Our house

Ivy asked for some pictures of the house so here they are! This it what the place looked like at 12 noon on Sunday 1st September which is Father's Day here in New Zealand.

Adventure Saturdays

As we get more organised it is getting easier to set aside a day to explore, so Friday night is into Rotorua for food shopping and a take away and Saturday we explore. Today we chose Rainbow Springs to see kiwis, trout, and a bird display. Geoff and Maddy also enjoyed the water ride (3 times). The ticket made it possible to leave the park and then go back in later in the day. We decided to go out for lunch on the Lakeside Queen, a paddle boat on Lake Rotorua.

Rain

It rained, hailed and thundered this afternoon during the last lesson (2:10-3-10). A deluge. I put the picture on Facebook because its easier.
Came home and baked cake, not really giving Maddison a chance to get in and make yet more muffins. It is almost time she moved onto cake :) or even savouries.

Paradise Valley Lions and Trout

Saturday today and we did the food shopping last night. So after a little extra time in bed we set off for the i centre in Rotorua to get some tourist events to see. I was hoping for the farmers market and a craft fayre but we didn't manage either. Instead we drove down to the Lake, git lunch at Burger King and then went to see the fish at Paradise Valley, just outside Rotorua. Maddy said the road there reminded her of St. Helena. Geoff fed the fish and Maddy feed, goats, sheep and deer, great fun. We took our passports and letter of residence and got in as locals, saving a third , always good news.
Photos on google  but here's a couple.

Huka Falls

The sight-seeing has started! Last Sunday I got back from church and, despite the drizzle, decided we should get out and see something. It was that or watch the Big Bang Theory! So we drove south to Taupo to find Huka Falls and the Craters of the Moon.
The craters weren't as moon looking as we expected just a geothermal happening down the road from the falls. It is very strange to see steam rising from the ground like that and hear it hissing. The mud pool seemed to look set but we could hear the water gurgling underneath. Rain, and the prospect of roast lamb meant we stopped at 3:30 and headed back down highway 5 for home. It was only a half hour drive but we have started to look around.

August 13th

At last we have Internet to the house. All is now quiet while Geoff plays games and Maddison reads fan fiction, you can almost feel the change in atmosphere! So to catch up with the last few weeks. . . .
We arrived in Auckland at 1:15pm on Sunday 28th July after leaving the UK on Friday 26th, 28 hours after we knew we had visas and 13 hours after picking them up. Heathrow still had the remnants of a Dr who exhibition. In Auckland we  transferred our cases to the internal twin prop flight to Rotorua after changing them all from 30kg case to 23kg cases. This was not an easy feat and caused the woman at the checking in  desk one or two moments of mirth.

We were met at the airport by the car hire company and our contact at the school who took us to a motel with a spa for the night. Cars here are mainly automatics so that was a first, last time Geoff  drove a manual. Motels are like small houses with a kitchen, lounge,bed rooms and bathroom. Breakfast was at  a sister motel down the road where we had a cooked breakfast looking out over the steam from the geysers rising from the ground. Awesome.

Next job -kit out the house. We drove to the mall and Harvey Normans supplied us with everything, beds, sofa, tv, washing machine and dryer, fridge freezer, chest freezer, tall boys and bed side tables. They sorted us out with phones as well. Then they delivered everything to the house by 5pm the same day, amazing service. The rest of the stuff  we got from the Warehouse including electric blankets!

Tuesday was spent at the bank, at the school and picking up more things for the house.

Wednesday we started teaching, popping into Rotorua as needed.

Saturday we bought a car and Tuesday we picked it up. The house is starting to come together, we are getting the hang of the wood burner and cooking on an electric hob. Power companies and phone lines are now sorted out. We have a few more things to pick up, a coffee table, some desks to work on and then the house is sorted. So we started sight seeing.