New (animal) Additions to the Family

A lot has happened since Christmas, particularly in terms of the animals of the family.

Fudge Update
Fudge, the dog, is now about double the size he was when we first got him - even though he made his "two pounds of flesh" donation (balls) on Ash Wednesday.

He's a good guard dog and growls and barks if anyone approaches at night. He"s also still quite bitey in a playful but still quite painful kind of way.

He's become a master of bins and has figured out some amazing ways to get our kitchen bin out of its alcove and onto the floor. Likewise. If anyone leaves a chair just the tiniest bit out, he leaps up onto the kitchen table.  It's taking a while to train these things out of him.

He's quite mischievous and whenever a door is left open, he will bold for the kids rooms to select a new chew-toy for himself. He's finally gone off stuffed kiwis (which is good because they're precious)and he's discovered a taste for electronic guinea pigs. He also likes McDonald toys.

Sea Monkeys

The first major pet addition are two tanks of sea monkeys. Tristan's tank is doing quite well and maybe one day they'll be big enough to eat.  We started Kaelan's tank a couple of months after Tristan's so they've got a lot of catching up to do.

None of the Sea Monkeys have names but they are fun to watch (and they seem extremely randy).

Guinea Pigs

About a week and a half ago, we went to the guinea pig show where we got milo bear a while back. Obviously there was never going to be a scenario where we left without a guinea pig even though we were "just looking". I guess we didn't consider the idea that we might leave with two though.

While Joey was talking to the owner who was very excited to see her babies going to a good home (who is she kidding?) Joey talked about Milo bear. She sadly told the woman about how she felt guilty because MB may have died due to an infected scratch from when she washed him. The lady replied, "don't worry, I accidentally drowned one of mine while bathing it"... Ok, so maybe they are going to a good home.

We got two guinea pigs so that the kids could have one each. We asked the lady how long they live (expecting 2-3 years) - she said 8. I guess that means that Kaelan could be 19 when his guinea pig dies.

The kids named their pigs. Kaelan called his stealthy looking black one "squeal" and Tristan called his light brown coloured one, "Caramel Koala", Joaane tried to say "Caramello" but Tristan wouldn't have it. It's a brand name and not a real word but I think the real reason is that Tristan has trouble saying it.

Anyway, Chewie seems to have taken to the new pigs like a mother - we even saw one trying to suckle.  I think Chewie is happy with the company too because she's purring again - or is that a guinea pig growl?

Pick up lines...

Here's a funny story from last week.


Our neighbour, Laura rang Jo one morning and offered to pick up the kids after school.  Knowing that any trip saved is a good one, Jo said Okay.

That afternoon, in her usual routine, Joey hopped in her car and drove to school.  On the way she passed Laura's car.  Laura was waving enthusiastically, so she gave her a friendly wave back.  In fact, Laura was waving so enthusiastically that she pulled over and stopped to continue waving.  She's a funny neighbour like that sometimes.

So Joey gets on the "slow and go" line which is vechular pick-up system where people queue through the school, in one gate and out the other with a student pick-up area in the middle.

Just as she passes the point of no return, the school gates, she remembers that Laura was picking the boys up.

"Oops", the thinks as she sinks lower in her seat.  The car in front moves along and the number on the windshield is called out. "427, White!".   The kids for car 427 dutifully run to the white zone to await pickup.

"Oh gawd", thinks Jo in embarrassment - and she decides not to hold up her number.

But that's ok, because after seven years at the school, and no changes to our car in that time... and having kids with special needs who often miss slow and go, we're pretty well known.

She rolls down her window to try to speak to the person with the megaphone, but is waved on.  "Kaelan and Tristan Bollard, go to blue!" comes over the megaphone loudly.

She would drive on past blue but there's a car stopped in the zone in front, so she's stuck until all the kids are loaded.

A frantic search begins to occur in the lines as Kaelan and Tristan fail to materialise and then a couple of girls step forward with an awful confession that panics the teachers.

Being of course, someone who loves to take advantange of any change in routine, Kaelan has told the girls...

"I'm bored waiting here.  I think I'll just get into any old car - maybe the next one that comes along... just watch me".

Of course this throws all the teachers into a panic - until Jo red-facedly explains what really happened.

Introducing Fudge

This year has not really been a good year to be a pet in the Bollard household.  In March, we lost MiloBear the guinea pig to a stomach infection and in June we lost Panda, our dog of 11 years.


Recently, we also lost Fish B, our last goldfish. Despite being a super survivor, he didn't get a blog post.  For some reason, it's harder to bond with a goldfish.

We promised the kids that we'd get a new dog as soon as we got back from our New Zealand holiday - and they held us to that promise.  In fact, Joanne kept suggesting that she wanted one sooner but since she made up a rule that we wouldn't be getting another dog regardless, it was hard to take her seriously.

So, finally we went dog shopping and despite our best intentions to go to breeders or a shelter, we ended up scouring pet shops. Luckily we had Jose and Catherine along to help.

I'd wanted a pug for a long time ever since I saw one on Men in Black but everyone kept telling me that they have nose problems.  We saw quite a few cross-bred pugs though and eventually settled on a Pug-Cross-Jack Russell.  Catherine looked at him and said fudge (at least I hope that was the word she said) and we decided that it made a good name.

Joanne wasn't terribly keen on having a boy dog on account of her wanting to be able to rub the whole tummy without hitting anything icky but I think it's nice to have a boy dog again.  Fudge's birth certificate says that he was born in July 2011 which makes him four months old now.

Chewie the Guinea Pig was a little afraid to begin with, he's now at least squeaking at Fudge.  Chewie was used to Panda though and didn't judge her distance well enough to cater for fudge's tongue which "got her good" between the bars.  It was a funny moment but I don't think Chewie is keen to repeat it.

Fudge has been great so far and he doesn't bark much - mainly at appliances such as irons and vacumn cleaners so far. He's getting better with his toilet training and we're finding less and less "fudge fudge" around the house.  His teeth however don't seem to be getting any less sharp... my fingers are quite sore as I type this.

He has developed a terrible habit of running inside, grabbing underpants and running off with them - even going so far as to drag them out and under the table when we have visitors (a bit embarrassing really).  His underpants fetish doesn't stop there though because you can't get changed in the same room as him because once your underpants reach knee height, he'll jump up and rip them off you.

I'm not sure how good a watchdog he's going to be but robbers beware - this dog is gonna take your pants.

He also takes running jumps at people wearing boxer shorts and we've had some close ones after hours.... but that's probably a bit TMI.

Our New Zealand 2011 Trip (Part 5 of 5)

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.

Our New Zealand 2011 Trip (Part 4 of Several Parts)

I'm sure you think I've forgotten about this but I haven't... nearly perhaps. It's been so hectic since we got back that it's hard to keep up with blog posting.

When we last left our story, we were at Whangarei which is towards the north of New Zealand.  We checked into another great motel run by some nice people.  They had Wi-fi but it didn't reach to our room. Of course, being an IT guy, I quickly worked out that it did in fact work provided that you put the laptop within a particular 200cm square, faced it the right way and didn't walk through the invisible cable.

Of course, the words "invisible cable" tripped off all kinds of reactions in the boys and they kept trying to find it, which resulted in the laptop constantly falling off the wi-fi... but we're not here to talk about wi-fi are we.

So, we went out for dinner to a Chinese smorgasboard which the kids enjoyed.  In particular, they liked getting the jelly cubes and making mountains. We also discovered that although they're quite spongy, they don't actually bounce when dropped on the floor.

The next morning, we had our first rainy day in NZ, so we went to the clock factory. It was cool and the kids loved the clocks. The museum wasn't particularly busy and so the museum curator decided to take us on a tour.

She had this amazing German accent vich ze kids an I ver cofying for ze vest of ze day.  It might have been offensive... but we weren't trying to offend, it just was fun to talk that way. The other funny thing was that she had a weird name like fluffy or softie which didn't go with the accent too well. Anyway, while she was talking, the clocks kept going off and every now and then, often just after she said something that was a little too weird we'd all hear; "cuckoo! cuckoo!" and we'd have a lot of trouble not laughing.  She was a great guide though and a good sport and she made an otherwise "okay" museum into something really special.

In the afternoon, we visited Joanne's uncle Mark. It was the first time I'd met him, though I feel like I've known the family for a while through facebook. It was so nice to meet the family and our kids really enjoyed having a chance to play with some other kids. I can imagine the conversations in 20 years time.  "Hi, remember me? We came to your grandparents house and you stripped off and jumped in the mud in the rain".

That's how memories are made.

The next day, we headed up to the bay of islands where we stayed for a few days. It was a very picturesque place but still too cold to swim. We had a look at the NZ treaty grounds which attempts to present a "nice view" of the treaty even though the details make it look far from civil. On Kaelan's 11th birthday, we had dinner in a "Swiss restaurant" which didn't serve fondue as a main or entree because "the right kind of cheese is too expensive in New Zealand"... wow... and the place is full of cows....

In any case, they at least had chocolate fondue for dessert and the kids got a kick out of that.

On our second day, we went to a thermal mineral pool because Joanne was desperate to try one. It was a bit of a dive (but not a "swimming dive"). In fact, the kids and I took quite a bit of coaxing to get into the water - and it took several washes to get the smell out of our swimming costumes. Nevertheless, it was a great experience and the hottest pool was quite nice provided your feet didn't touch the ground. I think that if we visited a cannibal country, maybe I'd enjoy being made into soup - or perhaps not.

The other thing that was near the thermal pools was waterfall, so we did the dangerous thing and went and sat on it for a photo. Luckily we didn't fall in... the fall came later... next post.

We had dinner that night at Shippys which was an old boat converted to a restaurant. They had easily the best fish and chips of our whole New Zealand trip. 

Next time; We're nearing the end... I promise...

Our New Zealand 2011 Trip (Part 3 of several parts)

Yes, I know I'm taking forever to update this... sorry

• If you missed Part 1, it was here
• If you missed Part 2, it was here

Part 3 starts off in Rotorua where we all woke up with sore backs and slithered out of our cramped surroundings. Joanne decided that she couldn't take two more nights in the cabin and went to talk to the owners. They were very nice about it all and arranged for us to transfer to another park.

The second place in Rotorua was great. It was big, full of light, comfortable and had a lot of attractions within itself. It was also on a "hot" beach and the owners said that they had a shovel we could borrow if we wanted to go there.

Not understanding them, Joanne said no. After all, we figured that our kids could build sandcastles with their hands.

So anyway, this new place had thermals all over it. You'd just be walking alongside a little creek and hear bubbling. There was also a playground with a pool of boiling mud right next to the slide.

Did I mention that New Zealanders don't really worry too much about safety?

We took a walk down to the beach but to our disappointment, the water wasn't actually warm. We did notice however that the ground was a bit warm and that the deeper you dug, the warmer it got. There were also some massive holes in the sand and I wondered at the time why someone would dig such a big hole but not build a sandcastle - it turns out that people dig holes and sit in them for warmth.

We took the boys to a park in Rotorua and it had lots of great thermals in the middle of it. We'd been planning on going to a proper (commerical) thermal park but the boys were turning feral and didn't show enough interest to justify the cost. Also; once they spotted a big playground in the park, they decided that they just wanted to play.

That night, we had dinner and then went out to the markets. Joanne loves markets and she was expecting to see a lot of "crafty" things. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a food market - and we'd just had a big meal so we weren't hungry.

We wandered around until we found a carnival. Most of it was closed but they had a couple of rides open. The kids went on a "crazy castle" but the highlight of the night was watching a big thrill ride - specifically, watching a young Indian guy wearing a turban. The ride was going quite fast (3Gs apparently) and was spinning upside down. He was panicking a bit because he wanted to hold onto the ride but kept having to grab his turban. I'm sure it was cruel but every time his carriage spun down to the ground level, there was a whole crowd of people laughing their heads off.

Amusingly, since we've been back in Australia, Kaelan has built a working lego model of the ride and has stormtroopers as passengers. I'm very tempted to try to find a Lego Indiana Jones (Temple of Doom) person with a turban for him to play with.

The next morning, we went to Rainbow Springs, which is a kind of Zoo. There, we met a wide variety of animals including "Sally the shoe-eating Swan", who not only liked eating Tristan's shoes but also liked my hand. I offered it a handful of bird/fish food but it preferred fingers.

Also in the Zoo, there was a Kea which is the smartest type of parrot. In particular, there was one called Jenny who was in a cage by herself. Every time we tried to walk away, she cried out "Gav!!!" and I had to keep going back. It was very hard to leave her.

Not to be outdone by my antics with Sally and Jenny, Joanne decided to pick up a chicken. It wandered over while we were feeding the ducks and well, it just looked like it needed a cuddle. Tristan thought it was pretty funny.

There were a few other interesting animals in the Zoo and the fish were great but the Kiwi's looked a bit loony. They were just pacing around and around on the same patches of dirt.

I told the people at the front desk that their anamatronic Kiwi's just weren't convincing enough and they told us that our tickets were valid for a night visit and that we should come back later.

After another "busy" afternoon which mostly involved washing while the kids played on the swings, we had dinner at the Skyline resturaunt which is at the top of a mountain accessible via a gondola. The kids enjoyed the ride up and down though we had to them to stop rocking it. They also loved choosing their own food and had several large desserts each.

I had a "cupcake" accident there - I was trying to eat a cupcake sized Lemon Meringue Pie when the top started to fall off. I took emergency evasive action and tried to shove the whole thing in my mouth but unfortunately I missed (I must have an eating disorder). The cupcake impacted on my chin and Joanne dissolved into a fit of giggles.

After dinner, we went back town to Rainbow Springs and had another look at the Kiwis. Kaelan asked if he could pick one up but although it was physically possible, we said no. They were certainly more natural looking at night. We also paid Jenny another visit.

Next Up: Waitaki (or something spelt a bit like that).

Our New Zealand 2011 Trip (Part 2 of several parts)

If you missed Part 1, it's here.

Part two starts with a visit to Joanne's uncle Chris, the oldest of her father's siblings, who has recently had an operation and whom we were very worried about.

Chris has two dogs who live in a car. The kids thought it was a great hoot but the dogs are only in there at night - so no heat issues, not like Australia. The windows were rolled down a bit and I couldn't resist the urge to stick my finger in there. One of the dogs barked loudly and looked like it was about to bite me but it didn't. It was just being playful and my finger almost went up its nose instead. Kaelan saw it though and instantly developed a fear of the dogs.

We spent a while with Chris and Louise and he let the dogs run about. Tristan was fine but it took a little while for Kaelan to settle down. In the end though, he was laughing and running around with the dogs and didn't want to go.

When we left Chris' place, we headed down to Waitomo for the glow worm caves. We had a quick lunch stop in a rest area along the way. We were all glad to have an opportunity to stretch our legs but the boys (as usual) took things one step further. Spying a nearby farm, they jumped the fence and started chasing the sheep - it looked funny but we were worried about angry famers. In the end however, it was an angry sheep who tried to headbutt Kaelan. The boys developed a healthy respect for sheep after that.

The glow worm tour was better than usual and the tour guide was very friendly. The steps were a little slippery and it was dark but there's always one nut in each group (not me this time). I turned around to warn a lady behind about a sharp drop, since she was carrying a baby but my warning came too late. She made a doozy step but didn't fall.

Unfortunately, what I didn't realise was that she was taking advantage of the dark and her dodgy step caused her boob to pop out (with a loud "pop" sound) from the baby's mouth and it almost hit me in the face. To make matters worse, the baby deprived of it's morning tea, let out a loud wail which drew everyones attention. I got away from her quick-smart. Seriously... a slippery wet and dark cave would probably be on my list of the worst places to breastfeed - assuming that I even had the attributes to do so.

The cave tour was pretty full and their boat filled up leaving us to wait in the dark for about 10 minutes. This was great because we got a good long look at the glow worms. Of course, the kids were mucking up near the lake and I said to Kaelan, "hey, don't muck around because it's dark and if you fall into the water, nobody will ever find you". He had ten minutes to mull over that statement in the dark and then he suddenly announced that he wasn't going on the boat. Luckily a second tour guide offered to take him back via the land route.

The rest of our day was spent travelling to our next hotel which has a snowy mountain out our window. Along the way we saw cows, sheep, horses, goats, ostriches (and lots of babies - lambs, calves etc). We saw a hedgehog too but unfortunately it was roadkill (so not as cute as we'd like).

The boys were really excited to see that the mountains had snow on them - they've never seen real snow - and the view just kept getting better and better. The view from our hotel was awesome. Of course, we arrived too late to do anything that night, so we went out for dinner instead.

Along the way, Joanne accidentally ran over an animal. We don't know what it was but she thinks it was a possum. We passed a warning sign about kiwi's a few seconds later so the boys and I ribbed her about coming to New Zealand and killing their fauna. "We came, We saw, We squished!". Turns out that NZ has a possum problem (more possums than sheep - and more sheep than people) so apparently we did them a favour.

The next morning, we went into town to get some gloves and found some adult gloves in the NZ equivent of wollies for $18. There were no kids gloves so we went to a ski shop which had a "big sale" on but even so their cheapest pairs were $60 and $100. We ended up getting adult gloves for the kids too - at least they can grow into them. The boys looked like cartoon characters with giant hands.

Next, we drove up the mountain and went to where all the skiers were. The boys threw snowballs but it took a few goes and injuries and a lot of crying before Kaelan understood that you have to make your own - not just throw any old chunk of ice at people.

We got tickets to the chairlift and I know Kaelan was about to wimp out but I kept him talking so much that he didn't realize where we were until the seat was almost under him. Of course I was so busy with Kaelan that I almost forgot about Tristan. He nearly didn't make the seat but I hoisted him up by the shirt. Jo said that the chairlift operator looked panicked for a while.

Getting off the chairlift was fun because it was going fast and I didn't realise that we had to get off until it was almost too late. It was even worse for Joanne who actually did miss her bit and had to jump off and run at us. At first I held my arms out and said "don't worry, I'll catch you" but then I thought better of it and stepped aside... ...luckily she didn't fall over or I'd have been in real trouble.

Tristan was very funny in the snow and he kept dropping to do snow angels.

The snow at the top of the mountain was much better and softer than the snow at the bottom and we had some much better snowball fights. We had a hot chocolate up there too before going back down.

We weren't sure if we were going to make it back into town because we'd forgotten to fill up on Petrol. My bad... she asked me to remind her and I forgot. Luckily Joanne knew the quickest way back into town but I got confused and pointed saying "that way"... It was the wrong way. We squandered some of our precious petrol turning around but Joanne was a good sport about it and was laughing "because", she said, "If we run out of petrol, it just means that YOU will have to walk further". Luckily we made it to a petrol station.

Our next destination, Rotorua was only 2.5 hours away but it took most of the day because we made a few photo and tourist stops.

The kids were fighting in the car a lot so I put a movie on the laptop and we got about 2 hours quiet. We stopped at the hulka falls and the kids were impressed but being away from their movie, they quickly got into a fight.

We also visited a honey place but there were no taste testers and everything was too expensive with some normal-sized jars of honey costing $100. On the plus side, Kaelan did get to play with their sheep.

We got to Rotorua at about 6pm and moved into our cabin but it was very uncomfortable and the bed was too squishy. The place is supposed to have thermal pools but they're closed for repair. How do you repair a thermal pool? That had me worried.

Stay tuned for our Rotorua adventures.