In Auckland At Last!

We made it! After a long 12 hour flight we arrived in Auckland, New Zealand. We have had a fabulous 3 days in Auckland and will be leaving for Rotorua tomorrow. Just wanted to let everyone know that we arrived safe and sound and that we are well. I will send more of an update about our time in Auckland once we are settled in Rotorua.

Catching Up with Old Friends!

We had such a nice ending to our BC visit as we had the opportunity to catch up with old friends from back east who are now living in Vancouver. On the Thurs. evening we had a great visit over at our friends Jen and Al and their two kids Nate and Ollie. Unfortunately I forgot to bring our camera so we don't have any photos to share with you. It was so great to see them again. On Friday we packed up and left Bowen Island. Kathleen's sister Jo drove us over to North Vancouver where we had yet another fabulous meal and a sleepover at Splint and Liisa's place. As you can tell by the photos, Lauren and Cameron really enjoyed hanging out with Jared and Tallin. Gord and Splint stayed up a little late that night and it was fun catching up on memories from our Kingston days. Again, another fabulous time! Kathleen and the kids then had a chance to catch up with old friends from North Bay (Cam and Rosemary Marshall and their three kids Natalie, Ben and Amelia). Unfortunately again, no camera. Lauren and Cameron used to play with Natalie and Ben when they were toddlers so it was great to have them play again. We would like to thank all of our friends for their generous Western hospitality. You sure made us feel home away from home!

Whistler

Okay, I'm a little behind here so it is time to catch up. We went up to Whistler for a day before we left BC and checked out a few of the places that will be used in the upcoming Olympics. The kids were quite impressed with the size of the mountain. Lauren said that she would never ski down but Cameron thought it would be fun to give it a go. It was a beautiful sunny day so we really lucked out. Lauren found a funky black skirt in one of the Whistler shops and Cameron found a Canucks hat so both were pleased. We ended our day with a fabulous meal at 21 Steps. If you ever find yourself in Whistler you will have to go as it has great food. A great day!

Tofino

We had a great 3 days in Tofino! We rented a fabulous house next to the Beach with Jo and Morgan and the girls. Lauren and Cameron didn't seem to mind that it was mid October as they enjoyed their swims in the ocean. Tofino is a beautiful place to enjoy long walks on the beach. Lauren and Cameron really enjoyed collecting sand dollars on the beach and have plans to give them as gifts for their friends back home.

BC has been great!

Still trying to figure out how this whole Blog thing works but thought I had better get something posted to let everyone know that we are all well and happy. I just posted 4 photos on my first entry and then realized that there wasn't any room for any text. I will try to figure this all out in good time. Today is Day 12 and I have been meaning to get this up and running but we have been very busy enjoying our family and the good weather out West. We have been having a great time catching up with Jo and Morgan and their girls Molly and Grace. Bowen Island is extremely beautiful as you will see is some of the photos. We have also had a chance to catch up with Kathleen's cousin Stefan and his wife Gillian and their two daughters Shannon and Stephanie. They had us over for a lovely dinner last Monday including BC salmon and then Stefan took us out on his boat on Thurs. He took us over to Gibsons BC along the Sunshine Coast which is where they filmed The Beachcombers. You will notice Molly's Reach in one of the photos, the restaurant that was featured on the show. Cameron thought it was pretty neat to drive Stefan's boat out on the Strait of Georgia heading out to the ocean. More news to follow.

Bowen Bound