Waitangi Day Weekend

It's been a while since I did a scenes of New Zealand entry.  Part of it is that as my Kiwi friend Em would say, living here, you become spoilt for scenery.  There is another part of it of course, and that's the part that tells me that I've already shared it on Instagram or on Facebook and I'm too busy to take the time to record it here as well.  I've decided to attempt to slay the demon of laziness this week and start my Monday with a post from our weekend away.

We set out last Thursday morning for a bach in Russell.  Please let me begin by explaining that a bach is what a small vacation home was originally called in New Zealand and it was a shortened version of "bachelor pad".  It usually consisted of one or two rooms and was quite rustic, so I'm told.  Today, the bachs we've stayed in and visited have ranged from beautiful and luxurious too reminiscent of the origins of the term.  I booked our batch for the long holiday weekend and it was definitely more true to the original meaning.  What we lacked in luxury, we made up for with a beautiful beach, good company and excellent restaurants in a quaint little town.

It rained a bit while we were there but we took that opportunity and the holiday (Waitangi Day) to visit the Waitangi Treaty grounds and learn a bit more about the place that we have been calling home.  We were able to see the sites, let the boys run a little on sacred ground and watch a traditional performance.  A successful rain out day to say the least.

Finally, Saturday was beautiful and we took full advantage of our surroundings.  Played in the surf and sand and finished our time off with pizza in town.  Sunday we were back on the road and in Auckland early enough for a nice dinner on the grill and swim in the ocean.  Great weekend!

Click on the links above to learn more about Russell (the hellhole of the Pacific) and Waitangi.  Take a look at the photos below to see one one-hundredth of the beauty we experienced over the weekend (don't mind the fact that AJ4 doesn't show up here, he was present).  Visit New Zealand and enjoy it all yourself!

Cheers!

It's A Kiwi Christmas

So, one of my New Year's resolutions was to blog more.  I promised myself that at least once a month I would get some words and some photos here so that in twenty years, my babies could see where we were and what I was thinking.  Scrapbooks are heavy and take up room in suitcases and moving vans so this is my solution.

This was our second Christmas in New Zealand and probably our last.  We knew the lay of the land this year.  BBQ, maybe the beach, laid back, fun times at Christmas.  We knew not to expect the hustle and bustle of a US Christmas and we were willing to leave it with the snow!

We made our ornaments and decor this year and had so much fun...

We visited Grandma's Kiwi Christmas experience at Smith & Caughey and read the book EVERY NIGHT!!  I plan for this book to travel back with us and be one of the ways that we honor our time here as the boys grow.  You can learn more about Helen McKinlay and all her fun books.  We often enjoy Grandma Joins the All Blacks too.

Had a short meeting and photo op with Santa and his elves (my boys were 100% enchanted!).

Of course, we tried to simply live at the beach whenever possible.  This is something that I undervalued before I lived in Auckland and have full knowledge I will be missing immensely by next December.  This access to the beach is what I will not be able to pack up and take home, and I really regret that.  

We got a slip and slide and the AJs have decided that the best dress code is nudity!  So grateful for our garden wall!

Auckland puts on a natural show at Christmas time too.  It goes from really beautiful to magnificent!  

We got this giant tree.  Even I, despiser of the Christmas tree appreciated it for a short while (until it started dropping needles).  

It was the most beautiful Christmas I have experienced, ever.

As our holidays begin to wind down with Auckland City Day this weekend, I wish you a happy new year! 

 Cheers!