Site seeing

We've done a bit of siteseeing in Auckland while the folks have been here. We did the usual Sky Tower (I am sure you're all tired of the same pics) but this time we did it differently, we went at night and believe you me, it was better than I had ever seen it. Auckland is a beautiful city and it just looks so much better at night, the boats on the harbour, the whole city lit up, it makes a very picturesque setting.








We also visited Devenport, a seaside suburb on the North Shore of Auckland. We got some really nice views of Auckland City, and then had some fish & chips for dinner, the kiwi thing to do when you're at the beach.

Birthday Celebrations

In celebration of Cameron's 32nd birthday we decided to have a bbq at home with a few friends.

It was so nice to have Cameron's parents with us for his birthday, God knows he needed it.
As his birthday was on Thursday (22nd April) while we were in Rotorua, we decided the best time to have it was Friday when we got back to Auckland. It was also a good excuse to have all our friends meet the folks and vice versa. So as soon as we got back to Auckland Friday afternoon, we went to Continental's and bought our stocks, the usual. We love Continental because (And I don't know if I've mentioned this before) it's the same Continentals Butchery that started in Overport, Durban. Well it's the same family business and the standard is exactly the same as our Durban one.
And thank God for Mother in Laws, I don't know how I could have done anything without my dear mother in law, she just got right into everything and all I had to do was make salads, awesome!!!
It was a lovely evening, thanks everyone for making it on such short notice.










And not only did we end up celebrating Cameron's birthday we got to celebrate 2 BIG Announcements, both our friends Premika & Evelyn are expecting. Can't wait to be an aunty again!!! Congrats ladies and to the husbands Lenny & Api, well done... LOL!!!

Rotorua Day Trip

As it was Cameron's birthday and because we weanted to show the folks a bit of NZ (other than Auckland) we decided to take a trip to Rotorua. This is one of the top tourist destinations in the North Island of New Zealand, for one it is probably the only city in NZ that is built in the crater of a volcanoe (a dormant one, don't stress)and because of the tectonic plates that run under the area the geothermal activity is abundant. The whole city reaks of rotten eggs, seriously, it's just the sulphur scent that lingers in the air because of all the geothermal activity. And also because the Movie "The Lord of the Rings" was shot in and around the area. Hobbiton is about an hour away in an area called Matamata. We drove by but didn't have the opportunity to stop, so that's one of our next destinations. But I digress... We thought Rotorua would be the perfect place because it is filled with so much Maori Culture, more than what you experience in Auckland, and we really wanted Cameron's parents to experience this.

We stayed at the Coachman Motor Lodge, it was very comfy and because everything we wanted to see was right on their doorstep, it really was the most convenient place to stay.





We visited Te Puia Geothermal park as well. This not only showed us some interesting geothermal activity but also introduced us to some of the Maori culture.

The entrance is marked by a set of 5 carved waharoa (gateways), each slightly smaller than the first.

Each of the layers of the waharoa represents, according to Maori, the 5 stages of development in the creation of the physical world.

Through this portal visitors enter Te Heketanga-a-Rangi (Heavenly Origins) – a place representing the spiritual beliefs of Maori.

We took some pics in front of the Maori carvings. In the Maori culture the males are taught to carve and these carvings are displayed at Marae's (a sacred place which servs as both religious and social purposes in Maori culture) and other social Maori places.









And we visited the Marae and enjoyed the Maori cultural show.




The show included the traditional karanga (Maori welcome),some Maori dancing including the seductive poi dance, the ferocious haka, (war challenge) and the complex tititorea (stick games).






We got to see some really interesting geysers, the most famous of them all was the Pohutu Geyser which would erupt every 20 minutes or so to heights of up to 30 meteres. I think we got to see it go up to about that height, maybe less but it was incredible.









This was Paul, our guide at Te Puia. He was so funny, and was really intrigued by Cameron, this "Big Indian South African", he kept saying how he had never met such a big South African before, and yes, all he could talk about with Cameron was the rugby.

We then visited the carving & weaving schools at Te Puia.





After a long day of travelling and seeing sites at Te Puia, we went back to the Lodge to relax and freshen up, then went into Rotorua town centre to see what was on offer.


We then had dinner at a cute little pub called the Pig & Whistle. There was some live music so we had a lovely evening there, only thing they didn't have Cameron's fave song, Don't let the Sun go down by Elton John & George Micheal.

All in all it was a lovely evening and after dinner we got home and just enjoyed each other's company. And Cameron got cosy and enjoyed having his mum & dad with him. It was priceless...




And I was so enamoured with this cute little antique radio they had in the room, so had to take a pic of it...