The last leg of our holiday

 The last morning of our trip, the kids got to go fishing one last time. We dropped Hubby's Mum off at the train station to visit her sister in Christchurch and we headed to the ferry terminal. Hubby took these photos while I napped.

I enjoyed watching the rainbows in the splatters of water outside my window.

And then we were on our way home. It was a long day and we'd be home late, so we figured the kids would listen to their ipods and maybe nap before we got home. We were wrong. So wrong. 

Hubby and I put in a compilation CD he had made for our wedding and we began to quietly (at first) just relax in the front seat and enjoy the drive as the sun set. But when familiar songs came around the kids perked up in the back seat and started singing along.  So we sang. Loud! We rolled the windows down and sang at the top of our lungs for about 2 hours, replaying the 'favorites' over and over and over!

It was a fabulous way to end a great holiday. And it certainly wasn't like anything I'd ever done with my parents! That was one for the record books!

various photos from our holiday

We rented a 'cabin' (it was an actual house that was as big as ours back home!) for 5 days that had this fella and one of his siblings (or him again) inside every day!

This kid was just happily digging his little heart out on the beach. When I inquired as to his intentions, he just shrugged and said, 'I'm just digging.'

The flax growing beside the outside terrace of the coffee shop had been braided and woven.

I have a 'thing' for clouds.

It was icky, but I held the starfish Hubby scooped from the ocean and plopped into my hand upside down as the kids were fishing. Holding it wasn't so bad, but watching all those tiny tentacles wiggling around on his underside was the icky part.

Farewell Spit

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 Farewell Spit is a scenic reserve and bird sanctuary. The only way to get to the end to see this lighthouse, without a special permit, is by tour bus.

A Maori carving is erected there.

Even though the spit is mostly shifting sands that are very dangerous to boats and animals (it's where most of  the whale beachings occur) there is a wetland in the middle with marsh plants and animals.

The sands are forever blown around by the wind, making ghostly shodows.

These are tiny sand images made by the wind.

I learned that it is illegal to get within 20 meters of a fur seal in NZ. We saw this one as we crossed the water from a 'pan' (a lagoon that fills with the tide then drains as the tide recedes). I can't imagine how far down the wet sand went, so it was a good thing the guide knew where he was driving.

The whole family enjoyed the tour and the tour guide was very knowledgeable and fun.  I have posted a few more photos on my photoblog. Click here.

Pupu Springs

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Waikoropupu Springs is the clearest water I have ever seen. It's of significance to the Maori people with the following legend:

 Waikoropupu is the legendary home of the female taniwha, Huriawa, one of the three main taniwha of Aotearoa. She is a diver of land and sea, travelling deep beneath the earth to clear blocked waterways. She is brave and wise and believed to still rest in the waters of Waikoropupu, when she is not away attending to business.

Touch the Sea, Mapua

Click on the map for larger view to follow our virtual holiday tour.

Touch the Sea in Mapua  was a lot of fun for everybody. You can touch many of the creatures of the sea, including a huge manta ray, huge eels, baby sharks, many fish, starfish, anemones.

These baby rays were more interested in peeking at us than being touched, but they did venture up occasionally.

There were also displays that you couldn't touch, like this octopus...

and these flounders.

The restroom was appropriately decorated, too!

This is a great place to take the family if you are in the area. 

Great holiday, as usual!

We had a really great holiday, as we always do. Hubby is the best planner in New Zealand and we were all amazed at the great things and places he found.


Hubby's Mum (HM) came in from England and we picked her up at the airport in New Plymouth on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday morning, we were heading out to Wellington with a slight detour to Palmerston North so HM could catch up with some friends. While they were having lunch, we took the kids go-carting.

Then we were off to Wellington for a quick meal, a stroll along the beach.

Hubby found a great motel that had two bedrooms upstairs. We were all glad for the rest, but we had started this joke from a comedian we saw on tv. Apparently, it was a tradition in her family to do a silly take-off of OilCan Harry (if you don't remember it, you can google him). It went something like this:


"Pay the rent."
"But, I can't pay the rent."
"Pay the rent."
"But, I can't pay the rent."


Then the hero shows up:
"I'll pay the rent."
"My hero!"
"Curses, foiled again!"


Well, our crew wasn't about to waste this silliness and we did the sketch at every opportunity, all giggling ourselves silly each time. 


Finally, it was bedtime and when we wanted the kids to settle down, we chided up the stairs, "Go to sleep." 


We should have known better because the next thing we heard was a squeaky, "But, I can't go to sleep." And we all giggled from being tired all over again for another 20 minutes. A great start to the holiday!


The next morning we were off to the ferry for a trip across the Cook Strait. 

And our holiday was on it's way to other wonderful things to see and do in the South Island. 


Sadly, cameras (no matter how good they are suppose to be) don't come close to capturing the real beauty of our trip, but we will cheerfully settle for the reminders our cameras provide. We have about 850 shots from this trip and it's hard to decide what to share with you. I will be taking you on a virtual tour on this blog and posting favorite shots on my other blog. So feel free to check out both blogs.