Loving it - week 30

The school holidays are dragging on, it seems like a lifetime ago that Mila was actually in school! But the school stationery arrived yesterday, so that's a sign that it is nearly drawing to an end. 

Mila spent a few days down in Wellington with her grandfather and cousin recently and came back to us on Monday, red-faced but happy.  She informed me that it was much cooler in Wellington and trying to sleep hadn't been nearly as bad as she was finding it back home. 

To help Bug get over the pain of being left behind (her time will come when she is eight) Ben and I put a leetle extra effort into keeping her occupied back here in Auckland.  We made it to the zoo on Saturday and lasted a few hours before the sun got the best of us. 

Highlight was definitely the kiwi, we are pretty sure we saw two of them doing the wild thing right in front of us! It was kinda hard to tell though, there was lot of feather pulling and then running around.

We also tried out the new waterpark in Waterview, but by then we were all dying from the heat, so beat a path back home for ice blocks and sprinklers on the front lawn.

That night we went to Burger Burger for dinner. I had fish, Bug got chicken and Ben got beef.  All of them were pretty epic, as were Bug's fries. We also got potato skins, but the truffle oil was a tad intense for me.  Next time, I'm trying the broccoli.

Sunday saw us travel up to Orewa to catch up with Sharon, my step-father's wife. We had cheese scones and coffee before heading down to the beach for a swim. It was great, despite Juno swallowing half the ocean. 

Sharon gave me some of John's things- photo albums and also a photographic series he did when he was still able to get out and about after he retired. I already have one of his photos on the wall, so am currently in the process of figuring out where the rest should go. I need a gallery space!

So as you can see, a lot to love this past week and all of it to do with family....awwww sweet.

Here's some other highlights....

* Made it to yoga (yay me!)

* Lost one kilo

* Watched a cool mini series called And then there were none (watch it if you like Agatha Christie)

* Caught a glimpse of an Orangutan at the zoo

* Managed to throw some crap out (props to Ben for tackling the garage)

* Had pizza from Sette Bello

* Got Olive a cat door

Winning!

Catching up... big time

So I think I must be up to about week 27 or 28!  It's been a pretty busy holiday period for us, we spent lots of time away in Tairua, Coromandel Township and Cambridge, Actually, by the end of it, it was almost a relief to be home! Well, almost....

Anyway, I'm gonna let pictures do most of the talking here and use words to fill in the gaps.

Christmas Day was pretty ace... a slow, leisurely start with brunch up at Ben's parents with my dad in tow.  Then we worked on Christmas dinner and has a few drinks in the sun before everyone, my girls included, turned up for presents, turkey, salmon, Christmas pudding, salads, drinks, pumpkin pie and well, you get the idea.

After that it was down to Tairua where we hung out for a few days, enjoying some epic sunshine and day tripping to Whiti Farmpark (June-bug got bitten by a miniature horse!) We also spent time down on Ocean Beach and had a sandcastle competition.

It was back to Auckland for New Years at Simon and Vivs, which was really cool.  I got to see my cousin Dave and his wife Helen, who I haven't seen in way too long. New Years is also a time for making resolutions, of which I have fricken tonne, but I'll save all those for another post I think.

Next up on the holiday to-do list was a camping trip in Cormandel with Simon, Viv and Luca.  It was pretty cool, but I did kinda struggle.  We were a little ill-prepared, even though we felt like we'd packed everything bar the kitchen sink and we literally could not squeeze another thing in the car. Our air mattress was a deflater too, so that kinda sucked.  But whingeing aside, the holiday was fun.

The kids had a total ball, running around making friends, in and out of the water and in and out of the tent. I really liked the evenings- making dinner and then having a drink as the sun went down, was pretty damn pleasant.

We had a couple of day trips as well- we went to the Coromandel Mussel Kitchen for lunch one day and the next day we headed to Waterworks, a kinda hokey theme park hidden in the bush.

After camping came Cambridge, We spent a weekend here and then left the girls behind for a week of fun with their nana.  While we were in Cambridge Ben and I went to the Hamilton Gardens and tried to not to wilt away in the heat. We also hit the farmer's market and trash-to-treasure, where I scored a new apron (as you do).

So there you have it, my summer holiday done and dusted.  I said i'd let the pictures do the talking, but clearly I lied, because I just wrote a novel!

Hooray for birthdays!

Just a quick post tonight to save me from getting too far behind!  I promise, more will soon be forthcoming.  I've been busy at work and my step dad died last week so I haven't been in the best frame of mind for blogging.  Still its not all bad!  You only have to look at some of the pics from birthday weekend away in Kohukohu with Ben to see how good things can really be.

We took a Friday off the weekend before last and made our way up north at a leisurely pace, driving through Dargaville and up through the Waipoua Forest.  I saw Tane Mahuta for the first time - that's one big ass tree right there! We also went to Rawene for lunch and had fish and chips on the wharf while we waited for the car ferry.

After that it was just a quick drive to Kohukohu, quite possibly one of the smallest, prettiest towns in NZ (in my opinion).  We stayed in an old cafe building that sat right out over the water. It was mainly just one large room with a wrap around deck and it was perfect. Ben tried his luck fishing, but didn't get anywhere and he also taught me how to play chess, which I kinda sucked at but enjoyed nonetheless.

We had dinner both nights at the local pub and had great coffee from the cafe and Ben had an epic meat pie too. We also drove out to Mitimiti on the Saturday, which is a remote, wild west coast beach totally worth a visit (again, in my opinion).

On the Sunday we made our way back to Auckland again taking a scenic route, this time through Langs Beach, Waipu Cove and Mangawhai.  We had lunch at Bennetts in Mangawhai and then bought some delicious chocolates from their store, some for us and some for the girls.  It was a pretty sweet weekend all round, it's gotta be said.

More soon, I promise!

As ever, a shout out to Ben for the mad photo skills.

Loving it - week twelve

Talofa!  Having just returned from a week-long tropical holiday with my mum and sister, I'm finding plenty to love this week, but the Auckland weather doesn't feature! (Oh my god, it's so fricken cold here right now, I feel like I could actually perish at night.)

None of our group of three had ever been to Samoa before, and I can't understand why because it's pretty awesome. We stayed on the southern coast at Coconuts Beach Club and spent most of our time either lounging around the resort, eating at another joint down the road or tiki-touring in our rental car across the island.

I was the sole driver and frankly, the driving was exhausting at times due to the sheer amount of pot-holes in the road. The locals ambling along the road three abreast are a hazard unto themselves as well.

Highlights for me included a waterfall we visited on our last day in the O le Pupu-Pue National Park.  I was a bit too scared to jump in, but I did swim and the water was amazing, as was all the bush around.  This was the one spot where I saw a lot of lizards too. 

Oka was another trip favourite, none of us could get enough of this dish and at least one person ordered it at every meal pretty much. Oka was always raw tuna marinated in coconut milk with various additions like tomato, cucumber, chili, coriander and lemon. The best thing to eat in the searing heat.

Although the food at our resort was a bit hit and miss (actually pretty bad), their Fia Fia night was really fun and despite the torrential downpour through out dinner the performers kept us entertained with heaps of songs, dances and fire twirling, licking and dancing (this probably has a proper name). 

Coconuts also made epic cocktails and Harriet and I did a great job of working our way through a big chunk of the list, and the staff were friendly, accommodating and sweet. In fact one girl helped Harriet in a medical emergency by taking us back to her house to find supplies because they had run out at the hotel.  At Sinelei we managed to befriend a waiter who hugged us all good bye when we had our last dinner there on Sunday night, he was a total sweetheart who seemed to really like my mum and who's last words were "goodbye palangi."

Like most holidays I go on, I kept thinking about how much my kids would love it there- the heat, the water, the wild surrounds make a pretty perfect kids' playground and there was so much to do that we never got round to that I can't wait to find the time and money to go back with the fambam in tow. 

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On a sadder (much, much sadder) note, my step dad John has gone into hospice for the final time to be made comfortable as he finally succumbs to his horrible degenerative lung condition. I have been up to see him twice and the last time he was unable to really speak as he has decided to go off his antibiotics, which are basically prolonging his life. 

The amazing team at hospice are keeping him comfortable and relaxed and he is able to sleep most of the day. It's really too hard to talk about or accept and in this situation there is nothing to love, there's only a terrible sense of grief.