Bank Holiday Weekend

Our last free weekend before we take possession of the house on Friday. After that it will be painting and decorating, mowing lawns and all those 1001 little jobs that we’ve escaped since being here. This renting lark has a lot to be said for it! We’re all very excited about it though, can’t wait till our furniture finally arrives in November - apparently the container is in Sydney at the moment!

We decided not to take the opportunity to go away for a couple of nights, but planned some day trips out from here. After all, when you all come and visit we’ll need to know where to take you! The 'wobbly' bridge over the Waikato was not for the feight hearted... and the 'beware of the bogsleigh' sign was slightly confusing...

I managed to injure my back at the stables on Saturday morning, so our planned kayaking trip was possibly not the best option. What else….? Aaah, obviously, the hot spa pools at Te Arahoa. Bliss!

The hot water also forms the “world’s only soda geyser, rising some three metres form the ground.” So we waited, (Lana tasted the water) and waited and waited for this amazing sight. Was it worth it? You be the judge!!!

The waterfall and stream in the Kaimai Hills was pretty spectacular though.

Great news, Miranda has started laying again – in fact she’s getting very possessive over her eggs and has to be coaxed off them with some tasty titbits! One of the little white bantams kept going missing, or so we thought, but we’ve now discovered her secret nest under the hen house.

Oops, I managed to get a speeding fine – but it was definitely Richard’s fault as I was going to pick him up from work when it was raining too hard for him to cycle back. If he wasn’t such a fair weather cyclist, I’d be $230 better off! I’d better keep a closer eye on the speed limit zones in future though– I could have sworn I was in a 70kph zone, not a 50. OK, so I was clocked at 77kph, but 10% over isn’t too bad. I’m not going to work out the real percentage!

We haven’t written much on the blog recently, but the day-to-day stuff of going to the supermarket, taking the kids to school is the same wherever you are. I still haven’t managed to get a photo of the girls in their summer uniforms, but if I wait a little longer, maybe they won’t be expecting it and I'll get one!