Waihi Beach

We packed up "Jucy" and left Auckland behind heading east towards Waihi Beach (in the Bay of Plenty).  I have lots of blurry photos of beautiful scenery from the window of our speeding van.  Here are some highlights...

We arrived to a little house a few blocks from Waihi Beach.  Our timing couldn't have been better - arriving the day after their holiday break when school was starting back.  It left us with a long, beautiful beach, almost all to ourselves.

Beach Fun

Gpa Terry getting his feet wet

Isaac getting his feet wet!

We managed to find a playground to burn off some steam before dinner. 

Tunnel climbing

Is Grandma Elaine going to fit?

And a bunch of evening photos of "our" empty beach.  So, so beautiful - the pictures don't even do it justice.

I should have known something was up when Perrie wanted to lay under her beach towel instead of play in the ocean.  Sure enough, she woke up the next morning with a fever and bright red rash on her cheeks & body.  Poor Perrie - luckily we packed some Tylenol & she was a pretty good trooper.  She was remarkably quiet for several days though - if you've been around her lately, you know that's unusual.

In fact, last night she said:  "Mom, do you know why I don't really like to talk very much?"
    "Really?  You don't like to talk very much?"
    "Um, actually I do like to talk a lot."
Another quote of the trip:
     Dad:  "Perrie, more ears, less mouth"
     Perrie:  "My ears ran out of batteries."

Perrie & her rosy cheeks

The City of Sails

Our first stop in New Zealand was 2 nights in Auckland.  We have friends, James & Warwick, who lived in Seattle for a few years.  They moved back to Auckland and served as stellar tour guides during our visit.  It was great catching up & we can't wait for our next visit.

We arrived in Auckland at 5 am, so we were pretty bleary-eyed from our 13 hr plane trip.  We headed to our car rental place to discover that this is their logo ...

... AND it was all over our van!  Maybe it's just better that we clearly stand out as tourists what with the driving on the other side of the road that we (read: Brandon) had to contend with.

We couldn't get into our hotel until mid-afternoon so we had a few hours to waste in Auckland.  We walked around downtown...

... and then hopped on a harbor boat tour.  This took us around the harbor and out to a nearby island with many hiking trails (Rangitoto Island).

Heading back to the hotel - wish the kids' faces would have come out in this picture.  Isaac was so pumped to be at Perrie's eye level.

On to a fountain that we played in near our hotel to cool down ... Perrie, of course, made instant friends with a little girl who lived nearby.  Social butterfly.

And - finally, our hotel rooms were ready!  A shower & nap never felt so good.



Day & night views from our hotel -- SkyCity & the harbor.




That night, we enjoyed a delicious meal at Warwick & Amanda's house and then off to bed.

Rosie, the hostess

Warwick, Rosie, Amanda, & Maria

Isaac's namesake

 The following day, the boys went out fishing for snapper in the harbor.  Brandon will have to add those pictures from his phone.  They had a successful trip and snagged us a few snapper for lunch.  The girls walked around the city & enjoyed some ice cream on the beach - the first of many ice cream cones to come!

Chopping up fish

Perrie & Maria hunting for seashells

Who ever heard of sea urchin playground equipment?

 That night, we enjoyed a picnic from Mount Eden - a volcano overlooking the city.  Beautiful.  Perrie was pretty distressed at learning about volcanoes, so our trip back to the hotel consisted of many questions about "when will it explode", "what happens if it explodes now", etc.  Please don't tell her that Seattle is located by a giant volcano too...

Mount Eden, overlooking Auckland

 

More Photos from Auckland.

Looking out to Rangitoto Island

Auckland cityscape

Fishing!

The City of Sails

It's time start trekking around the North Island now.  Before we left Auckland, we stopped at "Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Adventure".  

The picture doesn't do this walkway justice ... the walls were spinning in circles.  It was nausea inducing.

Swimming Penguins!

Mug shots.

Lots & lots of penguins!

Even a couple of babies.

Jellyfish

Holding some seastars.

These two look like trouble makers.

Having a hot chocolate & checking out the stingrays.

Next stop ... Waihi Beach