How brave are we…Got home last night after 3 nights tenting in the middle of Winter. Yep they’re saying on the news coldest there’s been in 21 years!First time we've camped in Winter but it was all very cosy. Mattresses laid out, sleeping-bags and lots of blankets, all snuggled together in our tent. Beautiful clear blue sky days where the kids all ran around fancy free on the farm Bonfires, climbing trees, picking lemons and making lemonade, watching cows being milked, cuddling calves and tasting fresh warm milk from the vat, walks across the field (and cow poo) to the creek, visit to the towns local Saturday market, rugby training sessions for the team, food that kept coming, and entertaining adult conversations while the kids played

Labels: Tripp'n

Goodbye to the boys...And finally tucked in to bed here in Auckland after 2am last night. Our plane was delayed.

No worries,MissE and i enjoyed browsing the shops WITHOUT boys...all the tester lotions and potions and many, many perfumes-she's such a girl!OKAKU BAY today...revamped park, so cool!Little cousins staying on here (My parents place) for a sleepover party tonight...

Labels: Tripp'n

Bag’s packed waiting at the door, picked up my warmest ole coat from the dry-cleaners (Apparently a cold snap in NZ this weekend!), baked some rhubarb muffins for after school…

Miss E and I are off to Auckland for the weekend and especially for my Grandmothers 90th birthday. All my cousins, aunts, and uncles, gathering for the occasion on Saturday; a big family get-together which hasn’t happened since… her 80th! Grandmas awesome…

This weekend also doubling up as ‘The Big Weekend’ for Miss E and I…a weekend planned where each of our children go away with the parent of the same gender (BP’s going away more than me!) between their 10th and 11th birthdays.

Labels: Tripp'n

Home again after 7 beautiful days by the Hawkesbury River
Our cottage; which was very cute, oozing country charm and creature comforts, was in Spencer- which is a hoot! Only 1 & 1/2 hours out of Sydney yet seems a world away…One general store which is everything rolled in one, the pub; a park table under a tree (Known as the ‘Tree of Knowledge) toothless fisherman, and all types of boats and people mooring for a bite to eat and supplies

Hightlights...

The kids meeting some great little friends within minutes of being there

Kayaking in our creek, from dawn to dusk!
Catching mud crabs
Cooking our dinner and toasting marshmallows on a BBQ drum by the river

Tripping up to St Alban’s for dinner at one of New South Wales oldest pubs ‘Settlers Arms’, Saturday night

A raucous mud fight in the creek when our friends came up for the day
Bike riding; the kids hooning around the place, BP and I taking a ride on the new cycle he recently bought

Fishing off the local wharf-all of us reeling them in…definitely makes it more exciting when the fish are biting!


Mark; Spencer Cottages caretaker for his wonderful hospitality and kindness. Observing that Mark daily frequents the store to buy a newspaper, this morning on our way out the kids prepaid his papers for a couple of weeks and wrote a lovely thank-you card. Would love to be a fly on the wall when he discovers it tomorrow!

For anyone interested in accomodation on the Hawkesbury try Australian River Traders here. Some of the holiday houses are only acessible by boat, Spencer Cottage which we let further inland along the river

Labels: Tripp'n

Here and there...

Off on a whim…On Saturday some friends and us decided to jump in our cars and head up to Tea Gardens, Port Stephens. Had fun exploring an area nearby which has affordable parcels of land…dreaming together for a day and bush whacking our way through gravel roads.

Today we headed up the Central Coast to beautiful Copacabana beach to congratulate and spend time with our friends who just got engaged!!!! Nice too seeing his parents who are here from Indiana

AND on Thursday!!!!!!!!!!! We’re heading to this holiday house on the Hawkesbury River for 7 nights-Wahoo!!!

Labels: Tripp'n

...writing now from my computer in Sydney

Had a wonderful time in NZ…just LOVE NEW ZEALAND…the beautiful lush country, warm people, its unique creativity and style, all the gorgeous homes and gardens, cultural richness, totally full of life home church and amazing family and friends!!!!!!

(Of course there are untold things I love about Australia too...nice seeing blue skies again!)

Lots of THANKS going out to:~Mum and Dad…loved living with you for the last 3 or so weeks. Immmm the yummy food and dinners (I’m going to have to actually cook myself tonight!), MUM so onto it keeping our mountains of washing under control (Something I’m yet to master!), The evening couch line ups and “Just one more episode’ chorus as we watched ‘Prison Break’ til late, And as usual spoiling us all to bits, love care, and good times!….xox
AND having Nan and Grandy THE GREAT (My grandparents) there for a week or so too!!!

~Wonderful friends and their ‘cute as’ 5 kids;thanks for having us, you guys have such an incredible gift of hospitality…SO enjoyed our families being together-FUN!
Thanks too to their boarder for so graciously offering to look after ALL 9 (!!!) so we could go out to dinner one night

~My super nearly 90 grandmother who always brings out the lollies, and played us some tunes

~So good too catching up with BP’s family …What a great time having early Christmas pressie opening together…the kids going crazy with joy over their presents…AND the beautiful morning spent strawberry picking, buckets and tummies full later

And have run out of room, but could write paragraphs too about all the other wonderful people who had, or took us for dinner…but quickly:

Labels: Tripp'n

Driving to and from Hastings we couldn’t resist stopping for “real ice-creamer’ Tiptop scooped- while- you- wait ice-cream

Tiptop is abit of a New Zealand icon it’s colourful factory seen as you head down Aucklands southern motorway
The kids have been enjoying lots of yummy Tiptop favours such as ‘goody-goody-gum-drops’ while here in NZ, and looking forward to a Tiptop tour which we took yesterday
A great little tour through the factory and an ice-cream each at the end of it-Fun and yum!
BP and i had a hum along to childhood Tiptop tunes, one of which a young Rachael Hunter features in, and got to watch the latest Tiptop TV ad; “Undies,undies,togs” we'd heard about -funny!

The tour is a recommended $2 donation/person, all of which goes to Starlight children’s hospital

Didn't know when I'd next be near a computer,but here i am...
Arrived this afternoon in Napier which is next to Hastings
Are staying with a wonderful family, our kids all bunked in with theirs downstairs-so cute

Took our time meandering here today stopping in Taupo:
To look at Huka Falls
Test taste honey at The Honey hive
And walk through 'Craters of the moon'
Enjoying a good chat now as we sit around, typing here and there mid conversation...

The following by my sister in law:
"Picture this - the cousins, aunts and uncles including the wonderful Mammie and Pa reunite from afar to a holiday destination in a beautiful New Zealand setting right next to Rotorua called Rotoiti. We all stayed in a typical NZ bach(holiday home)which was fully furnished and big enough to relax while the kids danced, sang and played games - Ahhh that's the life.

The Boat -Rebecca and I(the sister in law) had a turn on the donut/sea biscuit - kind of like water skiing but lying down on a donut ring(fun times), that was fun until the boat changed gear to TURBO and your whole life flashes before your eyes...We have bruises to prove it!! The kids loved the boat and the older ones, the kids had a go on the donut by themselves the look on their faces were priceless! - what brave kids!!

The photo of the person wakeboarding is none other than BP my brother inlaw - he looks like a professional on the wakeboard! And who took these amazing photographs...(me of course hahaha I was very impressed by my amazing photography - so modest)

We're all in this together!- (high school musical song)
This is one of the songs our kids(aussie & kiwi) know very well, it should be up there with the childhood classics 'twinkle twinkle little star' and 'if you're happy and you know it clap your hands' (they even know dance moves to this high school musical movie - 5 stars Disney!!) Ahhh these special moments that create happy memories for the family and this holiday will be one that I'll treasure for life.

P.S. - Rebecca you're an amazing, fun loving, creative, energetic, beautiful and talented woman! love you lots xxx
LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE NOW OVER AND OUT!"

Loving being together...my parents,3 brothers and their families all in one spot...
our little tribe making up half of the 8 cousins!
Fun day catching up and fish and chips at Mission Bay last night
Off soon to visit my 89 yeay old grandmother

BP had a small demo job on in Canberra, so we tagged along with him for a few nights.

Never really think of Canberra as a holiday destination….normally heading for the coast.
Discovered though that’s there’s so much for families to do, see, and experience in the capital city!

While there we:

Went for a morning stroll and cuppa amongst the beautiful flowers at FLORIADE; Canberra’s spring flower festival
Ventured to QUESTACON which is worth a trip to Canberra for in itself!
Questacon is The National Science and Technology Centre making science and technology not only educational but also a fun and interactive experience
And also headed to COCKINGTON GREEN
Cockington Green has an amazing display of meticulously crafted miniature buildings all set within beautifully landscaped gardens.
There’s also a steam train, and our kids could have spent an entire afternoon playing with the many the dolls houses and pieces at ‘Play-town’ in the picnic area…while we snoozed under a tree!

Our 4 night’s away here ended up being 6…how could we bypass the beautiful weather of the last couple of days-the first two of SPRING-Wahoo!
Love having seasons, but definitely prefer the warmer weather.

A great week…
Lots of time spent:
-Bike-riding. The perfect set up for kids to be out and biking. No.4 got so fast
-Swimming.A Beautiful resort pool; just the type you think about when freezing in winter-At the beach…can’t beat it.The kids really enjoying our walk around the rocks

Also:
-Heaps of family fun and knocks on the giant jumping pillow
-Stopping for a cuppa or ice-cream and chat with “Cocky” (The talking cockatoo) at the holiday parks café
-The wonderful kids club the park operates, with pancake breakfasts, tractor rides, movie screenings, craft, sports, a midday sausage sizzle, and free tattoos…Had to plan our day around all the activity!
-Watching the pelicans being fed at ‘Fisherman’s Wharf’
-Visiting a few caravan parks…still dreaming of traveling the length and breadth of this amazing country
-BP and I chillin at the end of each day, watching 5 nights of Australian Idol and 100 (?) hopeful contestants whittled down to 12

Home now…. and bracing ourselves for a super busy week. When it rains it pours; the family calendar chocka this week with school, sporting and church events. Lucky we’ve already had the holiday!

-Oppps watch that poo...in the country at Mogendoura farm-Yeeehaaa!

-Horses at our doorstep. A real life “my little pony” the kids groomed, dressed up and treated as there own

-Waking to a valley filled with kangaroos

Going in the trailer off to feed the animals
-Visiting the local markets…only 50 cents for a lucky dip!

-Gathering around the cosy fire in our cabin, toasting marshmallows and having our own ‘Good Friday’ Service

-Rowing down the river…actually catching fish!!

-The kids learning to ride…riding together through such breathtaking landscape

- An Easter egg hunt and lots of chocolate

-Driving on Dad’s knee around the farm

-Making new friends and staying last night with our friends in Ulladulla;Indian takeaways and apple crumble (Yum!) for Marks birthday

-Stopping on the way home…in and out of caravans…dreaming and scheming the whole road home!