Tirau

I took my parents for a quick "touristy" trip to Tirau, a small town off of Route 1 on the way to Rotorua that boasts sculptured buildings made from corrugated metal. The views to and from Tirau are beautiful. For pictures, click here.

Waitomo Caves

On Sunday, we took a trip (one hour away) to the Waitomo Cave District. We went to the Ruakuri Bushwalk and hiked through a caves, tunnels, saw a waterfall and beautiful limestone formations. For pictures, click here.

Hamilton

We've spent most of the past month in Hamilton, going to school, participating in sports and just exploring the city.

Lexie's Soccer Team:

Lexie is playing soccer for Hillcrest United Soccer Club. Her team is the U11 Fireballs. It is basically an all boys league besides Lexie and one other girl. So far, they are undefeated four games into the season and Lexie recently received the player of the game trophy. For pictures, click here:

Rachel's Netball Team:

Rachel is playing netball on her middle school team. It is a very popular sport with girls in New Zealand. It is a lot like basketball, without the dribbling. We don't quite get it, but Rachel seems to enjoy playing. For pictures, click here:

Hamilton River Walk:

I took my parents to a river walk along the Wakaito River in Hamilton. It is fall in New Zealand (May) so we got to see the leaves turning. It is interesting to see the maple, oak and ginko trees turning shades of red, yellow and orange right along side flowering trees and palm trees. For pictures, click here:

University Rugby:

This is mostly for my nephew Henry, who plays rugby in Lancaster. We like to go to the University Campus to see the varsity rugby teams play on Saturdays. I still don't understand all of the rules, but it is exciting to watch. For pictures, click here:

Miscellaneous:

Rachel went to a dance at her middle school this past Thursday. It was very different from the dances she attended in Palmyra. They learned how to waltz and disco dance in gym class and Rachel was asked to waltz at the middle school dance.

Evan got a police/detective costume from his grandfather and has been posing as a detective for days.

For pictures, click here:

Northland

The kids had a two week vacation from school for Easter, so we decided to go back up north while it was still warm. We went back to Pahia at the Bay of Islands.

Adventure World:

On Friday, we spent the day at Adventure World a park with water slides, a trapeze, high wire, jousting, trails, etc. For pictures, click here.

Kayak Trip:

On Saturday, Joel, Rachel and Lexie went on a 3 hour kayak trip in the Bay of Islands. They were able to visit the Treaty Grounds where the treaty between England and the Maori was signed. They also traveled to individual islands where the girls were able to gather sea glass and cool shells. For pictures, click here.

Whangarei Falls:

On our way down the coast to Leigh, we stopped at Whangarei Falls. We were able to take a trail to the bottom of the falls and the view was spectacular. For pictures, click here.

Leigh by the Sea:

We spent three days in Leigh, a tiny fishing village in Northland. We spent one day snorkling at Goat Island. For pictures, click here.

Pakiri Beach:

On Tuesday, we spent the morning horseback riding on the beach. We spent the rest of the day at Pakiri Beach. It was probably the prettiest beach we've seen so far. For pictures, click here.

Rotorua

Rotorua is a small city on the shores of Lake Rotorua -- about an hour and a half from Hamilton. The surrounding areas are full of geothermal geysers, boiling mud pools, and steaming craters - accompanied by the stinky smell of sulpher. We went to a park to take a look at some of the geothermal activity. For pictures, click here.

Maori Village Visit

We went on an overnight trip to Lake Rotorua. We stayed at a Thermal Holiday Park (campground to us) and while there, went and visited the Mitai Maori Village. A bus came and picked us up at the campground and took us to the sacred village. The whole experience was a lot of fun. We all went down into the village to watch the canoe full of chanting warriors arrive. We then went into a theater and watched the cultural performance. After the performance, we ate a traditional Maori meal(called a Hangi). For pictures, click here.

Waihi Beach/Mount Maunganui

Since the weather was nice, we decided to take a weekend trip back to Waihi Beach and then came home via Tauranga and Mount Maunganui. Mount Maunganui, or Mauao, is also the name of the extinct volcano which rises above the town. Shrouded in history and legend, the mountain is a dominant feature of the landscape, and a climb to the summit offers amazing views of the surrounding city and ocean. We didn't get to climb to the top of the mountain because the kids hadn't packed their sneakers and were all sporting stubbed toes. For pictures, click here.