Journal Entries
NZ Holiday
Posted Jan 25, 2005
well I have finally done it 
NZ was gorgeous. Chilly, wet, but very,very,pretty
We nearly missed the flight over due to a train delay, and, on the way home, nearly missed the train due to a plane delay
.
We spent xmas with my parents and my sister, and her family. It was really nice, of course we all ate to much and some of us tippled very merrily
On boxing day we left for our tour in my parents campervan, which, although small, was very comfy.
First up we went to Otorohanga, to see some kiwis, and other native birds and wildlife,it has one of the largest enclosed avairies, then on to Wiatomo caves, where we spent our first night,
The glowworms were really spectacular, and the walk to the top of the lookout was a killer
, but the view was worth it, we even went into the haunted hotel for a drink!,
which due to a change in the way public holidays are now paid, was horrendously expensive
.
Day two was a big drive, we went down one side of the mountains, along the bottom, then around and up the other side, with just a short side trip up the side of Mt Ruapehu,to the bottom of the ski lifts, the weather was absoballylutely clear,but with a freezing wind, so we got some loverly shots of the mountains.
We also stopped at the War Museum, so Gray could play on all the tanks and stuff.
Day two was Taupo,Lake Taupo is the biggest lake in NZ, it was created over 1500 years ago, by a huge volcanic eruption,the chinese have records of it, it turned the sky pinkish for a while. We saw the Huka falls and a dam,where water is released every 2 hours during the day, it was awesome. We visited a place called Craters of the Moon, a large area full of sulpher wents and steam vents.It was quite eerie, very hot and smelly.
Day 3 was on to Napier, a city rebuilt in the 1920s after an earthquake, so the whole city is done in art deco, very different, it was full of holiday makers, so we kept going onto Wiaroa,just a small seaside town, but it had a caravan park, with the poshest showerblock I have ever seen,piped music, beautiful showers, sparkling toilets, and fresh cut flowers!
The drive from Napier to Wiaroa, gave us just a glimpse of the twisty, windy skinny, roads that were coming up.
Day four was drizzly from the start, and this was the day we were going to take state highway 38, a gravel road through Eruwera National Park, and Lake Wiakarimoana, a volcanic crater lake. This drive was very,very hairy.
Steep windy roads going up and over 4 ranges, with huge drops on one side of the road, and sheer cliffs on rising on the other,
and even through the drizzle, the views were breathtaking
Our ears were constantly popping, with the up and down of the road.
It took us 4 hrs to cover 160kms!!!!Thank the stars the van was an automatic, but Grays shoulders were sore for days afterward.
We finally reached Rotoua in the late afternoon, booked in an had an early night.
We shopped a bit the next day, but spent most of it driving around, I checked out my old houses and the schools I used to go to
And got a Kebab for new years dinner. Day 5 we went to Hells Gate, a thermal activity area, and saw boiling mud,and other smelly things, with a hot water lake, and waterfall, then after lunch we went to Rainbow springs, a trout sanctuary, and did a tour, that told about the trout,and other native wild life and plants. The trees here in NZ are huge
.
Day six saw us leaving Rotorua, in the rain again, but on the way we went to the Buried Village, the weather cleared just as we got there,
This was a village that got covered in volcanic ash and mud, during the volcanic eruption of Mt Tarawera in 1886, this explosion also destroyed the Pink and White Terraces, sometimes called the eighth wonder of the world.
There was a beautiful but steep walk down to the bottom of a waterfall, (yep another one.(oh, and it started to rain again, just as we left)
We arrived back in Mt Muanganui, about lunch time, very tired but very happy.
We spent another couple of days here, swam in hot water pools one day, and walked around the mountain the next.
I spent a loverly afternoon doing a jigsaw puzzle, which, when I was 3/4 of the way through got bumped, and fell to pieces,
My sister came down from Auckland I took the puzzle with me to Auckland, and began it again there, where it again got bumped before
it was finished, but on the 3rd attempt I managed to finish it!
It was very relaxing at my sisters place, we just sat around and talked, did a bit of shopping and what not, we went out for Grays birthday The food was wonderful,Then we went clubbing, although at one bit we ended up in a really bad bar, which we exited in a hurry
It was nice to get home, lots of brown flat land, and a dog that had grown heaps while we were away!
NZ was nice (I have run out of superlatives) but now we need a holiday to get over our holiday!
here is the link to a photo album of some of the pictures we took ==> http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/1174384
Discuss this Journal entry [14]
Latest reply: Jan 25, 2005
Off on holiday
Posted Dec 20, 2004
Right then, I'm off
See you all in the new year.
Back in 3 weeks, if possible I will give you updates of how
things are going, I hope to see some snow and maybe an exploding volcano .
tally hoo and toodle pip pip.
*wanders of to find large hammer or a 
to kill the butterflies in stomach*
Discuss this Journal entry [32]
Latest reply: Dec 20, 2004
Knees up
Posted Nov 27, 2004
I was told today in no uncertain terms, by a 2 year old with a very loud voice, in the middle of a very crowded shopping center.....that I have knobbly knees
Now I have never even thought about my knees before this, at least not in terms of what they look like, I have thought of them as a very useful item, an I have thought about how much they hurt in damp weather, an my knees certainly let me know that they do not like climbing great flights of stairs, but as to whether they are knobbly, never, now I find myself looking at my knees, going, I don't think they are knobbly... and of course asking Hubby several times today...... dear, are my knees knobbly, to which he just mumbles someting unintelligeable, and walks away shaking his head, I am sure he is laughing at me
I don't have knobbly knees, I don't, I don't....do I?
Discuss this Journal entry [73]
Latest reply: Nov 27, 2004
Just for me
Posted Sep 8, 2004
A855371
no replies expected, just something I want to read in depth later
Discuss this Journal entry [2]
Latest reply: Sep 8, 2004
Unexpected
Posted Aug 24, 2004
Yesterday........
In the early hours of Tuesday morning my friend Ts son was murdered.
B was only 18. The worst part about this is, he was killed by his younger brother C(16), so she has not only lost one son, she has lost her other as well(he has already been charged with murder and aggravated assault).
Her husband was also injured when he tried to intervene in the fight between B and several of Cs mates.
I am shocked and saddened by this.
I just don't know what to do, or say to T, sorry sounds so useless.
I have never been close to death before. I've not even been to a funeral before. 
Discuss this Journal entry [26]
Latest reply: Aug 24, 2004
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