In a desperate attempt to get Geoff and Maddy away from the top 15 Disney songs and top 10 villains songs on You Tube I bundled them into the car and down the road to the glass blowing place. We had seen the glass blowing before so we just popped into the garden this time. When we tried to leave the gate refused to open so we had to shout for help until the lady from the shop came and rescued us.
A geothermal valley with a Maori and woodcarving arts centre. Maddison reckons once you’ve seen one geothermal valley you’ve seen them all (a bit like the pyramids) so she chose to stay at home while Geoff and I drove into Rotorua to explore. We got in free as local residents and then wandered round at just the right time to see the geyser erupt. Obviously we stopped at the shop to buy a fridge magnet on our way out, but we checked out the Rotorua mud as we are looking for gifts to bring back with us!
Kiwi’s are versatile people who make the most of what goes on around them. They could have described the trees as invasive and chopped them down , but no scenic walks, biking trails, . . . . as we discovered one Sunday afternoon.
A Comic festival where they go dressed as their favourite comic book, science fiction fantasy character. We booked overnight in a motel right next to the conference centre and got in line about 9:30am for a 10am opening. Great fun and loads of pictures. The actor who played Oin from the Hobbit was one of the speakers and Maddy had a photo taken with Christopher Judge from Star Gate. Lots of memorabilia ( and T shirts).
Tuesday 29th April – Thursday 1st May was the Students against Dangerous Driving conference in Napier and Maddison and Isabelle were the representatives for Western Heights High School. Rather than drop them off (2 and a half hours drive there) we decided to stay and partake of the delights of Napier.
There was a nasty earthquake there in 1931 and many of the buildings were rebuilt in Art Deco style. We stayed at the Art Deco Masonic Hotel and visited the National Aquatic Centre, The Faraday Museum, Bluff Point, The Silky Oak Chocolate Factory, Train World and a large number of very cute shops.
Anzac day was Friday 25th May, the New Zealand version of poppy day so everything is shut until 1 pm. There was a medieval fair in Taupo so we wandered down there to see what was going on. Tents, sales, archery, and fighting men. No jousting though.
It took about an hour to wander round and then we popped into the museum.
The wooden thingy in Maddison’s hand was a miniature crossbow that fires pencils!
So we are settling in and not doing so much apart from school work. The 12 week term is a bit of a killer!
School has started a photography club for the kids so I put a couple of pictures in,
Maddison has taken part in the Shakespeare festival as a director with a scene from Much Ado About Nothing
it took them 1 1/2 hours to complete the judging! so it was a long wait.
