TAUPO!

I know ... it has been over 4 months!  I left all of you faithful followers hanging with us mid-New Zealand tour.  Here goes my attempt to more faithfully blog.  (I need to more faithfully take pictures too -- the kids are growing like weeds.)

Our next stop on the trip to New Zealand was TAUPO.  You can see it right there in the center of the island - right on Lake Taupo (New Zealand's largest lake).

 Here is a glimpse of "car time"...

Front seat -- think my dad is wishing HE was driving!

Isaac -- USUALLY all smiles!

Sleepy Perrie.  This is about the time she caught some NZ virus so she spent some quality nap time while we were driving.

Crazy roads.

Lemon & Paeroa.  Their slogan is "World famous in New Zealand".  It is their popular soda ... lemon juice & sparkling water...

On our way there, we took a break at ROTORUA.  This is the main site of geothermal pools, which has given it the nickname "sulphur city".  We decided to skip the sulphur pools on this trip - since Rotorua has the second highest number of geothermal pools ---  second to Yellowstone Park.

Instead we headed to an animal park that included a Kiwi encounter (this is a kiwi conservation centre).  The Kiwi bird is an interesting little creature.  I wish that we would have seen one in the wild, but had to settle to seeing them here.  An American (of all things) who was VERY serious about kiwi birds gave us the tour of their birthing center.  I spent all of my energy trying to keep Isaac from screaming, running, or disturbing the baby kiwis, so my pictures here are pretty limited.  It is impressive how carefully they take care of those kiwi eggs though.  They find a nest, take the eggs, incubate them until they hatch taking tons of precise measurements every day, then grow the baby kiwi until they are big enough to survive on their own.

I wish Isaac had been as enthusiastic as this little girl...

The area we are heading to is famous for trout fishing --- look at the size of those rainbow trout!

Gma & Gpa at the Kiwi Encounter - from Perrie's point of view.

Zipline!

Logride - that is Gma, Gpa, & Brandon in the boat.  Perrie wouldn't go near it...

 We had lunch with the kids while my parents took a gondola to look over Rotorua.  Some really pretty pictures...

Finally, we make it to our new house on Lake Taupo.  We are going to stay here for 3 nights before heading on...