A-hunting we will go...

The school holidays were almost finished so we decided to have one more outing...a hunting trip/bush walk, depending on who you asked! (Jeff and Olivia are the hunters, Briar and I were just there for the walk!) It was Nuggets first outing as her training as a hunting dog starts. She was very excited to be included!

 

Off we set...hunters in the front, spectators at the rear.

 

 

 

 

Briar and I decided to make things interesting so started making deer noises (and then, any animal noises we could think of!) We got the giggles big time and needless to say were not very popular judging by the glares from the front!! Oops...

 

 

 

 

 

We reached a highly technical bit-a stream crossing! (OK, a wee dribble of water) but it proved too much for some. Briar managed to step in mud that oozed over the top of her boot-ugh! She and I made the decision to turn back and wait for the others instead of carrying on with muddy, gritty boots...only to fill the other boot up with water when she slipped crossing back over the stream! Oh dear, it was not her day.

 

 

 

 

It is NOT comfortable walking with wet, scratchy feet.

We wandered slowly back to the truck where we sat and talked and just chilled out.

 

 

 

We were walking in the Ngaroma block in the Pureora Forest, near Benneydale. It was a 23km ROUGH ride in on a forestry road that has us all rattled to the bones by the time we made it to our destination. But the ride was worth it for the scenery. Along the walking track we discovered this lichen-it looked like drifts of snow! We will return one day (with gaiters) and complete the walk.

The hunters returned a couple of hours later empty-handed (as expected) but happy with their outing.

Yay, another lovely day out and a great end to the holidays.

 

Snow time!

It's the end of the first week of school holidays and we headed over to Taumarunui to catch up with Nana and Gramps for a couple of nights. Sunday was forecast to be a lovely day so we headed off to the snow at Mt Ruapehu; 45 mins away.

 

We were surprised to find the mountain was not as covered in snow as we expected, however there was enough for our purposes. Number one on the list of things to do was...build a snowman!

 

 

  

 

 

OK, so he's not the most handsome of snowmen but he was cute.  :)

 

 

Then it was on to number two on the list of things to do...have fun! We took plastic rubbish bags with us to slide on and great fun was had by all - yes, even Mum and Nana had a go! (Luckily no one had a camera aimed on us!!)

 

 

 

And no time at the snow is complete without number three on the list...a snowball fight...woohoo! We all had a few hits...and misses. With some people needing help with their aim...and effort.  :)

 

 

 

As you can see by this magnificent view neighbouring Mt Ngaruahoe, we had a beautiful sunny day without a cloud in the sky. We were rugged up but in no time at all the layers started coming off and we got very warm. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. We took snacks and drinks with us so stayed up in the snow for a couple of hours before the need for lunch drove us down to National Park where we visited The Station Café. We had a lovely lunch and coffee there before heading back to Taumarunui. What a great day in the snow!

The Voice of an Angel

It all started with an innocent looking piece of paper...

 

After a nervous audition we learned we have a singing star in the family-Briar made the school choir!

 

After weeks of practice finally the big night arrived. After ensuring major support in the audience by inviting Aunty Lacreice & Uncle Vaughan and Nana & Gramps, it was time for our star to shine.

 

 

It was a big undertaking-a mass choir consisting of choirs from approx. 7 schools in the area, coming together to perform for the public. The program was well done with mass choir singing interspersed with individual school choir performances. All the schools had put so much effort into their performances and the kids outdid themselves on the night.

 

 
There are some very talented kids in that choir! They all appeared to enjoy themselves and the evening was a huge success. We thoroughly enjoyed our evening and a huge thanks to Vaughan & Lacreice and Nana & Gramps for travelling so far to support our little star!!

SENZ

Whoops...it's been a while!  So what have I been up to?...

Last weekend Caitlin, Mum and I travelled to SENZ in Auckland. This is an annual papercraft event where we get to drool over the latest offerings from retailers all under one roof. It was held in Manukau at the Vodafone Events Centre which was a great venue-easy to get to and park-yay!

We were already primed for crafting after having spent the night at Pirongia where my talented sister-in-law put together a kit for us to do that night. Thanks, Lacreice-I had lots of fun (and red wine!!) 

SENZ offers classes but we didn't sign up for any (no need to with our own 'teacher' on tap :) ) so we spent the morning wandering around all the stalls gathering ideas and inspiration and ok, making the odd wee purchase here and there! (It would be rude NOT to!)

We finally ran out of steam about 2pm so finished off with a wee look over at Manuakau Shopping Centre where Caity suddenly found a hidden source of energy to drag us around!

Then it was a quick drive back to Hamilton to drop Mum off at Pirongia then finally back to Tokoroa . I had a fabulous day out and have some new supplies to play with and heaps of inspiration.