Catching up with Friends - A Visit with the Addie Family!

I don't even know where to start with this entry! We had such an amazing time with our friends Dean and Kirsten that I have decided that this visit needs to be entered as 3 separate blogs! This entry will share photos of us with Dean, Kirsten, Tom and Rosa. Later I will share the second entry that will deal entirely with food. The Addies went well out of their way to feed us (it seemed every couple of hours) and highlighted some of New Zealand's finest cuisine (again, more about that after). The third entry will share many of the things that we did with them, with highlights such as the visit to their friend's sheep farm, an overnight road trip to Te Anau, and other fun times. The Addie family made us feel incredibly welcome and all four us felt like we were "at home". We have been away a couple of months now and our visit to their home was just what we needed. For all of our friends back home that also know Dean and Kirsten, START PLANNING and get yourselves over here!!!!!!!! You're going to love it!!! Thanks again Dean and Kirsten! We had an amazing time with you!!!!

An unexpected stop along the way!

We had a brief unexpected interruption as we were approaching Invercargill. We came around a corner and then had to do a quick pull off the road as the sheep were on their way home and they certainly were not moving out of the way for me! The kids thought this was quite something!

On our way to Invercargill (the Southern most point on the South Island)

The trip from Dunedin down to Invercargill was very beautiful and we stopped a couple of times to view the ocean. We had a long walk along the first beach and had our lunch and then a half hour walk on the second beach. The Pacific Ocean is so powerful and it was so amazing to see the ocean along this route. A great drive!

Christchurch (A great city!)

We absolutely loved Christchurch! It is an amazing city and we totally lucked out with our accomodation. We stayed at the Heritage hotel and were upgrade to an executive suite at no extra charge. The hotel is the building with the 3 archways on the lower level. It is an old parliament building that has been restored. Our apartment was 2 stories and the kids had their bedrooms upstairs with a window opening overlooking the living room. They were so excited. We were right down in the Cathedral square so we parked the car and walked everywhere for a couple of days. The city has beautiful old buildings and beautiful botanical gardens and is a great city for walking. We should have stayed longer but we had to hit the road!

Kaikoura

Spent a couple of days in Kaikoura heading down the East Coast of the South Island. We stopped just before the town at a lookout to view the sea and were surprised to see a whole seal colony along the shoreline. Also stopped to see another seal colony just South of the town on our way south two days later. The place we stayed was right on this beach and as you can see we had a beautiful view of the mountains. The beach had the most amazing rocks ever and we spent quite a bit of time collecting them. Lauren plans to share them with friends upon our return and although a bit worried that some might think that she went all the way to New Zealand and only brought them a rock, she hopes they will appreciate them for the beautiful objects that they are. Each of her rocks were carefully chosen so I hope they are appreciated! A very beautiful place to spend a couple of days. We had great shrimp sandwiches at a seafood stand on the way out of town.

Kathleen's Birthday and a Walk in Abel Tasman National Park

We haven't seen very much rain in NZ but unfortunately we did get some on Kathleen's B-day. We left Wellington and took a 3 and 1/2 hour ferry ride to the South Island arriving in Picton. We then drove over to Nelson where we had a fabulous suite at the Rutherford Hotel for 3 nights. We had a great dinner for Kathleen (roast chicken and Caesar salad). The next morning we took a drive over to Abel Tasman National Park where we enjoyed a nice walk through the park. We stopped at Kaiteriteri Beach on the way back and spent the afternoon where we enjoyed some nice weather and Wall's Magnum ice cream bars! A memorable B-day for Kathleen!

The capital city of Wellington!

We had a great 3 days in Wellington. We really liked this city. We had two great dinners when here. Had a great Indian dinner at Satay India the first night (Cam loved his butter chicken and Lauren loved her spicy chicken dish) and a great pizza dinner at One Red Dog the next night. Wellington is a fabulous walking city and we walked all over it. The Te Papa Museum is the best museum I have ever been in. The kids loved it (especially the Giant Colossal Squid they have preserved weighing in at 500 kg). As you can see by the end of the third day when Kathleen and Lauren were still shopping, Gord and Cameron stopped in at the Back-Bencher Pub and Cafe for a Macs. Great little Wellington brewery that makes drinks for both Dads and their sons. This pub is right across from the Parliament building which is a landmark watering hole where politicians grab a cold beer after a hot debate. We will be back in Wellington for another couple of days in about 3 weeks and we are already looking forward to it!

Huka Falls

Had a stop in at the Huka Falls on our way down to Napier. The falls are quite extraordinary and apparently this river produces almost 50% of the North island's power. Pretty awesome!

Our first lamb dinner in NZ

Just wanted to share one of our favourite dinners so far in New Zealand. Gord picked up a couple of racks of lamb at the butchers, marinated them in fresh rosemary, garlic and some NZ olive oil and roasted them in a hot oven. Made up a couple of quick salads and the dinner was awesome! The kiwis do a great job on their wines too! The kids loved it too so next time I might have to buy 3 racks!

Whakatane

Hi again! Sorry about the delay in updating the Blog but accessing the internet is a bit difficult at times. Had a great day at Ohope Beach in Whakatane on the Bay of Plenty. Cameron was having a great time with the seagulls until one got a little close!! This is the community where our friends Zack and Johna lived in New Zealand two years ago. A very nice little place! We had a great fish and chips dinner at the harbour before stopping in at the Awakeri Hot Springs on the way home. A great day!

Waihi Beach

We went up to Waihi Beach today. The beach is 7 km long and Lauren was in heaven choosing seashells on the beach. It was such a great way to spend the first day of November.

Cameron thought this was blog worthy!

He's keeping it fun!

Beautiful New Zealand countryside

New Zealand is a fabulous country to drive in. Cameron's favourite saying lately has been, "Stay on the left Dad". Although I turned on the windshield wipers about 20 times yesterday(everytime I was trying to signal a turn), I am finally getting the heck of it. I often thought of Ireland as I was driving as the scenery is much the same with rolling green hills and pastures. Really, really beautiful! Lots of sheep too!