Thursday 9 October 2014

Stump removal

How hard could it be?? It's just a stump...get a digger in, couple of hours...stump removed...yeah, right!!!


 
So we started off with a couple of SMALL piles of dirt...
 
 
but found it was a little more difficult than first thought to get this stump out. So we will just dig a bit more...
 
 
Nugget was most confused..."if I dug a hole this big I'd be in HEAPS of trouble!!"
 
 
Digging wasn't working...let's try burning the stump out!
 
 
Result? A hell of a mess and one stump still in the ground (I can just bet it is smirking!!) And an off-road, 4-wheel drive experience for all visitors...sorry, people!
Any bets on how long it will take to clear this mess up??

Saturday 2 August 2014

Another holiday activity

What to do in the school holidays?? How about...ice skating!! :)
Over at Rotorua (40 mins drive from Tokoroa) there was a temporary ice rink erected for a couple of months. So on a lovely Saturday afternoon we drove over for a bit of a laugh!


 
The rink was partly under a marque and partly exposed to the elements. Lucky we had a reasonably nice winter's day. There were a few families but mostly teenage girls having loads of fun.
 
 
Here is Briar doing her best zombie impersonation! My girls have only ever ice skated once before (about 4 yrs ago) so it took a few minutes to get the hang of it again. But it didn't take long till they were whizzing around the ice like naturals!
 
 
The rink wasn't too crowded so they were able to skate reasonably uninterrupted. At one stage they cleared the ice and put on an ice hockey demonstration. Wow, those people could skate!! Apparently there is going to be a rink constructed in Hamilton next year-I told Olivia she should sign up for the ice hockey team while she is at school up there next year.
 
 
The rink was situated on the Village Green down by the lakefront in Rotorua and was a great location to spend the afternoon. There were a few other 'fairground' type things set up-a merry-go-round, moving clowns heads game, and ...
 
 
 
 
...a giant inflatable slide! The girls each had a go and squealed the whole way down! It was a lot of fun, apparently. Then it was time for a short play on the playground nearby and a couple of pizzas to refuel after a busy afternoon., before heading back home. A great end to the school holidays.

Tuesday 29 July 2014

Holiday activities

Term two ended at the beginning of July and the girls got two weeks holiday. Lucky things...I have not earned holidays yet as I have only been at my job 5 months so we didn't get up to much this time round. However, my boss was wonderful enough to let me finish at lunchtime for a couple of days in the last week of the holidays so we planned a couple of holiday activities.

 
First up was ten pin bowling. Caitlin, Olivia and I had an intense session at SkyCity Bowlevard where I ALMOST won but Caitlin pipped me by 2 points to win in the end!
 
 
Olivia did well and wasn't far behind us on points.
 
 
 
We had a lovely afternoon out and finished off by going to see a movie at The Base. We watched "The Fault In Our Stars" and yep...Caity and I bawled our way through it! Hard-hearted Olivia sat dry-eyed throughout, laughing at us!! It was a great movie-very moving.
 
For those of you wondering about Briar...fear not! She wasn't missing out-she was spending the week at Nana's, getting VERY spoiled!!! Thanks, Mum :)  xx

Saturday 26 July 2014

A new puppy

Let me introduce you to the newest member of our family!


 
Isn't he just the CUTEST thing??!! His name is "Ace" and he is Caitlin's birthday present. Ace is a Maltese X West Highland Terrier. He is 14 weeks old now and is just gorgeous!!
 
 
 
 
As you can see, he has made himself right at home! The cats aren't too fussed with him yet but they are adapting. It doesn't help that they run from him so he chases them. thinking it is a game. They haven't worked out that they are actually bigger than he is at the moment!!
 
 
 
And here are a couple more photos just to show how GORGEOUS he is!!!

 
 
So, we now have 3 dogs, 2 cats, 2 guinea pigs, 4 pigs, 1 steer, 5 sheep and 3 lambs. No wonder I feel like I live in a zoo sometimes!  :)
 

Wednesday 25 June 2014

Happy Birthday (again) ...

...and then it was time for ANOTHER birthday!

Olivia is now a teenager (goodness help us all!!) Yep, 13 years old - really, WHERE does that time go??!! Here is how we celebrated...

Actually, we started the day with some indoor rock climbing at the AC Baths complex in Taupo. We took a couple of carloads of Olivia's friends (AND her sisters!) and everyone had a great time climbing. There are some fearless girls in this group!!

 After a couple of hours of climbing an apetite had been worked up so it was off to the lake front for some fish n chips 'al fresco'.
 The day was gorgeous, although there was a brisk breeze, and the view across the lake was just as gorgeous. Taupo certainly can turn on a great day!
 And here are all the gorgeous girls!
 Of course, no meal at the lake front is complete without the extra 'guests'! Luckily we had enough food for everyone :)
 Then it was back to the AC Baths for a swim and hydroslide...oh, and a play on an inflatable structure!

Eventually we made it back to Tokoroa where there just happened to be a cake waiting :) This year Olivia chose a Cookie Monster-themed cake (I have NO idea why!!)  but it was SO easy to make so I wasn't complaining :) 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our second teenager!! Love you, bub xxx

Friday 20 June 2014

Girls on bikes!

One Sunday in early June we decided to do a short cycle trip for a couple of hours. We loaded up the ute with all the mountain bikes and packed enough food to last a week!! We started our journey keen and eager, with loads of smiles!
 We conned Jeff into driving us all to Waimangu Valley where we would start our ride. It took approx. an hour to drive there through some lovely countryside between Tokoroa and Rotorua.
 Waimangu Valley is a hidden paradise! It is a beautiful valley in the middle of nowhere with geothermal activity and bush walks. We topped up with a delicious early lunch at the café (yeah, just HAD to save that food we packed in case of emergency!!)  and decided to leave exploring Waimangu Valley for another time as we were all keen to get underway.
 OK, so we were doing the trail backwards from what I had read in a book so got a little "directionally challenged" when we first left Waimangu. Jeff eneded up driving us about 8km up a road that it turns out, we should have been cycling on! Oh well, we still had...ummm...over 20km to do!! :p
 
 Once we found the sign that reassured us we were in the right place, we set off! This was the only time we were all together until the food stop as both Olivia and Briar had to be leading and spent all their time being "first"!
 
 

 
The track was fantastic for cycling on...mostly it was tarsealed and reasonably flat so very little effort required. The photo above was the only 'hill'!! So a great ride to do for beginners as there is no offroad action (although you are OFF ROAD!)
 
We stopped about 2/3 of the way along to eat our food :) Except we hadn't really worked up much of an apetite so we ended up feeding the rooster and hen that had obviously been dumped on the side of the road and left to fend for themselves. They had found the perfect spot though, in a  large rest area where loads of people must stop as they looked very well fed and certainly weren't shy!!
 
I forgot to get a 'finish' photo but we ere all still smiling-yay! We finished at Waipa Mill end of the Redwoods on SH 5 so we didn't have to brave the Rotorua town traffic. Jeff picked us up and took us for a couple of pizzas and some sushi, and we all agreed our girls bike day out was a success!! :) 

Wednesday 28 May 2014

Easter 2014

 
So..every year we head off at Easter to a new destination chosen by one of four from the Pengelly family. This year was my youngest brothers turn to choose and we ended up in Ohakune. Ohakune is approx. two and half hours drive from Tokoroa, nestled on the southern slopes of Mt Ruapheu. It is a small village that comes alive during the ski season when it is a bustling centre for après-ski activities!

 
A lot of towns in NZ have something they are known for and Ohakune is known for its carrots! :)

 
 
Mum, Vaughan and I enjoyed a lovely 2km walk along a stream right in town-it ran the length of the village and was very pretty!

 
 
 
 
There are numerous tracks and trails and, of course, a spot of geocaching was on the cards.


 
 
We found the most gorgeous 'gnome home' geocache-too cute!!

 
 

 
 We stayed mid-April before all the snow and enjoyed a fabulous three days exploring the area.
 
 

 
 


 
 
 
 
Jeff, Caitlin, Olivia and I ventured up the mountain road where we found a lovely one hour walk to a waterfall. The track was easy walking and was well worth the gorgeous view at the end! I just love waterfalls!

 
 

 

The Gash family spent a lovely afternoon at the Waiouru museum about 30 mins south of Ohakune. This museum is an absolutely in-depth collection of memorabilia relating to all the wars NZ has (unfortunately) had to  participate in. It is quite moving and emotional wandering around the displays and you get a very real sense of conditions and atmosphere at times. :(




On our way back to Ohakune we stopped off at Tangiwai. This is the site of a terrible train disaster; in fact, the biggest in NZ history. On Christmas Eve 1953, a lahar came down Mt Ruapehu damaging a bridge structure in its path. Unfortunately, not  long after, a train travelling from Wellington to Auckland came over that bridge. Due to the damage, the bridge collapsed plunging the train into the river. 151 died and many were injured on a bleak Christmas Eve :(
The memorial is a very sobering site!



Another wonderful Easter weekend exploring an area we have never visited before. I really enjoy discovering towns in NZ that we haven't stayed in before. Easter is a highlight of my year. Oh yeah...the chocolate is pretty good too :)





Happy Birthday...

Well, it is that time of the year again...Birthday Season! Three birthdays in 3 months-one every 6 weeks. How's that for planning? :) We just get one organised, done and dusted then it is on to the next one!
First up is...Briar!



This year we are doing "odd-numbers" so Briar turned 11 in April. She had an afternoon party with 3 of her school friends.

 
 
 


They played party games like 'Pass the Parcel', 'Treasure Hunt' and 'Apple Bobbing'.
Apple-bobbing?? you might ask! Well, Briar's "theme" for her party was blue & green so we had food, decorations and even games to reflect the theme (apples=green!!)




Finding food was an interesting exercise but I think we did OK-the table looked amazing! I wanted to serve little mince savouries topped with 'green' mashed potato but got told NO! :( Oh well, I think there was enough to eat as it was...



She had a great afternoon and that was birthday number one out of the way...next up is Olivia!