Local Santa Parade - Henderson

This weekend we trotted along to the local parade, and had a completely lovely time.

It was small, it was funny seeing all the branded vehicles towing flatbeds with other branded vehicles (lots of go-carts), and the traffic in the area was successfully turned into a nightmare.

Despite this, the atmosphere was a heck of a lot of fun, and we got lollies and cheers, and the marching bands were really quite awesome. There were also some original vehicles in the parade, which were fantastic, the original firetruck made us marvel at how far technology has come.

My favourite Bank, and my favourite burger restaurant were in the parade, so that was also a plus :)

For some reason, nothing quite says Christmas like men in kilts and the resounding drum beats with the wails of a bagpipe band... *sigh of contentment*

Otago Peninsula Dunedin

Another place well worth making time for, we were up here often, just driving through the scenery, the views, the wildlife... the sheep.

It's very gusty of the ocean side, so bring jackets! We loved how the area is designed to be user friendly for tourists while maintaining the space and environs for those who live in the area. Sadly we didn't see any penguins, but we felt connected with nature, it's great to be 'removed' from the city, even if just for a short while :)

http://www.otago-peninsula.co.nz

Someone needs to help this poor fellow get the twig out of his face... I wonder if he even realises it's there?

Dunedin - Chinese Gardens

I always love a good Chinese garden, I love the moon gates, the way the buildings and the lakes are laid out, and the Koi.

Dunedin was a wonderful example of how a Chinese garden should be - my other favourite is in Sydney :) https://www.dunedin.govt.nz/dcg

What was extra special, after we clambered through the stone waterfall, we could purchase feed for the fish. This just added to the experience and enjoyment of the kids, making the whole visit that much more special.

 

Dunedin - Cadbury Chocolate Factory

Oh my Yummy Yummy Yummy!

The best value tour we went on, so much Chocolate samples, so cheap to buy from the shop, so much too look at and the smell!!

For around $60 for the whole family, we had a fantastic experience. The chocolate drop of around 1 Tonne of liquid chocolate in the silo was both loud and insane.

We were fortunate enough to get a 'double' helping of the melted chocolate sample to taste, along with a variety of chocolate samples through out the tour.

The Golden mountain below are all Crunchie bars... my favourite... enough to make you cry!

How many Cocoa beans would you value yourself at? If a slave is 100...

One of the original cars, purple is such a happy colour :)

Did you know... it takes 6 months for them to make the chocolate for NZ for Easter.... and 2 weeks for it to get eaten! Madness!

Kaikoura Seal Colony

I am going to be using the words - amazing, astounding and beautiful a lot for a while. 

The south island of New Zealand has some of the best natural features of anywhere in the globe in an extremely compact space. Fjordlands? Forget Norway, head for Te Anau. Glaciers? Go to Fox or Franz Josef. Outstanding Rock Formations - go to Punakaiki. 

Wild colonies of seals by the roadside? Kaikouri is you destination!

This was a great surprise for us, one of the things we hadn't researched and had the fortune to stop at. We were following the ocean road on the East Coast and simply stopped at a lookout for a break and a view. 

We got out of the car, looked over the water and said... hey... there's a seal out there... and another one... and another!! Then we realised what we were looking at and went a little crazy watching the antics of this purely wild creature so close by.

They were noisy, and they stank, and they frolicked in the rock pools with every wave that came in. Amazing!

 

 

 

 

So I didn't get back into it :)

Life has been life and I've taken a break from blogging, which has been very good for me :)
Recently however, we have been on a trip around the North and South island of NZ - for 22 days on a road trip, and I am inspired again. So I expect I'll be putting things back up here in the coming weeks and months, there was so very much to see and do, just inspiring in many, many ways!
Love this country !

Hobsonville Point Sunday Markets

Tucked away behind the Catalina Cafe at Hobsonville is the local farmers markets. With the new motorway having been opened, it's actually very close to the major on and off-ramps for the area, in a lovely setting.

Inside a large Shed, there are a wide variety of fantastic goods for sale. All organic, home-made type things but in a mass produced style.

My current favourites are the pumpkin seed bread - purely awesome toasted with soup. The Fig and ginger Jam - have it with crackers and double cream brie... to die for!

The selection of cheeses, pastries and fresh herbs are wonderful. They also have cooking diplays using all the produce from the markets, live music, a juice bar, a coffee corner.. and so forth.

The week I took this pictures Lyn Walters was playing her music, and her dulcet tones made the market have a fantastic mood.

The most awesome thing? Taste testing! Yummmmm!

It's not a very big market, but it is ever so tasty and a really enjoyable way to spend a Sunday morning.

 

 

 

 

 

Amazing Auckland Zoo!

I love Auckland Zoo! It is honestly one of the best Zoos I have ever been too. I equate as similar to Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo, and better than Taronga Zoo in Sydney, or Australia Zoo in Queensland (no offence Australia, New Zealand Rocks!)

The best bits of Auckland Zoo?
The African enclosure sets the whole thing off amazingly, walking around at the same level as the giraffes head is an experience, and hand feeding them adds to it... watch out for the drool tho!

The Meerkats are another amazing exhibit. You get to crawl through tunnels under the meerkat enclosure, then pop up into domes where you can see the Meerkats at work and play, and even have them walk right past your face! Amazingly well done, and so unique.

The rest of the Zoo had real highlights, from the Cafe - Darwin's... to the kids zone with things to climb, and the rest of the animals, well worth a visit, and the absolute best price for any Zoo I have been too, we've been twice so far, and will go again!

Leaves a nice smile on your face :)



Smiling by *KarenDFrancis on deviantART

The Skies Above New Zealand!

For some reason I spend a lot more time looking at the sky here in New Zealand, I don't think the sunsets are necessarily any more spectacular than in Australia, but I spend a lot of time observing them.

What is different to Brisbane is the fogs, the morning mists and the low lying cloud banks.

Here are some photos of New Zealand's amazing skies!