Taupo

Taupo Feb '08

We went down to spend the weekend with Luke, Anna & Brooklyn, and there we many changes all around. They had just moved back into their home after the major parts of the renovations had been completed. The new trendy bathroom was in, the stairs had been altered and the the front of the house had been extended. The little house they bought 18 months ago, was still in a state of unfinish but is so much larger. There is a fair bit of internal decorating to be done, but it is so much bigger, brighter and a lot more trendy.

And Brooklyn, we had seen him last in January and here he was now sitting up, crawling around and pulling himself up against the furniture. He is a happy boy, and in now getting used to different tastes as he recently started on real food.

We had a lovely weekend, and are always amazed at the beauty of Taupo and their lake.

Our Anniversary in Christchurch

Christchurch, Feb 2008

What a great weekend. We both took Friday off work and went down to Christchurch for a weekend. It was our 28th Wedding anniversary and thought we would spend it down south with Karine.
We booked into an apartment for the weekend in the centre about 10 mins walk from the city centre.
Apart from the security scare closing Christchurch airport down, and the slight delay we had, the rest of the weekend was wonderful.
It was great to see Karine and to be shown around the City. We of course had Souvlaki, as we don’t have it in Auckland, and then wandered the city.
On Friday evening Karine and I (Judi) went Salsa dancing. Karine has been having lessons for four weeks and wanted me to see her dance. It was fun, and I had my first dance. I was taught as I went along by someone who has been dancing for a while, and it was fun. I was a little stiff the next day though.
Karine took us out to Akaroa the next day. It is very much like a little British sea side area with lots of cafes, and craft shops. It was about 1 hour out of Christchurch. Saturday evening we went to a great Italian restaurant for our anniversary celebration. The food was wonderful and we were so full when we left a short walk around the city was required..
Sunday was spent wandering around the markets in the Art Centre and then visiting the travel expo.
The other great thing that happened was that it was a year this weekend since Karine’s church started so it was party time. The reason she came to Christchurch was as part of the team that set up the church. It has grown amazingly and there was a large turnout today. There were bouncy castles, ride on cars, candyfloss and more. The kids especially loved it,
We flew back via Wellington exhausted but so pleased we got away.
It is always nice to catch up with the kids. We are off to Taupo in a couple of weeks to see how Luke, Anna & Brooklyn are doing.