A trip to NZ!

In july I made a trip to NZ with junior, actually with my mother-in-law and some of her family, trying to find their family in NZ, and do some genealogical research. I took the time out to make sure Amaiterai met his great-aunt and cousins too.

Amaiterai was a little bit shocked by all the changing faces, the cold and all the bustle of life in NZ, but it was an interesting interlude for me, and a chance to speak some english!

NZ holiday - Raglan

After the bustle of the big city we headed to Raglan, for a few days on the coast.....with the mistaken hope of being able to have a bit of beach-time....

The weather was fairly continuously wet and foggy, but the house we rented was in a beautiful spot near the shore and made a nice place for the kids to be able to kick back and unwind a little.

We all needed a little bit of time to relax, between the two kids and our busy itinerary!

NZ holiday - family

The holiday was also a brief opportunity for Matotea to meet some of her kiwi ohana. Her second cousins Bobby and Bryn came to visit us in Raglan with their mum Trish and Pineapple the duck - a highlight for Matotea.....

We also made it to Aunty Norma's birthday celebrations, nice restaurants lose their appeal a bit when you have to small kids to juggle, but nevertheless it was a nice chance to catch up with the relies.

NZ holiday - Auckland

Outside the zoo we spent most of our time in Auckland shopping for bits and bobs we can't easily get in Tahiti. Sight-seeing consisted mainly of trying to find places to shelter from the weather or ways of showing Matotea a bit of 'big city' life!

In the motel we spent a lot of time in the bathtub, a bit of a novelty as we only have showers back at home.

We braved the chill winds to visit a good playground or two!

NZ holiday - The Zoo

Probably the highlight of Matotea's trip was a visit to Auckland Zoo. Actually it was much more specific than that.........sure saw some exotic animals, but actually she was most taken by the all terrain pushchair that we rented for her, she didn't stop talking about it over the week, as well as when we got back to Tahiti!

Sure the giraffes were OK too......

.....as well as the mosaic tuatara (which we thought looked more like a gecko)....

NZ holiday - Avion bleu

Our holiday started with two much anticipated trips on two airplanes, the first was the normal AirTahiti one,

but the second was a big blue airplane (avion bleu), a word now synonymous with holidays -

I was more than a little apprehensive about taking both the kids on a flight, particularly after some memorable experiences with Matotea, when she was a younger, but in the end they were both so excited that they were rather overcome by it all!

Down on th farm

Over the weekend we got the chance to visit Gareth and Trish, up on their farm, near Raglan. Bobbi and Bryn are doing well, and I think it's safe to say that they liked their presents from Tahiti- a dancers skirt and headress for Bobbi and a Tahitian drum and sharktooth necklace for Bryn. We had a lunch of fresh crayfish and home-baked bread, then took a quick spin down to their own private beach, equipped with a bach (beach house) - choice! Here are some pictures for Great Aunty Clare and Great Uncle Mike....

Hanging with my 'iwi

I've spent the last couple of weeks in NZ dealing with visas and officialdom, crashing with my family here and generally getting underfoot. The weather in Cambridge has been just beautiful, so I've been enjoying tea on the terrace and all kinds of home-baked goodies from Aunty Norma's kitchen. There is also a litter of seven boisterous boxers in residence here, for my own personal amusement - cue lots of cute dog pictures!

....these are not just average pooches, these are dogs with pedigree. Paul is a certified breeder and these puppies could one day be champion show dogs..........though at the moment, much of the excitement for the day revolves around playing with new and wonderful things in the garden, and making sure that there's a plentiful supply of fresh meat and milk! Which is tiring enough in itself...