bit of surf and hardly any people there. this we are coming to realise is a theme on NZ beaches. Lots of lovely clean beaches and not many people. In fact the locals call it busy when there is someone else on the beach with you!!

We played a bit of beach cricket and chatted to Tim, his wife Anna and their friends. While the bbq was busy cooking our sausages a guy came a long with a camera and asked if he could take some photos of us. He is writing a book on Kiwi-ana and wanted a few photos of Kiwis doing what Kiwis do best - bbq on the beach. Eventually he left with several photos, most of which had the POMs at the front and all the photos had Millie posing for the camera. he assured us the book will be published next year in time for Fathers' Day. We'll have to wait and see!

Settling In

Saturday 20th January 2007
Had a relatively quiet day, getting over jet lag, shopping and putting stuff away in some of the many cupboards in this house.
Tim came round to lend us an Alpha Romeo Selespeed for a few days. We had to drop him back into town so had the delight of driving round Auckland City Centre on a Saturday afternoon. It was surprisingly quiet but as everyone keeps telling us many people are still on their summer holiday. We managed to find a big department store where Joe was able to buy a cricket set and a rugby ball. So he's happy now!

In the afternoon we went down to the reserve to let Joe & Millie run off some excess energy. It was also an attempt to make sure they slept well. It seems highly likely that much of our spare time will be spent down on the reserve meeting people and playing sport of some kind or other.