She'll be coming around the mountain

A couple weekends ago we took the babies for a little train ride.

That's them pulling up the rear.  As you can see it's a mini-train which is maintained by the mini steam-powered train club (below).

 

Having tea, like good kiwi blokes.  We are so civilized here in NZ.  Check out the little engine - See the fire in there?

Here's the coal.

 

Oh, it was a fun time.

             

Wild Geese

And Sheep.

I'm not sure what's going on in the picture below.  I just want to say that Kim and I are aware of the importance of teaching children about hygiene.

Two geese looking for trouble...

...sneaking into the hen-house...a clean, hygienic hen-house. 

End of the End of the World Trip - the final chapter (part 1).

On our way home from the end of the world, we pulled through this little village, Opononi which is famous for having a pet dolphin, Opo, in the '50s.  This dolphin was very friendly and would even make you a sandwich if you asked nice. 

Just down the road is NZs largest tree.  It's a Kauri tree named Tane Mahuta which means 'lord of the forest'.  Very old (~1200 y.o.) and large.

We also had the pleasure of sampling the 'best fish and chips in NZ' at the Mangonui Fish Shop.

As most of you know, I'm a bit of a F&C connoisseur.  I found the fare here to be unremarkable.  Even though the F&C wasn't that special, the company couldn't have been better.

There's no place I would have rather been in the world.

The end of the world - Part IV

When you get to the end of the world there's a lighthouse! 

Also, there's a tree (arrow) which Maori (native kiwi) legend holds is your soul's exit from this earth, the Maori name for this point translates as 'leaping off place of spirits'.  You and I will call this place Cape Reinga.  If, at the end of the world, you look to the left, it looks like this...

Not too shabby - it's Cape Maria van Diemen.  A better view of the lighthouse (that's Kim & Chloe at the bottom).

Look!  LA is only 5,709 miles away!  A short swim, really.

No.3

Beautiful baby number 3, El Torro. 

Tip of the World - Part III

Exploring the tip of the world we stumbled upon what may be my very favorite beach.  Karikari beach.  Of course it was beautiful, with emerald green water and powder white sand, but what put it in my 'favorites' category was the texture of the sand.  It was soft like talcum and brushed right off, like walking on a soft rug.

This is the beach from where we parked..

Chloe and Claire played with a beautiful shell they found.  I meant to bring it home with us as a memento of the trip but I forgot it.  I guess we'll have to go back and look for it.

90-Mile Beach and the end of the world - Part II

Finally.  Here's our video.  Towards the end there's a very small peek of us exiting 90-mile beach by (the only exit) Te Paki Stream (which is more like a river in some parts).  There is still at least one more instalment of our 90-mile beach vacation.



The wild horses were an unexpected highlight!

Trip to 90-mile beach and the end of the world - Part I

We loaded up the car with the bare necessities (yes, that's a tiny potty) and hit the road to the Winterless North.

It was ~6hr drive up to Ahipara, which is the jumping-off point to the southern tip of 90-mile beach.  The girls were perfect the whole drive.  Oh, there were some incidents - but they were not the babies fault.  We overfed Claire ~ 1 gallon of milk which she regurgitated (completely regurgitated) for us.  That required a pit stop.  We got a great deal on a huge beach house with a beautiful veiw.  Here's a shot of sunrise.  It turns out that we were about 1km from a world-famous surf break, Shipwreck Bay!  It's a loooong left which my mate Jimmy Kooksley would love.  Si o no, Jimmy?

There were some fun walks along the beach...

and digging in the sand...

and sweet family time...

Ambury Farm

We've rediscovered a public farm about 10miles down the road.  Kim visited Ambury Farm when we first moved here, but the girls are now at more appropriate stages to enjoy the animals.

The farm was bought by the city and is now a public park.  Cameron's lips are yellow because we just fed him a persimmon.  Yuck-o.  In typical NZ fashion, you drive up, hop out and go pet the animals.  Park ranger or warden?  I don't think so.  Long list of 'Do Not...'?  I haven't seen one.  The only instruction I've found is to please close the gates behind you. 
Let's go!

I will pet that sheep.

Ok, I'm good on sheep.

Kim and the babies approaching the chickens...


Lovely chickens, as usual.

Timmy the turkey

and Corky the goat

The runway in Milan...

...begins right here.

please note that the fashion accessory this year is a toothbrush.

This particular fashion show is brought to you by Gigi.  Other  fashion patrons include Mimi, and Joo-lee.