The Hodges

Hot Dogs...

2012-01-29T12:31:00.006+13:00

Another hot day ......

So we put the garden sprinkler on for the dogs to cool down...

It didn't take too long for them to get bored with it so we moved on to the hosepipe! Barney......

Archie.....

Drying off...

House moving....

2012-01-22T13:54:00.005+13:00

Driving into town and came across a highways vehicle in the middle of the road that signaled me to pull over to the side as a wide load was coming thru...

Animals..

2012-01-16T22:28:00.004+13:00

Our neighbours went away for a week and asked us to look after their, Hens, Dog, Cats, birds and fish!!

We walked their dog when we took Archie and Barney out....

And feasted on free range eggs for a week thanks to their Chooks!

New Years Day...

2012-01-01T12:09:00.002+13:00

.......and it rained all day.....!!

Christmas Day...

2011-12-25T14:39:00.012+13:00

Christmas Eve boys ready for bed in their Pjs....

Christmas day down the beach.

Dogs did some swimming...

Then home for Steak on the bbq and Strawberry Pavlova for pudding....

Merry Christmas everyone and a Happy New Year too!

Archie and his Frisbee and Football

2011-12-17T21:41:00.005+13:00

Frisbee time....

Football time...

MR2 project cont...

2011-12-04T12:04:00.004+13:00

More grey pictures!

New Driveway...

2011-11-20T08:46:00.006+13:00

Now that the kids are both driving, we have more cars than we have space to park them.!! We've had to have the old driveway ripped up (pavers)and a new aggregate one laid.

Before....

During...

After...

At the beach...

2011-11-13T12:35:00.004+13:00

With Barney...

and Archie...

Warming up.....

2011-11-06T21:14:00.009+13:00

.......nicely over here....!

Lovely blue skies and the pool is ready...

Happy hot dogs....

Cooling down with some ice cubes...

Birthday....

2011-10-30T22:31:00.003+13:00

Celebrated Louise's 16th by going out for a 'scary' drive..!!!

Wind Turbines

2011-10-23T17:05:00.013+13:00

Took a day trip to Palmerston North to the nearest Immigration Office to get our passports stamped with our Returning Residence Visas so that we can come back to NZ if we leave for a holiday! The main road through the Manuwatu gorge has been closed for several months due to a couple of large hillside slips.

So, we had to take the up and over route which takes you close up to the Wind turbines...... They are huge..! See the tiny person at the bottom of the last pic!

Scenic views...

Typical busy State Highway from Palmerston North to Napier...

And last bits of snow on the ranges..

Who needs.....

2011-10-16T20:27:00.005+13:00

......Axle stands when a log will do the job...

Spring = Veggie garden...

2011-10-09T09:16:00.006+13:00

Veggie garden up and running for this year... Chillies, Peppers, Red onions, Rocket, Cos and Iceburg letuce and a few carrots.

And a couple of tomato plants...

MR2 Restoration project...

2011-10-01T22:07:00.006+13:00

Dan's MR2 is under going a major refurb! First it was going to be just get it on the road, then it was just a few changes and now it's undergoing a major refurb which includes a total body respray.... I'll keep that from you for the moment but you'll be in for a surprise with the end product.

A few weeks ago the car was like this....

And the transformation continues....

New Kiwi Driver...

2011-09-26T09:00:00.005+13:00

Louise passed her learners exam recently and now at 15 can drive!!!! Scary thought! We've been out and about Sunday afternoons (less chance of seeing another vehicle!!)

At last......

2011-09-10T22:24:00.003+12:00

I've finally found something I've been missing for the last 4 yrs!!

They didn't stay full for long!!

Spring day in the Bay!

2011-09-04T11:42:00.004+12:00

Spring in the Bay!

Took the hounds for a run down at the beach....

Archie.....

Tree Cosies!

2011-08-27T21:08:00.003+12:00

Don't know where these ideas come from but someone somewhere decided that tree trunks needed brightening up in Napier. So out came the knitting needles and here you have yarn bombing or knit graffiti, it's a new form of street art. Makes a change to the normal graffiti art!

More....

Does it make you want to get kniting..? I'm sure there's some lonely trees near you!!

It's Gone....

2011-08-20T18:17:00.007+12:00

Some thieving scum bag stole my Nissan 4x4 off the drive.... Woke up Saturday am and just a big gap on the drive where I parked... Glass on the drive where they popped the passenger window and then drove off! Informed the Police straight away, but haven't heard back from them! Must be too busy sitting outside the donut shops!!

It had a full tank of diesel... so is probably K's away on a remote section with sheep in the back of it by now! Just waiting for the insurance to payout for it, and the contents!! Now have to car share with Dan!!

UPDATE: Had a call from the police saying that some of the property from the car had been handed in to the Napier Police Station. Great we thought! Might give some indication as to where it went! But no! They don't know where the items were found as the desk in the Police Station is not manned and the items were just left on the front desk!!

Also, it seems that if the vehicle is stolen and therefore doesn't exist the Police don't come out or follow up on the initial call. They will however come out if a vehicle has been damaged!! Another point of interest is that when reporting the theft the registered owners details are entered not necessary the callers! From our recent experience it would appear that as long as you have all the relevant information you can report any ones car stolen as they don't checkup!!! Nice one!!

Weather....

2011-08-13T15:07:00.007+12:00

Out walking the dogs at the beach.... The weather was completely different depending on which view you took...

To the right..... Storms coming.....

To the left.... Blue sky and calm seas...

Birthday Boy!

2011-08-06T11:47:00.004+12:00

These look yum! If you didn't know what they were made of you'd be tempted... Wouldn't you..? Dogs love these liver and garlic cupcakes!

Archie turned 1 this week, so we baked some small cupcakes for him!

And Barney helped him eat them....Archie is camera shy so ran off with his!....

Two dogs!

2011-07-23T08:41:00.006+12:00

Archie and Barney relaxing after a hard days play!!

Still finding it strange to have a log fire burning in July / August!!

Planking!!

2011-07-03T21:59:00.003+12:00

Another one joins the craze!

Feeding Time!

2011-06-19T17:23:00.003+12:00

Treats for the Cows!

Lost!

2011-06-12T11:30:00.005+12:00

Archie had a new friend for the day recently!

One morning I was going out and noticed him sitting on the footpath all alone! So I took him inside and tried to contact his owners. Only they were at work so He wasn't collected until the evening!!

Red sky at night!

2011-06-04T17:41:00.003+12:00

Austrialian......

2011-05-30T09:44:00.005+12:00

Stopped at a McCafe for a Cappuccino and a slice of Carrot cake......! Nice China wonder where it's made!!!

Wouldn't Australian fine china be made in Australia!

Rainbow..!

2011-05-21T21:53:00.003+12:00

Out and about and came across this....

Winter Trees...

2011-05-15T13:40:00.005+12:00

Winter is nearly (officially 1st June!) upon us, many of the trees have lost their leaves or are losing them. Some really nice rich colours on display...

Hungry...!

2011-05-09T11:04:00.003+12:00

All things have to eat!

Rain....

2011-04-30T09:33:00.005+12:00

We saw between 300mm and 500mm of rain fall in around 24hrs recently.... Turned areas into lakes!!

Few days later..... All the water has gone!

Pupcakes!!

2011-04-24T09:25:00.007+12:00

To celebrate Barneys 3rd birthday we made yummy pupcakes...! Well really doggie cupcakes as he's nolonger a pup!!

With a choice of doglicious frosting's either peanut butter or cheesey mash both with sprinkles..!

Doesn't look too impressed at our efforts!!

But when it came to trying them they went down well! Only problem couldn't get a picture of Archie... He's camera shy when it comes to close ups!

Veggies

2011-04-17T11:31:00.006+12:00

A bit late but this was the veggie garden a few months back...!

Things that grew well were the cucumbers, gherkins, cos lettuce, chillies and tomatoes. Things that didn't go too well were red onions, garlic and peppers. I think that we put tooo much stuff in. Next year we'll try less.

Oh and this was our strange double decker cucumber...

Just waiting for the Olives to ripen now!

New Car ....

2011-04-10T08:25:00.007+12:00

Well new to Dan! It's a Toyota MR2 few years old, been sitting off the road for around a year, as the previous owner could nolonger drive a manual due to a motorbike accident.

It's not road worthy yet, a few things need fixing.... Was going to be a project car for Dan and Tony to work on and Dan make a few $$$, but that's all changed now and Dan will keep it..! I think that we knew that was going to happen anyway!!

Just out of interest we went online to Tesco's Insurance to see what a quote would be for him to insure it 3rd party etc etc if he had this car in the UK... We knew that the quote would be high and thought it would be couple of 1000's GBP the actual online quote for a year was 11,500 GBP!!! Here it's around 300 NZD for the year!

Crumb Hound..!

2011-03-27T15:31:00.004+13:00

Archie seizes any opportunity to bin dive for a chance of some tasty crumbs!! Heard the rustle of something coming from the dogs beds....... went to investigate and found....

Strange Postal Route from UK to NZ!

2011-03-20T15:51:00.006+13:00

Sent from the UK....

............and took 19 days to get to us because it went via......

Archie and Barney at the beach!

2011-03-12T13:54:00.004+13:00

Two loopy dogs having fun down at the beach!

More Bugs in the Garden...!!

2011-03-05T11:06:00.005+13:00

Find these almost on a daily basis...

A day on the Green...

2011-02-27T13:49:00.007+13:00

Went to see 'Crowded House' perform at Church Road Winery which is just around the corner from us. Took our little chairs, our picnic and soaked up the outside atmosphere... This pic is from near the back of the venue, we were sitting closer to the front...

Supergroove were one of the support acts...

Crowded House came on stage around 8pm.... Getting dark for pictures these are the best...

Another Sunset....

2011-02-21T15:13:00.003+13:00

Never get tired of these evenings....!

Bugs...!

2011-02-14T17:20:00.004+13:00

Keep finding these bug casings stuck to things in the garden!

And another one!

Rafting...

2011-02-05T13:21:00.007+13:00

Back in the beginning of December Louise went on a 3 day school camp. One of the activities they did was rafting....

Check out the slideshow - She's the one in green right at the front! The drop is around 7-8 meters!

Horses...

2011-01-30T08:51:00.004+13:00

Every summer the RDA horses go away for a 'holiday'. Now that they are back we've been spending a few days riding some of them, as they haven't been ridden for a few months.

Doggie paddle...

2011-01-23T11:04:00.005+13:00

Another warm day..... Time to get into the pool..!

Thought that Archie might want to join us...

Pet sitting...!

2011-01-15T16:59:00.006+13:00

Our neighbours went away for a few days and asked us to look after their animals...

Nice eggs.... So different to shop bought... Got us thinking about a Chook house..!

Unusual swimmer...!

2011-01-08T08:53:00.008+13:00

With temperatures hitting the 30s we've been using the pool quite bit..

One morning as we drew back the curtains we noticed something bigger than just a leaf moving around in the pool.! Closer inspection it turned out to be a hedgehog having a swim!!

We quickly scooped it out, put it in a bucket and then let it go in the woods next to us.

Happy New Year....

2011-01-01T08:52:00.004+13:00

Took the dogs down to the beach for a run around!

Archie found somthing tasty!!

Christmas Day...

2010-12-25T08:54:00.006+13:00

With all the recent snow in the UK we were sent a picture of a Snowman in a bikini.

So we decided at the beach we'd try and make our version. These are our efforts. I think we need more practice!!

The dogs did some diggin!!

Dan going for a walk with Barney and Archie...

Unfortunately for Archie he didn't realise that there were deep grooves where the sea had eroded the hard rock and he went from paddling to swimming in one step.!!

Last picture upload for 2010... The beach on Christmas day....

Sunsets...

2010-12-19T17:26:00.003+13:00

We've had quite a few great sunsets recently...

The colours are amazing...

Don't know if the pictures can really do it... Perhaps you have to be here to experience them..!

Meet Archie....

2010-12-12T22:47:00.006+13:00

Say Hello! to Archie.... He's a 4mth old Jack Russell x Fox Terrier..! Very fast and vocal! He's Barneys new 'friend'.. Likes shoes and toilet rolls and hides his dog biscuits around the house and garden!

It's great to see Archie and Barney chasing around the garden playing.

At the end of a hard days play......

This will get you out of the water quick...!

2010-12-07T07:03:00.016+13:00

Went for a walk along the beach at Westshore on Sunday. We'd been on a walk along the shore line and had turned back to head back to the car when we spotted these fins cruising along in the water.

There were about 5-6 big and little Orcas! They were swimming along the bay just the otherside of the wave brake, very close to the shore line... It was amazing to see them just swim by... and so close.

Chester...

2010-11-28T22:39:00.006+13:00

Sadly, we lost Chester at the end of October.

Over a weekend he seemed to have a tummy ache and was doing alot of stretching. He went off his food so we took him to the vets, initially they couldn't see a problem as his temp and heart rate were ok. So they gave him some antibiotics and sent us home saying if there is no improvement come back the next day. As he seemed to be worse we took him back, they gave him a barium meal, an x-ray located a bowel blockage, when they did an exploratory op they found that his pancreas was 7-8 time bigger than it should be, and was one big tumor, so unfortunately he was put to sleep. He was cremated and we scattered his ashes down at the river where he had soooo much fun!!

It's hard to put into words how it affected us all!! It's amazing the affect of losing a little black furry chap has on a family!! and of course his brother Barney!

So a few pictures,

And his favorite thing to do was 'a pre wash on the stuff in the dishwasher'!!

Garden Make over...

2010-11-21T08:43:00.005+13:00

We've been busy in the garden, removing raised flower beds and all the plants around the pool to prevent leaves blocking the pool filter.

Raised flower bed gone...

View around pool, before and now with new plants...

Veggie Garden - Update...

2010-11-14T21:59:00.006+13:00

Veggie Garden planted....

There are strawberries under the wire, and in the main bed, there are some lettuces, gherkins, capsicums (peppers!), cucumber, chillies, red onions, tomatoes and garlic.

Getting the pool ready for the warmer weather, we found this chap. He lives in the gaps between the paving and the pool..

Car Show....

2010-11-07T10:54:00.004+13:00

Went to a car show recently....Hot Rods and American Classics....

Classics....

Nice lights....

Birthday...!

2010-10-30T08:49:00.004+13:00

Louise's birthday cake....... Yummy Chocolate.... Shop bought as she didn't want a 'home made' one!!!

She had 10 friends round for Movies, Pizza and loads of chat!! They all had a great time and left around 11pm!!

Dan vacated the house in favour of spending the evening with his friends!!!

Camper van living NZ Style....

2010-10-25T08:09:00.005+13:00

There was a travellers fair / market by the beach and we decided to have a look at all the wares for sale. What we liked most was their mode of travel and accomodation....

Decking Seating...

2010-10-10T10:10:00.005+13:00

When we moved here there was a brick built B-B-Q. We ripped it out with the intention of putting a flower bed back. But once we removed the brick work we realised that there was a huge amount of concrete base. So we decided to turn it into seating... I forgot about a before photo..

Front lip added to hide underneath supports..

Veggie Garden...

2010-10-03T21:30:00.005+13:00

My veggie garden......

Got to get planting now....

Smile...!

2010-09-26T10:32:00.002+13:00

After several visits to the Orthodontist for X-rays and moulds....

Louise has had her brace fitted, after having 4 teeth out!!

Moving house....

2010-09-18T09:13:00.010+12:00

More House moving....

Fruit Salad Cake...

2010-09-11T17:49:00.002+12:00

Following the Cake in a Mug and Hairy dog! Here's the Fruit Salad Cake!!

You need a tin of Fruit salad and....

Mix it all together, and bake until golden!!

Ummmm! Yum!!

Some where over.....

2010-09-04T11:30:00.004+12:00

the rainbow ....!

Seal...

2010-08-28T08:35:00.002+12:00

Took the dogs for a run along the beach, while we were walking we thought that we could see a piece of drift wood bouncing in the waves. When we got closer it wasn't a piece of wood but a seal...

I couldn't get closer as the waves kept rushing in!

On the other side of the beach is Hawkes Bay Airport while we were walking this helicopter landed and took off.

How to speak New Zillund!

2010-08-14T10:34:00.006+12:00

Thought you might find this amusing!

Pollen....

2010-07-25T09:11:00.007+12:00

Didn't realise when we moved just how much pollen comes off the pine trees. At the moment everything is covered in a fine yellow dust...

The pool has some very psychedelic patterns in the mornings....

The roof of the dogs kennel covered in pollen...

And the plants get covered too!

Hairy Dog...!

2010-07-18T13:43:00.005+12:00

This Blog has brought to you 'Cake in a Mug'... and now brings you the 'Hairy Dog'!!

Go on try it....! You know you want to!!

And here's a before pic...

Another lovely day in the Bay!

2010-07-10T10:50:00.006+12:00

Took the dogs for a run down at the beach....

After their fun we took them for a wash. Not only can you wash your car but you can wash your dogs at the same place...

They are having a Shampoo, rinse and dry all for $6....!!

Winter...

2010-06-13T17:48:00.005+12:00

Leafless trees in the winter....

Soccer...

2010-06-06T21:18:00.003+12:00

Both Dan and Lou play for Napier City Rovers.

Louise had a match in the 'main stadium' recently..

Action shots...

Inside the club house..

East Cape...

2010-05-29T22:36:00.004+12:00

Tony had to do a couple of site visits for some 'buildings' that come under his care so I tagged along for the trip. We headed towards Gisbourne and beyond.

Going up we stopped at Tolaga Bay for lunch (we bought with us!) and had a stroll down the wharf. It's the longest in NZ...

Lots of drift wood on the beach....

Once we'd completed the site visits we headed back to Gisbourne and thought that we'd spend the next morning having a look around the place. Only the weather had a different idea as it was chucking it down so we headed back home..

One thing we did see was alot of properties that could in Estate Agents speak be 'doer upper's'...

Also, seen this a few times on our travels at different places around NZ. Not too sure of the meaning behind all the shoes...

And... a sign on SH 2... Don't recall seeing anything like this around the M25!

Sad Dog..!

2010-05-23T10:20:00.003+12:00

Chester has been to the vets to remove a small growth from his foot...! And up until now it's been lovely weather nice and dry... Now that he has a bandaged foot it's been raining and we have to try keep him dry...!!

He doesn't look too happy..!

Busy in the garden...

2010-05-16T15:11:00.004+12:00

We finally got round to installing a water feature in the garden. This is the before view...

All dug in and running... Now we have the tranquil sound of running water..!

I've also got a few more plants in pots around the house and pool!

And a Lime tree with limes..!

Autumn days...

2010-05-09T20:05:00.010+12:00

Winter is nearly upon us here in the Southern Hemisphere... The leaves are changing colours and falling..

Even though it's colder the dogs can't stay out of the water...

Finally, One man and his dogs...

Happy Birthday to....

2010-05-02T10:33:00.006+12:00

Barney and Chester..! They turned 2 years last week, so we decided to make them a doggy birthday cake....

Take the following 'yummy' ingredients...(Flour, Eggs, Liver, Garlic!)

Mix together and place in the oven..

Here are the birthday boys waiting to tuck in..!

Ready... steady... goooooo!

Ummmm... Delish!! With a peanut butter topping!!

Keeping the vegetation under control...!

2010-04-24T13:48:00.005+12:00

No need to get the cutters out... These do a great job at keeping the green stuff at bay!!

Kiwi Advertisements...!

2010-04-17T09:45:00.010+12:00

Could you see these in a town near you...!!?

And if you're looking for more beads for your bracelet you could always try here...

Happy Dogs...!!

2010-04-10T12:35:00.005+12:00

This is what happens when we leave the dogs in the car and go shopping!!
(Click on the Play arrow)

Summer is over...!

2010-04-03T18:26:00.004+13:00

As summer has come to an end and we're heading into Autumn we thought we'd make the most of the last few sunny days, so headed off to the beach.

Last swim of the Summer..

Dogs enjoyed their digging!

Leaving....

2010-03-28T15:02:00.006+13:00

On Tuesday 23rd we had to say our farewells to Tony's Dad and Sister as their visit to New Zealand had come to the end...

It was great to have familiar faces around and hopefully it won't be too long before we see them again....

At the beach...

2010-03-22T08:01:00.008+13:00

Walking the dogs at Ocean Beach...(Saturday 20th March)

Beach Tractor Trip down to Cape Kidnappers to see the Gannets!(Sunday 21st March)

The tractor broke down so we had to get off whilst it was fixed..

The gannets at the top of Cape Kidnappers..

The lighthouse at the top..

View from the top colony..

Down at the beach..

Louise managed to get a front seat ride for the trip back...

Out and about over the weekend!

2010-03-15T09:20:00.011+13:00

We visited the National Aquarium of New Zealand on a wild windy day!

It was feeding time for the fish....

Other pictures...

We also went wine tasting.... I was the driver, whilst the others sampled the various different types to see if they could discover the different characters of the wine and work out the various aromas...

By the end of the day the conversation was going like this...

Tony : This chardonnay has a pale straw colour with youthful green hues!

Tanya : The Aroma characters of peach and citrus blossom are integrated with a hint of hazelnut and vanilla!

George: This has rich yet taut palate, which unleashes waves of flavour!

Celebrations!

2010-03-06T22:14:00.006+13:00

Went to Napier to do a spot of shopping and there were some Cultural Celebrations taking place!

Also Tony's Dad and sister arrived from the UK for a visit!

Pictures from the weekend!

2010-03-01T08:48:00.006+13:00

Kiwi fruit.....

Dogs at the beach.....We forgot about the Tsunami warning earlier in the day!

Mission Estate grapes nearly ready....

New House...

2010-02-22T15:34:00.004+13:00

Well...... The dogs have a new one.... We bought them a nice warm kennel for when they have to stay in their run when we're out...

Barney and Chester...

River....

2010-02-13T21:35:00.004+13:00

A few weeks ago it rained and rained!! I took the dogs down to the river to see how big it was...

A week later the water level was back down enough that we could long the bank..

Google Maps.. Our Jan Road Trip

2010-02-01T15:56:00.000+13:00

Just worked out how to do this...

View Jan 2010 Road Trip in a larger map

Day 7 of our Trip...

2010-01-29T23:14:00.008+13:00

Friday 15th Jan
We headed off to the Waitomo coves. We couldn't take any pictures of the glowworm cave as it was prohibited. The silent boat ride through the Glowworm grotto was amazing.

We also saw the Aranui cave and were able to take lots of pictures of the various stalactites and stalagmites. I'm not sure if all my pictures are the right way up as it's difficult to work out what way they should be. So here are some...

A family of wetas..

After the cave exploration we drove down to the Marokopa Falls, truly awesome! 36 meters high.. You don't realise how loud they are and the spray travels along way..

I remembered the video function on my camera.

Then back to the motel to packup and get ready for an early morning start for the drive back to Napier. All in a round trip of 1650ks...

Day 6 of our Trip...

2010-01-29T23:13:00.013+13:00

Thursday 14th Jan
We left the motel in Cromandel Town and drove back through Thames and on to Hamilton arriving in time for Lunch and to do a bit of shopping..

Street Art work...

Later that evening we went bowling... At one point we were the only ones there..

A few action shots..

Day 5 of our Trip...

2010-01-29T23:13:00.010+13:00

Wednesday 13th Jan
A beach day... First we started at Whangapoua Beach ... Good for body boarding. Didn't get any pictures as I went for a walk when the kids went out and they wouldn't go back in again!

Louise trying to keep out of the sun!

Lots of these..

Second half of the day we spent at Otama Beach. Beautiful clear water, Dan and I went snorkeling, lots of shells and fish to see..

Action shots of the gulls going for bits of crisps..

More, More, More.... It was squawking..!

Then back to the motel to packup ready to leave in the morning for our drive to Hamilton..

Day 4 of our Trip...

2010-01-29T15:09:00.007+13:00

Tuesday 12th Jan
We went to Cathedral Cove. We knew that it was a walk from the carpark to the beach but sometimes you're just not quite prepared..! It was a hot day and walking in 'flip flops' (jandels) wasn't a good move! However once we made it there it was easy to see why it's so popular..

The view down to the Cove in the far distance..

Down at the cove..

You can take an englishman abroad..... But you can't take the englishness away!

On the way back we stopped at another beach...

Day 3 of our Trip...

2010-01-29T15:08:00.011+13:00

Monday 11th Jan
As we had been in the sun all the previous day we decided to stay off the beach. The first place we visited was 'the waterworks'. It is 5 acres of water powered gadgets and other interactive attractions that are built from recycled materials. These are just a few of the activities...

Pedal the bikes to make the water flow...

Giant Skittles...

Mouse wheel...

ET come home...

Then we drove on to the Waiau Falls...Not the biggest... But it was nice and peaceful..

And Finally to a Kauri Grove. Almost all the Kauri trees on the Coromandel were logged, but scattered areas remain. This is a group of 13, not sure how old they are but they are big...

On the way back to the motel we spotted these hanging.. Don't know if it means something..

Day 2 of our Trip...

2010-01-29T12:55:00.008+13:00

Sunday 10th Jan
We set off for New Chums Beach. Apparentley it's been 'Voted one of the Top 20 Beaches in the world in 2006 by The Observer'. To get there you have to wade thru an estuary at low tide (it was waist deep on our return!) and then follow the shoreline until you find a walking track then it's a walk through the bush to the other side where you find the beach..

We watched this bird cracking open a mussel for a bite to eat.. We think that this is a 'variable oystercatcher'..

The walk through native bush, to get to and from the beach..

When we got back to our Motel some bikers had arrived all on nice shiney Harleys.

Tony had a chat about bike stuff etc and then they asked if Louise would like a ride. (She'd been eyeing the bikes!) So off she went... They were gone for about 20 mins... Check the grin on the last pic... We think she enjoyed herself...

Day 1 of our Trip...

2010-01-29T11:51:00.009+13:00

Saturday 9th Jan
We took the dogs to the kennels the night before so we could get an early start (7am). The first road trip of our week away was Napier to Taupo, then to Rotorua, on to Waihi, stopping at Thames, finially getting to Coromandel town.

We stopped at Mac D's for breakie, and then drove on to Rotoura so the kids could have another go at the Luge runs..

Then it was on to Tauranga where we stopped for lunch and then on to Waihi where there is a huge mine (Martha Mine). It's 200m down to the bottom. Check out the diggers near the bottom!

The Cornish Pump house. This was moved from it's original site due to subsidence in Feb 2007. It took 3 months to move the 2000 tonne building.

Then we drove onto Thames where we stopped for provisions and on to our motel in Coromandel town, arriving at 5pm ish..

We've been away!!

2010-01-16T18:29:00.004+13:00

We've just had a week away.... Touring the Coromandel Peninsula and a few other places on the way up and back.

Photo's to follow.... Here's a few to start!

New Years Day 2010....

2010-01-01T09:25:00.003+13:00

Nice Sunny day....

Took the dogs for a run in the afternoon down at the beach..

This dog came galloping down the beach on his own... Stopped for a sniff and then was on his way again....

Dan wanted to try out one of his Christmas pressies.... an EXTREME Frisbee!!

More dog pictures....

Paw prints in the sand...

Christmas Day....

2009-12-25T11:02:00.005+13:00

In contrast to the weather back in the UK... (photo of my brothers back garden)

We've had a hot, sunny Christmas day... In the morning we took the dogs down to the river for a swim and a run about. Dan and Lou ended up in the river with them as it was so warm...

We decided that as it was such a great day that we wouldn't go to the beach we'd stay at home and make the most of the day by splashing about in the pool..!!

No traditional Christmas roast this year.... Instead we ate outside and had Prawns and Steak on the BBQ, and then for pud a kiwi classic a Pavlova... Yummmmy!!

More splashing about....

Building work....

2009-12-20T15:57:00.007+13:00

We're having some work done on the house and the scaffold has gone up at the front and back of the house. It went up in stages and now is over 7m high. Because of the new height (to meet the apex of the roof!) the man from OSH had to come out and approve it!

Tony, Dan and Louise testing it!

Notice anything different...! Apart from no window......

No bricks..... just wood!!

Hamtastic...!!

2009-12-13T16:08:00.006+13:00

Tony came home from work and said that he'd won a prize in a raffle, but couldn't remember what it was.....

Few days later he came home with his win... A 6.5kg ham....

Looks like we'll be eating alot of ham over christmas......