Day Six- Sunday

Another morning, another time to pack. Got all bags re-packed and loaded into car again in record time. Headed out to Rotarua- another beautiful, long windy road trip. We stopped for lunch in a nice little town that I can't remember the name of where Ian's grandparents used to live and where there used to be a big spa resort. Then it was on to Rototura. We got settled into our hotel- Ann's Volcanic Hotel- what a name and got to watch our first rugby match. The All Blacks were tied with England at the half, but pulled off the win in the end.

Rototura is a popular tourist destination because there is all kinds of geothermal activity in the area. New Zealand is a volcanic island and Rototura is the place where you can tell it is true. We headed to a city parks that has tons of geo-thermal activity. It is kind of freaky because you'll just be walking along and there will be smoke coming out from rocks. Most of it is in fenced off sections. There was everything to freaky colored waters with stinky steam coming up to boiling mud and blurping mud. Crazy stuff! Some of them small, some big like ponds. They even had a few pools you could stick your feet in. I was the only one who could take the heat. Lil loved the splash pad they had for kids even though it was cold water.

Day Five- Saturday

Enjoying the hot water

We woke up Saturday to beautiful bright blue skies. Yeah! Lisa and Ian made excellent from scratch pancakes to get our day started. On their morning walk to the store they scored a red bucket which made a certain little girl very happy.

We set off for Cathedral Cove, one of the filming sights for the Narnia movies. It was a short drive and a longish hike down to the cover. The sign said it was a 45 minute hike, but with little miss independent, I have to walk myself, it was more like 90 minutes. Thankfully, it was a beautiful day and gorgeous scenery so we didn't mind too much. The cove itself is gorgeous. Crystal clear blue water with big rocks and a tunnel that divides the beach. Lillianna put her bucket to good use. Ian learned that sand castle creations last seconds. The hike back up looked ugly at first because mommy was getting tired quick of the pony rides. Ian took over and did an awesome job of keep her entertained and getting us back to the top in record time.

Back to the cottage for lunch and naps. Mike went on a hike while the rest of rested and got some great views of the sea and the gannets.

In the afternoon we headed to hot water beach with all the other tourists in town. There is one section of the beach that when you dig down has hot water springs. So, we found a spot to dig a hole. It turned out to require a little more skill than I thought. The water is so hot that the first hole we dug was so hot none of us could stand in it for more than a second or two. To our amazement, however, there was another women who came and plopped herself down in it and stayed there the rest of the time we were there. So, we moved over just a bit so that half of our hole had water come from the hot water spring and part of it had water coming that was cold. It took some managing to get the temperature just right and you had to be careful not to stick your hands or feet too deep into the water or they would get scorched. All in all pretty stinking cool especially with a view out to the ocean. Plus its free!

Day Four-Friday

Enjoying the beach

Monkeys- Lillianna's request

The famous Kiwi bird

Auckland zoo

One tree hill sheep in the middle of the city

The Lindstrom Clan





So, we spent the early part of the morning getting organized and packed. After 3 comfortable nights sleep at the Fraser household we were heading out to see some more of New Zealand. Got everything loaded into the car for the weekend away (Lisa and Ian came along for the weekend) which took some work- a lot of stuff in a little space.

Then we went over to have tea with Lisa's parents and sister. It was good to see them again. The last time I saw them was when they were visiting the US about 10 years ago. Lisa's sister adored Lillianna and helped keep her entertained while we were there.

Then we headed over to One Tree Hill- another volcanic mountain in the city of Auckland. It once had a tree on the top of it. That was cut down and another planted. That was also cut down, so now there is no tree, but there is a statue and it is the home to a ton of sheep. Different to be looking down on a major city and be surrounded by sheep.

We had lunch and then it was off to the zoo- the place of employment of both Lisa and Ian. It is a very nice zoo. I have to say it has done the best job of any zoo that I have visited of having the animals be both in natural looking environments and yet still be able to see them. Lillianna, of course, like it because she loves animals. The hippos and monkeys were big hits. We also happened to be there in time to go to the native encounter where we got to see a real, live Kiwi bird. It ran around a bit which was cool to see.

After Ian wrapped up his work for the day we hit the road to head to the beach- like nearly every other person in Auckland. We were stuck in traffic for awhile and Lil was in need of nap. The combination was pretty rough for a bit there. It was a beautiful three hour drive to our destination- Hahei- a beautiful town on the coast of the Coromandel peninsula. We stayed the next two nights at a cottage at a campground. After dinner we took a walk on the beach and got to see some gannets diving for fish.

Day Three

Lillianna on the ferry to Davenport

Today was our just missed it kind of day. Lisa dropped us off at the wharf to take the ferry across to Davenport and we just missed the Ferry, so we had to wait 1/2 hour for the next one. It is a nice short ride across- less than 15 minutes. When we got across we wandered around a bit, but before we could get far Lillianna spied the park, so it was slides and see saws until it was time for a diaper change. Then we had lunch in a cute little cafe. And because Lillianna decided to start the day about about 5:30 she was running out of steam, so we started to head home. We got to the ferry dock to see it pulling away. Another half an hour wait. Got to the bus stop just after the bus left and got home just in time for the sun to come out. We still had a good morning, but we wish the sun would have been out earlier...

On the way to the ferry we stopped to look at the Christmas window displays at one the expensive department stores. They had mice doing all sorts of things to get ready for Christmas. Lillianna's eyes lit up like nobodies business and I was glad she was excited to get on the boat otherwise we might have had a tearfest leaving them behind.

Tomorrow we leave for a couple of days to see other parts of the north island (in other words probably won't be updating the blog again for a while:) )

Day Two

Baby stingray- less than 2 weeks old

Baby penguin with mama or daddy

We headed out to Kelly Tarltons' Antarctic Encounter in the morning. In order to get there we took a shuttle bus they run from downtown Auckland that has a shark on the top. It was pretty cool looking. It was a pretty cool place. It has a lot of interactive exhibits for Kids. The first section had an intro to Antartica with penguin viewing and some snow machines you could play on. Then there was a section where they had a replica of the base camps you could see how people live. Then there was a hallway with chalkboards on the wall with instructions for how to draw penguins. Lillianna made quick work of earsaing other people's masterpieces. Then there a larger area with some interactive exhibits and a huge tank for viewing giant stingrays and a tank for viewing some baby sharks and baby stingrays. We got to go on a ride where you get in this little cart that is like the snow mobiles they have in antactica that takes you through the penguin exhibit. It was pretty cool. Then there is a section where you go through an aquiram that surrounds you on all side and has a convery belt that you ride on around to see the fish. We went on it several times because it was so cool.

While we were there they were feeding the babies which was cool. The staff didn't know the mom was pregnant, but one of other sharks bit her in the side and when her guts were hanging out they figured out she had a bunch of babies in there. So, they gave her an emergency c-section and out came 8 baby sharks. They are now about 2 weeks old.

Day one

We Made it!

The gannet colony

Our host Lisa

Lisa was waiting at the airport when we arrived. So good to see her! We came back to their place and had some breakfast. We headed to Mt Eden where we could see both coasts of the north island and the city of Auckland. Then we headed to the coast where we got to see black sand beaches, a playground (Lil found her swings), surfers, a gannet colony of birds, and incredible scenery. It was totally stunning and even with just a few minutes of sleep in several days of travel we were all able to enjoy it. Then it was back to Lisa and Ian's for lunch and naps. I had to wake Mike and Lil from their naps so they would still sleep at night. We had a relaxing evening in and were all in bed by just after 9.

Journey to the other side of the world

We made it! 24 plus hours of travel and we arrived. Lillianna was a total trooper and Air New Zealand get high marks for being a super airline and very kid friendly! United on the other hand- not so much. When we got to Chicago to check in they had the three of us in three different rows. Lillianna was 20 rows ahead of us (I have to admit it was tempting to leave her there). We had some time in Chicago so Lil got to play in the children's museum and have lunch. The first flight went smoothly and we got great comments about how well behaved she was. We didn't have a ton of time in San Fran, so we just wandered to our gate and let the munchkin run a bit.

As we entered the plane there were greeters there just for children who handed out goodie bags to them. Lillianna was thrilled! Then we got on the plane and got situated. We were excited out video selection in the screens in our seats was enourmous. Not only did they have great movies for mom and dad they also had Barney and the Wiggles for Lillianna. She got into her movie and not too long after we took off she fell asleep. She didn't even wake up when they turned the lights back on to serve dinner. She missed her special kids meal- chicken nuggets. They even had a treat for her. About 4 1/2 hours later, just as I fell asleep, she woke up and wanted to be OUT of her car seat. So, she slept on mama for about another hour then decided she wanted to be up. So Mike and I took turns trying to entertain her- thankfully Barney was a help here. She was in a great mood though and wasn't too loud. She slept a little bit more here and there, but there was another little one who would cry from time to time and that always woke her up. She was very concerned about the baby crying and being sad. She even offered to share her blankie (not something that is ever shared.)

When we finally landed 13 hours later we told Lillianna, "You made it!" She responded by yelled "I made it!" Our whole section of the plane laughed. When we were getting off, one person asked me if she was the I made it girl. We also had several people comment at how good she was. Let's hope the return trip goes as well.