school hols

dear all,

we have all been making the most of our 2 week break. Lucy came to stay and Gareth took us on a mammoth "tikki" tour.(300kms) We had lunch on the Forgotten Highway in Whangamomona, coffee at a vineyard in waitere(west coast) wedges and whitebait in mokau, then home for dinner!

I arranged a girly couple of days staying overnight at the chalet and skiing, which was great despite only getting 1/2 day skiing instead of 2! We enjoyed hot spa, bubbles and a kid-free zone..

Freya did a bubbleworkshop, standing inside a huge bubble! Gareth and I got our N.Z. driving licenses.

We then set off on holiday for 3 days. Day one we did a bush walk through to a huge waterfall ,coming back to a basic cabin in Matamata, but freya and merryn enjoyed aswim in the holiday park pools and me...in the hot pool again!

We spent the next 2days at Waihi Beach and had an awesome time! This is the best holiday park we have ever stayed in(even better than the Northland one Dad!) all facilities are just a year old, an air pillow under shade in the kids play area, a pool with slide,and...spa!(pool 30degrees), gym etc, oh and 2mins to the beach.

On our anniversary,we did a coastal walk to a gorgeous beach(we were the only ones there) then we had a fab breakfast at a Cafe in the village. Then onto another cafe to book a romantic dinner for two! Whilst I popped in to book a table, Gareth wandered onto the beach.... I came back to a deserted car and v. excited Gareth waving his arms around. Just 20m off the beach in the breakers were two Orcas...what a fantastic sight, and such a privilege....locals commented how they had never seen any so close. We watched them for a good 20minutes with kids running along the beach with them. After this we drove to Kati kati..settled by Ulsterman and famous for its murals, and later a babysitter arrived at our cabin (organised by camp owners)and Gareth and I went out for dinner. What a great day!!!!!

Back to Taumarunui, weather is pretty wet, waiting for the next high front so we can go skiing again. Oh and I have got a job!!!! Teaching English for a term at the High School.

Enjoy photos ,Wish you were all here..Love Sarah, Gareth, Freya and Merrynxxx