A Kiwi Christmas

December 24th- Christmas Eve Day

Here are the comments about the girls first sunny warm Christmas from all of us on Saddler Rd:

Amelia –“ Kooooool!! It is kind of weird when people say Merry Christmas when it is so sunny out.”
Bridget – “Bad, cuz there is no snow”
Dianne- “It is great to break out into a sweat on Christmas Eve”
Carolyn – “It is hard to believe that it is Christmas when the temperatures are so warm and we are in our shorts. I love running in tank top in December”
Viki – “Had to keep up with the Canadians and HAD to attempt the rockslide”
Kristin- “ Being surrounded by Canadians makes me feel a bit closer to home at Christmas”
Maia – “It’s good to have lots of kids around”

It has been awhile since we have posted anything, but we have had a very busy but relaxing time back in Gisborne. Kristin, Viki, and Maia have been great hosts to us out in the country. The kids have played outside, climbed trees, swam in the pool and just had fun being kids again. The sun has been shining none stop since we got here and we are soaking up every ray of it. We have spent a lot of time catching up with friends and drinking the mighty fine wine here in the Chardonnay capital of NZ.
Dianne’s colleague Steph spent the last two days with us here. Viki wasn’t sure which country she was in, as she was surrounded by Canadians! Steph got the tour of the city and was fortunate to see Moko the dolphin in the bay. That is something that the kids and I have yet to witness. Today we went out to Rere Falls for a picnic lunch and then over to the rockslide for some thrills and spills. Out of the group of us I was the only one who had been down the rockslide before. The rockslide is a natural, steep rock slide with a thin layer of water running over it. It makes for some speed and danger. I was forced to go down first. After twice down and some encouragement Amelia and Steph got up the nerve. Steph had some skill and had a great splash in the pond. Amelia’s first attempt was not so good. She got a little too close to the rock face on the side and luckily she knows the skill of “baling off” tobaggons at home!! She lifted her face just before the rock took it off. All is good! All she has is a little scrape on her butt. Steph and I both entertained thoughts of a great lifeguarding rescue, but my tough as nails kid came through it with flying colours. She even got back on the boogy board again and made a few more successful attempts, a little further down the rock face this time. And I made sure I pushed her further away from the side this time. Not to be out done by the Canadians, Viki did it too. First time ever and she grew up here!! I think she may do it again in the future now. She may need my help to push her down again though.

After sending Steph back to Wellington we headed back to the house to celebrate Christmas Eve in typical Dixon fashion... Kristin and Viki’s neighbours came down for drinks!! It brought back many memories of Dad and Bill drinking together trying to put our presents together! It is amazing that we ever got anything for Christmas.

Dec 25 - Christmas morning

We had a big surprise last night. We heard Santa’s sleigh bells ringing outside! So we woke up Amelia and Maia (Bridget would have nothing to do with waking) We opened the curtains and we saw Rudolph’s nose blinking outside by the fence !! It was so cool. And to top it off, there was reindeer poo right in the same spot where we seen Rudolph. We saw it in the morning when we woke up.

We have had a typical Christmas morning, stockings and gifts, bacon and eggs, champagne and orange juice. Just a few slight changes, we ate breakfast outside and eventually had to move to the shade because it was too hot by 9 am. And the kids have had a swim this morning. A little later we plan to head to the beach for some waves and sand. Nothing says Christmas than that.

We are wishing all of our family and friends a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Carolyn

Liking the Lake

Dec. 17, 2009
After a 5 hour drive up to Lake Waikaremoana, we were all very tired. Nothing like 62 kms of unsealed and sealed windy roads to make you wish yourself out of the car at the end of the journey. We were happy to see that our friend Bridget Mead and her friend Wendy were there to meet us. The adults were in need of a break from the kids. Some games and some wine and things were looking much rosier.

At the Lake, it reminded the kids a lot of teacher’s camp. They were able to go exploring in the bush and look for things on a scavenger hunt. They loved the freedom. If you are at the Lake, you cannot hide from exercise. There is too much to see and do. First thing in the morning we were up and on the trails. We had to go and see the Rata tree that Di and I and friends had our picture taken with in the snow some 13 years ago. It took us about 45 mins of climbing to get there. Consequently it takes that long to get back. The kids managed well. When we got back to camp Bridget and Wendy were ready to go on a longer hike up to the smaller lake up the hill. We were keen to go, so off we went again after a little bit of food. This time the hike UP to Lake Waikariti was all UP hill for a good hour. There was a bit of a struggle to get Dianne and our Bridget UP there but we all made it, but were stuffed. It was 900 ft climb from the lower lake.

Bridget Mead had a great idea to hire row boats on the upper lake and row over to an island that has another lake on it. It was fun to row a boat again. I had forgotten how difficult it was to make both arms do the same thing at the same time. Both the girls had a go at trying to row the boat. They thought it was cool. The water on Waikariti was so clear and pure, you just wanted to reach out with a cup and have a drink. The girls had a quick dip in lake san clothing. Brave young girls. So after about 2 hours on the lake, we still had to make the hour trek back DOWN the hill. We all made it down alive and back to our campsite.

The trip to Lake Waikaremoana was a great escape from the normal daily schedule of travels. We finished off time at the lake with some beautiful waterfalls. We promised the girls that it would not require any walking. They were completely exhausted from all the day before activities.

We are now back in Gisborne for the holidays. I won’t be posting much over the break. Too much socializing and soaking up the sun to take the time to sit behind the computer.
Have a safe and happy holiday season.
Carolyn

Jet Boating on the Waikato River

After a really long walk in the morning out to the beautiful bubbly Huka Falls (3 hrs return), we did some jet boating. Jet boating for those unaware is traveling down a narrow river at very high speeds and narrowly adverting major crashes. Amelia was pumped and ready to go. No convincing or pep talk needed. Let’s just go. Bridget on the other hand needed some reassurance. She has been very concerned about “bonking” into things when on water. We knew that it was a tricky sell for her. We knew that she would love it once she was on the boat. We told her that we wouldn’t take her on an unsafe ride and the drivers have had tons of hours of practice before they even got to have people on the boat. Also that the last time I was on a jet boat, I was scared and got going so fast that I slipped off the seat. We get there, life jackets on, photo taken and then she decides that she needs to go to the washroom moments before we are scheduled to get on the boat. She is told that she has to hold it. (Something about a nervous Nelly tummy.) She got on the boat with a little hesitation, but was totally at ease when the young driver smiled and talked directly to her. She was good to go.

Off we went like a flash of light and Bridget starts to laugh. She never stopped the entire 30 minute adrenaline rushing ride. We are heading straight for ducks on the river and cliffs on the side and the fallen trees in the water and just at the last second, the driver would just miss the object. This brought about screams of laughter from both girls. When the driver raised his hand in the air and made a circle with it, that is when the real fun happened. He was telling us he was about to do a 360 degree turn at top speed. Every time he did we would all get soaked with the spray. Which of course would bring out more laughter and squeals. It was so much fun watching the pure enjoyment on the kids faces. It was the most laughter that we all had shared together in a long time. The only bad part of the ride was that it ended! We all wanted to go again, especially Bridget. As we were retelling the events to one another, Bridget made us stop. She didn’t want to talk about it anymore. When asked why she replied, “I can't think about it anymore because it just makes me want to do it again and I can't!” It was too funny. To help heal her pain, we said if they were good, we could do it again in Queenstown on the Shotover Jet. Don’t tell her, but I think we have to just to see her and Amelia’s face like that again.

Almost back to Gisborne soon, just a short stop at Lake Waikaremoana for some back country life.

Carolyn

Dam Prawns in Taupo

Sunday December 13, 2009

We just returned from Carols in the Park in Taupo. It was cool to sing Christmas Carols in our shorts, sitting on the grass. The kids got to take part in their first LOLLY SCRAMBLE. Santa came out and threw lollies to the huge crowd of kids. We were worried that they might get trampled and not get any but they each came out with 3. They were really proud of their accomplishment in the ruck. We learned tonight that Noel is spelled Nowell!! Something was lost in translation.

It was a fairly big day for us adventurers today. We started by watching the dam open here. The kids were amazed at how the water rushed down the rocky canyon and covered the rocks they had just seen uncovered. As the water was rushing, Bridget announced, “ Let the water rumpus begin!” Thank you Where the Wild Things Are for that connection. We had to run to the lookout to catch the action as the hooter had gone and we knew that the dam was opening shortly. Nothing like a jog through the bush with your sandals on. Amelia’s job was to figure out why there was a dam in the first place and eventually she did. It is for hydro electricity.

Next we were off to the Huka Prawn Farm. First off, the kids had no idea what a prawn was! We did the tour to see the breeding tanks of the prawns, and we got to feed the baby prawns. They really tickled as they climbed over our hands and arms. There were some kid activities to climb. Amelia ran the gauntlet of water and stayed dry. We fed trout in the Waikato river. There was some big fish. I got to eat some tasty prawns for lunch and Amelia even tried some. The true highlight of this day was prawn fishing! We were given some line on a piece of bamboo and off we went. The bait was oxtail. The vegetarian loved this part of putting it on the hook. We sat by the warm water ponds and tried our luck at catching these tasty beasts. Well the fisher girl of the day was Dianne. She struck first and landed a 10cm one. We even managed to get it off the hook. We placed it in our icy bucket of water, which was supposed to put it to sleep. But it never fell asleep, so it became the play toy of Bridget and myself. We sat patiently for almost 2 hours and only Dianne caught another one. A much smaller one though. It was tough for the girls not to be successful at this but I’m sure they will have lots of stories of all the prawns that got away. Their mood lighten when Dianne had to hold up her catch for a picture and she screamed and dropped it when the prawn jumped. We all really enjoyed our day.

Carolyn

Amelia’s Blog from Te Papa

Friday December 11, 2009

Yesterday, we went to a museum called Te Papa. It had lots of cool things in it. It was so big that we didn’t get to see the whole thing. Me and Mommy went on a submarine ride, but we really were not underwater. We saw underwater volcanoes on the screen.

At the museum there was a Colossal Squid. It was found near Antarctica. It was the biggest squid that they have ever found. Unfortunately, they have never found a male squid that big before. It was a female. It was 4.2 m and weighs nearly half a tonne. We saw real bits of the squid and got to feel models of them, like its mouth. It looks like a bird beak. And got to feel the claws on the tentacles and the claws and they spin around. We got to build our own squid on the computer. You can visit mine and Bridget’s squid at www.tepapa.govt.nz. Type in AMELIA and I am the Canada one, same with Bridget. You can build your own too!

I went in cool Discovery Centres. Mom made a video of Bridget dancing, in the Pacific Island centre. I was making the music with mommy on drums. We can’t put it on the blog. We can show it to you when we get home. (videos from mom’s camera won’t upload to blogspot). We looked through microscopes at rocks and shells and a pine cone. I felt like a scientist seeing all the different holes . We dressed up in traditional Maori clothes and tossed sticks like they do. Mom and Mommy were pretty good. Me and Bridget need a little more practice.

We went on a nature walk and we got to dig in the sand for fossils. It was huge. It took us 10 minutes to dig up a quarter of it. We think it was an old sea creature. Then I went to see a big piece of a greenstone. I used some sand to scrub at it to make it shiny like the taonga that Mom has.

Mommy’s favourite part of the day was the Christmas Carols that we listened to by a jazz band and she drank a glass of wine.

Merry Christmas Everyone
Amelia

Bridget’s Blog from Windy Wellington

Thursday December 10,2009

We are in Wellington. We went on a cable car ride to see pretty flowers. It went through tunnels. At the top there was a 100 year old cable car that we got to sit on. But the flowers were way down. (which means that we had to walk down some paths in the Botanical Gardens to find the flowers) We saw cactuses and I felt the end of the really sharp thing. It wasn’t really that sharp.

Yesterday we went Christmas shopping and we got to see Santa. It wasn’t the real Santa. It was one of his guests. I knew that it wasn’t the real Santa Claus because the real one is fatter and chubbier. But I didn’t get to sit on his knee. Later, I got to see heaps of Santa’s in a park. They were going to have a run around the town. (It was a running race and everyone was dressed like Santa. We have no idea where they got all those costumes) I got to talk to the real Santa Claus on a telephone. I just had to press the A button, then he talked back. He told me that he was practicing with his reindeer. I got to tell him what I wished for Christmas. We saw a big Christmas tree and it glowed and the top was beautiful. I got to sit under the tree on big bean bags. I got to look way up to see the inside of the beautiful tree. And we got to stay up late to see it all lit up. It is very windy here.

We went to an art gallery. We saw lots of dots outside and inside the building. One room was dark and it had lit up colourful polka dot stickers on everything. On the cups, the chairs, TV. (It was lit up with blue lighting and all the stickers glowed neon in the room) Another room was all dark. It had mirrors on all the walls with lights hanging down and water on the ground. People didn’t trust that there was water and some fell in. It was cool because it was weird on your eyes.

That’ s all, ok?!

Bridget

Adventures on the West Side

Sunday December 6, 2009

After a few too many days of rain, we finally had a fine day. We are on the west side of the North Island. Our goal was for the kids to see the volcano cone of Mt.Taranaki. Cloud cover really ruined that idea. Two full days and no sight of the top of the Mt., but the city of New Plymouth was a pleasant surprise. We stumbled upon a free zoo which had some really cool birds and monkeys. There was a set of falcons with babies. The sign read, “We have babies, we will protect them.” It was true, we were just standing at the cage looking when one flew directly at us and latched itself on the wires in front of our faces. Let’s just say Bridget and I jumped and scrambled back, with really large eyes. That was enough for 3 of us and we moved on to respect the birds. Amelia on the other hand, went to the other window to look in again. She was keeping an eye on one bird and the other went into protection mode and flew directly at her. Lucky she was wearing brown shorts! She is always pushing the envelope.

We were not going to let the weather stop our plans so we still went up the ‘Naki. It was cool to be up in the clouds and yet still on the ground. Our short trek to Dawson Falls was well worth the downhill and uphill climbs. Bridget said it was the best day of her life when she saw the falls. But this isn’t the first time she has uttered those words on our trip thus far. The kids love doing these little treks through the forests and they have yet to be disappointed at what they have seen.
Today, we are in Wanganui. It has a huge muddy river flowing through it. We are staying at a holiday park. Since it was the weekend there were kids around and the girls met some new friends. They played for hours on the jumping pillow, playground, pool and trampolines with their new buds. It was great for all of us to get a break from one another. The girls are getting used to other kids asking lots of questions about their accent and where they are from.

We kept ourselves busy, by walking in this huge tunnel that lead to an elevator in the middle of the hill. The tunnel was over 200 m long which made it great for echos. They couldn’t believe that it was their voices that they could hear repeating. This old elevator, (60m) was build in the early 1900s and is one of only 2 in the world. At the top, we were able to climb a spiral staircase to a lookout. Nice views of course, but low clouds obstructed the distant places we were hoping to point out. There was another tower a few feet away and we then climbed another 176 steps. Once we caught our breath, we were able to enjoy the area even more. Since we had gotten ourselves up this high, we had to get down. Let’s just say we are done with stairs for awhile. My knees are still aching 8 hours later.

We also went on the Waimarie, a steam paddle boat along the Whanganui River. It was used over a hundred years ago and is trying to make a comeback, now in the tourism industry. The kids liked it. They got to toot the steam whistle and got to steer the boat with the big wheel. The girls were also allowed to down into the engine room and they learned a little about how the coal and steam make the paddle work. Amelia was brave enough to shovel in some coal into the engine. It was ‘burning hot’ when the guy opened the door. It was pretty cool for her.

We stopped off in this really little village and walked around. There was a 4 room school there and we thought that we would nosey around. Low and behold there was a SMART board in one of the rooms. Di and I were blown away. A little school in the middle of nowhere has a SMART board and we fight tooth and nail to get them in Simcoe County. Nice ratio 1 to 4!! Did mention that there were wood fire stoves in the corners to heat the classrooms!

Anyways, we are off to the capital city, Wellington, tomorrow. Hoping for sun and no rain and a couple of days in one place again. We will also get a chance to meet up with Dianne’s Bear Creek colleague, Steph.

Carolyn

Cravin Cavin

Wednesday December 2, 2009

Rain, rain go away! Ok you can stay, because we were underground caving today. We are in Waitomo, home of some the best natural underground experiences. Glow worms, stalactites and stalagmites were our targets. We ventured through 3 caves.
The first cave started out with a 30m downward spiral. The cave has been modernized over the years and a new entrance was built to avoid entering near a Maori burial site. There is nothing like winding yourself into a dark hole, especially if you don’t like spinning! Motion sickness was not too far away for me. At the bottom, a new world began. Stalactites were everywhere. We learned that the drainage from the hills above were draining through the limestone rock causing the evolution of the stalactites over thousands of years. We were only allowed to take pictures in these areas but not in the glowworm areas, which was a little disappointing because it is a quite a sight to see, but I guess we should preserve these little insects. The glow bugs are the larvae with their butts aglow. These poor little guys have a grand lifespan of 12 weeks. They only get to be an adult for 3-5 days. They make the most of their time making more little illuminations. We got to see the glow worms up close when our guide put a flashlight beam up to them. They have “snot” mucous lines hanging down. It was amazing to learn that when they were updating the cave passageways, the men rafted to work along the underground river! There was no other way to get there. It was also cool when the kids got to see other tourists Blackwater Rafting, which we had done many years before. They were amazed that the people were riding through the dark on inner tubes. It was a nice memory for us to relive and it was much warmer this time, not floating in that freezing cold water.

At the 2nd cave, Aranui, we just got to view stalactites and mites. The kids were asked to guess the age of the huge stalactite. They guessed 200 years old. They were close… 400 000 years. They then got to hold a piece of fallen stalactite. It was surprisingly heavy. Those things only grow 1cm squared every 100 years. Di was happy to see the entire cave this time, as she was unable to the last time with her parents. We took heaps more pics, but you can only take so many pics of the same thing.

At the 3rd and final cave, we were a little worried that we had pushed our luck with the kids and their attention spans. This cave had a boat ride through the glow worm section. The glow worms really only like to be near the water and they didn’t disappoint. Amelia described it as the best Christmas lights she had ever seen. Getting on the boat, of course, had a little bump in the road. It is complete darkness and Bridget decides to melt down. She is freaking out about going on the boat. We encourage and boost up her confidence and get her on the boat. She is clinging on to both of us for dear life. When asked why she is so worried, her answer is that she does not know how we are going to get back to land!! She didn’t know how the boat was going to be steered and also worried about bonking into the rock walls. Once she saw the guide ropes that the guide was going to use and realized that we were travelling very slowly she finally relaxed to enjoy the sights. The other highlight in this cave was singing Christmas carols in the huge cavern area. The acoustics were amazing as we sang “We wish you a Merry Christmas”. Even I sounded good.

Off to Mt. Taranaki tomorrow.
Carolyn

Kids and the Kauris

Wednesday December 2

Just a few things to report on. The last few days have been spent recharging batteries, with few activities planned. We stayed in the sleepy/boring town of Dargaville. The highlights of this part of the country was the huge Kauri trees. We saw the oldest one, Tane Mahuta (over 3000 years old)and the widest one, the father of the forest. The kids were amazed by the size and loved running through the forests. We went to the Kauri Museum and the kids got to see how the kauri trees were felled and turned into timber. Believe it or not they were actually interested in it. They were especially intrigued by the gum/resin that the trees ooze out. It truly looks like topaz only in large chunks. They liked seeing the insects fossilized in them.

It was an easy drive back into Auckland to our friend Janne's place. The kids got to go to the library that she works at. They were excited to be around all those books. Janne signed out some books and DVDs of Little House on the Praire. So the afternoon was very peaceful for us!! Nothing like the TV as a babysitter. Janne has been a great hostess and good friend to us. Amelia is taken by her and her cat Lexi. We look forward to our last visit with her the day we leave to back home.

We are off this morning to Waitomo and continue down the west coast to Wellington.

I hear there was snow at home today. It is about time!! We hope that you have a very white Christmas.

Carolyn

Cape Reinga and other Cool Stuff

Friday November 27
A big day today. With an early start, something we are really not used to, the bus picked us up at 7:15am. Off to Cape Reinga, the Northern most point of New Zealand to see the lighthouse and the meeting of the two seas. The green of the Tasman Sea and the blue of the Pacific Ocean did not disappoint. The weather was beautiful again and it made for some awesome photos.

On the drive up to the Cape the kids were very excited to drive a bus on the 90 Mile Beach. (it is really only about 64 miles.) It is really cool to be driving about 120km/h with no turns and the Tasman Sea on the left, flashing before your eyes. We had a few stops along the way to pick up some huge shells and put our feet in the sea. An interesting thing happened, we could see something up ahead on the beach. Crazily enough, it was a farmer driving his cows down the beach. A sight I have never seen before. I have driven cattle, but never down along an ocean beach. We then headed inland on a “quicksand” stream for the highlight of the day…sand tobogganing!! We climbed up some major sand dunes to experience a new sledding experience. Our legs and lungs were burning by the time we reached the top. Bridget needed some encouragement to make her first run down. She did it with some trepidation. She went up again with some more excitement. Her and I got to the top and the wind caught my sled and hit her in the head. Then on her way down, the nose of her sled went in and she flipped completely ass over tea kettle. Tears were not enough and she had had enough. Amelia on the other hand, raced up and down the dune 4 times. We all enjoyed our warm and sandy rides. It is truly a better way to toboggan. It just needs a T bar lift. Sorry no videos..dead batteries!

Before making our way back into Paihia at 6pm, we drove up 400m to a Kauri forest. The kids got to see these HUGE ancient trees. Our little tree huggers tried to get their arms around the tree, but really don’t come near half of the circumference. The tree they had their arms around was approximately 800 years old and it has just now reached its maturity. Earlier in the trip, the girls climbed a carved out spiral staircase that were build in the inside of a Kauri tree. Basically, to get to the second floor of the store there was a tree trunk that had stairs carved out in it.

A fun day was had by all and look forward to our last day in the Bay of Islands.

Carolyn

BAY of Islands WATCH

Wednesday November 25

Here we are in the Bay of Islands, Paihia. We have been enjoying the beautiful scenery and good weather. Highlights of our last few days have been going on a 4 hour cruise out to the Hole in the Rock. I can’t say that is has changed much since the first 3 times I have seen it. But on the way out we came across some “real dolphins” , not in a pool says Bridget. On the way back into Paihia, we stopped off on my favourite island, Urepukapuka. I had to take more pictures to compliment the ones I already have of it. It was just as beautiful as I remembered.

Today we went to the oldest house and store in NZ. The kids like making comparisons to these places to Laura and Mary Ingalls house in Little House on the Prairie. The house which was lived in by the Kemps was lived in until 1974. Let’s just say it would have been really chilly in the winter time. Amelia bought some Lollies from the oldest store. On the way there we stopped off at a chocolate factory. We had some nice free samples that of course got us to buy some!! (Sue Sue, you would have died and gone to heaven!) We could not believe the amount of sugar and butter that went into it.

The afternoon was topped off with our first sea kayaking adventure. It was a little windy and it made for some hard work on the way back to shore. Amelia and I were lucky enough to see a stingray next to our boat and Bridget and Dianne saw a jelly fish. By kayaking, we were able to paddle over to some little islands for rests and seashell hunting. We are all tired tonight with some rosy cheeks.

The kids are excited to SKYPE with their classes tomorrow morning. It was great this morning to do a practice run with Bridget’s teacher, Principal and of course, Jerry. Thanks to Aunt Sharon and Uncle Lee for getting hooked up on Skype and we were able to talk with family for the first time since we started our trek to the other side of the world.

One month until the man with the red suit comes. I hope he finds us over here.

Carolyn

Back in New Zealand

Saturday November 21

We are back in New Zealand and have spent a relaxing day doing normal things, laundry, groceries and watching TV. It was a very needed day of rest. We left Sydney yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed our time there. We concluded our time there with a delicious dinner in Darling Harbour. It was the best pasta Bridget ever tasted. Our day at Manly Beach was hot and sunny. The only set back was the big rips that were happening. So we only did a little swimming or wave bashing. It was great to eat hot chips and fresh calamari in the sand.

Our flight back was puke free!! Bridget was medicated and was very content on the flight. We think that she just gets really anxious about flying. It is definitely not the motion, just her brain working overtime. She has insisted that we keep the medicine that we gave her to have on the flight home. Let’s just hope that it doesn’t have an expiry date.

We are off to the Bay of Islands for a week. It will be the longest time we have spent in one place. Either we will be bored or not wanted to pack up and leave again. The weather is not looking the best but maybe the winds will change.
We are wishing Adam good luck with big game against the USA today.
Happy days
Carolyn