Ok, so we've arrived at the last part of my commentary on our New Zealand trip. Sorry for making you wait... It was all about getting photos off the camera which due to circumstances about to be explained, was harder than usual. This post is going to be a long one ... I probably should have done two posts but I just wanted to finish, so I've crammed it all in.
Directional Problems
It's always the case that towards the end of your holiday, you tend to get a little tired and your driving and navigation suffers. One of our last side-trips in the north of New Zealand was to some bird sanctuary (I think). Anyway, we got to within 3 km of the place and then discovered that someone had taken the bridge away. Sure, they'd built a replacement somewhere but it wasn't on our GPS. There was however a footbridge, so we decided to have a look on the other side of the river.
But first, we got to see a couple of ducks having piggyback rides which the kids thought was really funny. Did you know that ducks sink when they have another duck sitting on top of them? I didn't but I do now.
Anyway, we crossed the footbridge but our destination was nowhere in sight. There was however a recreation of an authentic maori village, so we decided to go there. By this time Joanne and I were both very tired and neither of us wanted to go with the kids. We were told that one of us had to though because they didn't want the kids near the exhibits by themselves. Since Joey had been doing all the driving, it was obviously my turn.
The village was quite nice and the kids had a play in the huts. I took a few photos and then we followed a bush trail down to a rocky causeway. I decided to take a few photos so I tried to move into a better position but slipped and landed on some oysters. It was messy and I trudged back to the visitor shop in a bit of a temper. Joanne saw me and came outside but I didn't want to be fussed over - I just wanted to get back to the car while I still had blood in me (it was pouring out rather quickly).
I made it back to the car and used my hankerchief to make a tourniquet and eventually stopped the blood flow. I got in the car and tried to summon the remaining shreds of my dignity by adopting silent mode when Joanne asked; "Was it a genuine fall or did you fall over because you were being a silly bugger?". I would have gotten away with it too were it not for the little pipsqueek voice in the back seat saying "No mum, he was being a silly bugger".
We didn't end up going to the bird place but on the way home we stopped at a winery because "I needed one" and after a couple, I felt much better. Reminder to self... take wine on camping trips and walks in future?
Oh... and our photos went downhill from here because I killed the camera (my second one this year - see: Cubs Canoeing trip). Luckily I had the boys cameras which are waterproof too but that didn't stop them from saying "Dad, don't kill my camera" every time I picked one up.
Family History - or not
The next place on our list was a small town (whose name escapes me) in which Joanne's Grandmother was born? lived? whatever... Personally, I found the most fascinating feature of the town to be the huge chocolate brown lake which seriously looked like something out of Willy Wonka.
In any case, we stopped there for lunch and had a little drive around talking about where her grandmother may have gone to church (not that Joey was entirely sure which religion she was at the time). Then, because of something about a school, we drove through a school and started taking photos... It's not good adult behavior and we're probably lucky to not be arrested but hey, it was for Joanne's grandmother... possibly.
Amusingly enough, we later found out that the town had very little to do with her grandmother.
Tane Mahuta and the Road to Auckland
We'd been told to visit the Tane Mahuta which is a massive (seriously massive) tree which grew from a seed within the lifetime of Jesus. It was a big tree.
We stopped at a very picturesque village near a giant sand dune. It had a statue of a boy riding a dolphin which the kids loved because you could "see his bum crack".
There was a plaque which celebrated the dolphin who came and stayed to play with the local kids and give them rides on his back. It didn't last more than a couple of years probably because some kid who was too big decided to have a ride. I think I remember reading something like that there but it might have been my imagination.
We all kept referring to the kid as "dolphin boy" (a Sealab 2021 refernce).
By this time we were tired and hoping to get to Auckland. The roads were poorly signposted but luckily we had the GPS. At one point, the GPS directed us off the main road and like good travellers we complied. It did indeed pick the
shortest route but unfortunately it was an unsealed dirt and gravel road which went on for miles and miles. All of the animals along the way stopped and stared at us (like they hadn't seen a car before) and at one point we got stuck behind a group randy turkeys and had to wait for them to finish their business before we could move on.
Things were getting quite scary when we were still on the same road after about an hour but when we saw our first house (a rusty tin shed affair) I wouldn't let Joanne stop. It was just a bit too "Texas Chainsaw Massacre meets Deliverance" for us to take the risk. Finally though, we got back on the main road and eventually got to Auckland.
Auckland
It was great to catch up with Joanne's Auntie Louise and family again and we had a great time in Auckland. On our first day, we went to Auckland Museum with some great cryptic instructions from Ashley to "meet at the front door which is really at the back". It didn't help that the museum staff didn't have any idea which was the front or back doors either and with a 50% chance, you KNOW we were going to go to the wrong doors.
We eventually all found each other though and were joined by Joanne's Auntie Robyn too.
We had a great time at the Museum and the boys got to meet Krystal and Shayley, their 2nd cousins. The best bit was the volcano house where they simulate a volcano and shake the room. The next day, we had a family gathering at Auntie Louise's house and it was great to see everyone together. What an amazing and friendly group of people! We also went out to dinner at Valentines which puts the Australian version to shame and in a very funny moment, Louise gave me a stuffed Kia with a Jenny nametag. Thank you!
On our final full day in New Zealand, we went to Auckland Zoo. It rained... seriously.... poured. We still got to see the animals but we got saturated too. A big big thank you to Auntie Louise who brought raincoats because otherwise things would have been even wetter. The zoo was still a lot of fun and the boys particularly liked the monkeys who were extremely loud.
Departures
After that, it was time to pack and go home. It was a tearful farewell because we'd been looking at photos only the day before. I remembered from our last visit that Louise's son Grant, who was now almost 21 was the same age as Kaelan last time we were there. The only other photo we found of him with Joanne was her holding him as a baby. It's terrible to see how quickly time passes when you're not paying attention. We resolved to get back over there sooner next time.
The flight home was uneventful though bumpy and we got to Sydney quite late (after 9pm). It was dark and the kids were tired. Tristan burst into tears because he realized that we wouldn't seen Auntie Louise for a long time. We caught a cab out to Catherine's place and then drove home. It's good to be away but it's great to come back home too.