Happy Birthday Connor!!

So this was a major week for the McLeod clan. Our first major celebration since we've left Canada, away from friends and family. I was concerned about Connor's reaction but he, and we, had a fantastic weekend. On his actual birthday, Friday, it just so happened that his school had an all day school picnic. About 5 minutes from the house there is a lovely park with a beach that the school went to and spent the day swimming, playing cricket and rugby and generally having fun. They were home by 2 pm and Connor called it the best birthday day he'd ever had. It was certainly the warmest!! Then that evening we had invited over our neighbors and their kids to celebrate with us. So Connor was allowed to play video games all evening and fortunately one of the neighbor's kits, Sam (13) is as addicted as Connor is. So for the whole night the 5 of them rotated thru various games and various teams playing. The adults sat outside and drank wine, like all civilized adults.

Saturday morning we got our selves up and on the go by around noon. Definitely a slow start! But we did eventually get ourselves into the van for the t=drive over to Rotoroa which is a city about an hour from us.l The drive is quite windy and twisty, with 2 one lane bridges. Connor was reading his new birthday book for most of the way and about 3/4 of the way there he says 'I know that I don't look it, but I don't feel well'. And it went downhill from there. So, before you could say 'bob's your uncle' we had pulled off to the side of the road, off loaded Connor and had
Connor wolfing his cookies on the side of the road. Any of you who know Connor know that this was a BIG DEAL - but he rallied beautifully. Don thought for sure that we were hooped for the rest of the day but Connor nicely put the event behind him and didn't even whine excessively.

So then we were able to get to Te Puia, one of the Maori cultural centers in Rotorua. We saw a cultural display (i.e. the sining and the dancing) and a geyser and a mud pool. Somewhat stinky place but really interesting. It's also the home for the NZ Maori weaving and carving schools so the gift shop was really nice. The McLeod boys are especially excited by the world of gift shops and if they happen to have any money it definitely burns a hole in their pockets. We managed to escape with only a pack of mints and a carved traditionally Maori necklace a piece. Don and I managed to resist this time around but we have our eyes on a few pieces the next time we visit with some visitors.

After we were done pitter pattering around the cultural center, we headed over to the big highlight of the day, the Skyline Skyride. The Kiwis call this 'luging' but there is no head first racing down a track, I can assure you. Nope, this is good ol' fashioned go carting in non-motorized little track cars. You take a gondola up to a tallish hill/small mountain. Gorgeous views out over Rotorua and the lake. You then load yourself, and a small child if they are nervous (aka Aidan) onto a car that you steer and brake using the hand controls. Lots and lots of fun. Stunning views on the way down too. Though not too wise to look out over the lake too often lest you steer off the track. We went down 4 times a piece. The carts only take you half way down the mountain and you take an open air chair lift back up. Aidan's a touch nervous about heights so I wasn't convinced that he would enjoy that experience but he really loved it. Such a great experience for us all. Connor gave the day high praise when we got home that night, saying 'that was better than watching tv!!!'. Good times indeed.

This morning I went to my second Zumba class. A friend at work gave me a week's free pass to her gym so I've participated in 2 classes now. I enjoy Zumba tremendously. It's like dance aerobics only much sassier!! Then I came home and rounded up Aidan for the annual Mudslide event held by the local Scouting group. Connor didn't want to go for some reason but Aidan wanted to check it out. So, let me set the scene for Mudslide 2010. It's held in a farmer's field about 17 km from Tauranga. The local fire department comes out to pump out the massive amount of water required for the mud. It's set up like an obstacle course. You start out at the top of a hill and slide down a 50 ft slide into a pit of mud. Then you wade your way thru various obstacles to the top of another hill where you go down a 100 ft slide into more more, then more wading thru more stuff until you climb a hill using ropes to escape the muck. Aidan checked out the situation for more than a half an hour before he said he'd be interested in attempting the course. But the slide were really not his things, so he walked down the first hill, leapt into the mud pit and started his adventure. He also by-passed the second slide. He enjoyed it immensely and he didn't even get freaked out by the eels that were swimming around in some of the water. Yep, eels - fun stuff.

So there it is, another fun filled weekend for the McLeod clan, with no one coming out worse for the wear. Well, maybe a touch weary. We are anxiously awaiting news from Kathy and Doug on their new arrival. We have our fingers crossed for a safe and happy delivery!!

Love to all

Hello all to back home. The Kiwi based McLeods are actually sitting in front of the tv right now watching the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics. The kids generally panned the singing of the Canadian anthem and made us actually stand and sing the 'better' version during the first commercial break. Pretty funny.

So we have all had some adventures this past week. Last week we went out to McLarin Falls with the kids. It's a lovely park about 20 minutes from the house here. You can do a very short walk into a nice little water fall and there are also some very popular natural rock pools that we waded around in. We all waded around in the water but Don and I literally took the plunge and swam under the waterfall. The water fall was breaktakingly cold. Don and I both had trouble breathing when we fully submerged.


The kids are getting by at school. Certainly everyday gets easier for them (and consequently us!). They are both on their years kiwitag team. Kiwitag is rugby played with flags around the waist, rather like flag football. And, interestingly enough, the kids all have to play in bare feet. Lots and lots of kids go to school in bare feet. And the most popular form of footware on NZ feet on the street are 'jandals'. Anyone know what jandals are?? I didn't. They are flip flops. And people wear them everywhere here, even out hiking. My arches ache just looking at them.

I started my very promising tennis career on Wednesday. I have been fortunate enough to meet a lovely couple who are members of our local tennis club (about 5 minutes from the house) and they invited me down and showed me the basics and hit some balls to me. I really loved it and hope to join the club and take proper lessons. Connor has expressed an interest as well.

Don's big adventure this week involved flying. Yep, a real low cost flight over his bike's handle bars. He nailed his front breaks rather than risk a possible crash into a small ravine. He was remarkably undamaged except for a large bruise on his calf and crushing his helmet. Better a helmet than a head though. The tough guy actually finished his bike ride, I think the adrenaline kept him going. Lots of aches and pains when it wore off though. And he hasn't been back on it since - and that happened on Monday! He says he will be saddling up on Monday again though, using my helmet since his had to be retired.

Aidan also had a mishap on 2 wheels. This one involved a mini-motorcycle that Jack the neighbor owns. The kids were given the opportunity to ride it last weekend. They watched Jack putt around on it and were eager to give it a try. Aidan was first up soDon put him on it, started him off and let him go - no instructions on how to slow down or stop. So Aidan reefed the wrong way on the throttle when he panicked and ended up racing into a hedge. Luckily he had a helmet on but he did get a nasty scrap on his leg. He overcome his fear and got back on it again a while later but I believe the incident has turned him off of motorcycles for a while.

So Aidan got to pick this weekend's adventure activity as he had the toughest week. He expressed a desire to try horse back riding so I rang up the local horse wrangler and and booked us a back country trek. Yes, perhaps a bit ambitious for 2 kids who have never done more than a pony ride around a ring, but in for a penny, in for a pound! So off we went this morning at 10 am for our date with some horses. We certainly got an adventure. Our guides, Chris and Mark, are 100% Mauri, live in the back country, and are very good with horses and very patient with children. They lead us, for 2 hours, thru the back country of the local mountain range, taking us up and down hills, round trees and generally giving us all a lesson in gripping our horses with underused thigh muscles. The boys were on regular horses, no ponies, but they did tie the boys' horses to their lead horses to keep them going and under control We were riding with Australian outback saddles, no horns to hold on to, and the boys' legs were too short to reach the stirrups. But by the end of the trek both kids were guiding and controlling their own mounts. Aidan started the ride very dubious about the whole adventure but by the end of our 'Indiana Jones' style trip, he was a true believer!


Tomorrow Don and I will be marking Valentine's Day with a walk around downtown Tauranga. We'll be gazing into each others eyes (well, likely we will be staring into the others sunglasses) and remembering that yes it is February!! Our neighbors have kindly offered to take the kids on for the afternoon so we will even be childless. Oh joy!!

Love to all and happy valentine's day.

and now, back to the caves

I feel that we need to do a more thorough review of the Waitomo caves, after all we did spend the whole day there and experienced 3 tours. The day started like any other saturday...ok well most saturdays sees the parents lazing in bed until 9-9:30, so the day started like any other saturday up until 7:30. Then a peculiar thing happened..the alarm went off! So up we got and after a hearty breakfast, we loaded into the car for the 2 hour+ drive to the west side of the north island. The benefits to coming from a vast country like Canada is the fact that we don't think that a 2 hour drive is long. So 4 hours round trip in a day is a piece of cake especially if there are magnificent caves a one end.

We had planned the route on google maps prior to departing, nary a wrong turn on the trip out, and we arrived shortly after 10am. We had a coupon for %50 off of the admission price so doing three tours ended up be about $130nzd for all 4 of us.

Our first tour was the driest cave and was all done in about 40 minutes.

Our second tour was much longer and darker, so that we could see the glow maggots! well they are maggots, and the live on the roof of the caves. Producing a bioluminescense to attract other insects into the sticky thread dangling below it. They figured glow worm sounded better than glow maggot, marketing strikes again!
Not many pictures hear because the don't allow them, it distubs the maggots don't you know. This cave however had a very cool entrance. you enter into a dark chamber that is very large, you can tell right away because of the echoes. so we file in along a railing and the guide hits a button that slowly illuminates the levels that we are going to descend along the winding ramp upon which we are standing. Once we make our way to the bottom there is a door into the caves, the concrete walkway we came down was added because they actually had to build this entrance to the cave, due to the original entrance being a sacred burial place for the maori.

Our third tour was not as thrilling by now for the walking part of it, but I am glad we did it last because the short boat ride at the end was worth it. You are led down a dark set of stairs and into a squarish metal boat. The guide has made a point of telling us several times that this part of the trip is to be silent, no talking...it was good she did that because there were some rather obnoxious people who thought rules didn't apply to them and talked the whole tour. Well any way we got on the boat for the first of two trips she would have to make and let me tell you the sight was magical. It was like looking at the milky way on the darkest night, but there was an added mystical feeling with the quiet cave and the soft lapping and dripping of the water. It is a must do if you ever get a chance.

Well that about covers the caves.

ttfn

We're alive!!

Yea! Internet services (though it seems a bit dodgy at the moment - up and
down. Driving Don mad). But I've thinking glass half full - it's more
service than we had last week! So it has been 10 long days since you all
heard any updates from the McLeod clan. Of course, Don did post a couple
little snippets from the caves and of the rain fall; but more on that
latter. So much has happened that I thought I would give you a list of
highlights and lowlights (yes, there is such a word, I learned it from my
hair dresser) from my perspective, which is after all the important one.

HIGHLIGHTS:

The beaches and the walks we are able to do. Twice last week after work we
headed out to the beach to cavort in the waves and suck up the gorgeous
weather. It's one of the activities I imagined us doing when I first
committed to coming here. We also have done a couple of spectacular walks.
One was just over at the Mount (15 minutes from the house). It goes
around the base of the large mountain across the bay from us - there is one
that does go up and over but we are working up to that one. The walk is
supposed to take 45 minutes but we were out there a good 2 hours, what with
all the scampering around and side trips the boys took along the way. We
also did another short 30 minute hike with past weekend at Waitomo, over
rushing rivers and gorgeous rock formations in to a natural arch. Some
parts of the walk I felt like I was in a scene from Jurassic Park with all
the lush vegitation around me and the cliff walls towering above my head.
Definitely 'Lost World' kind of stuff.

The Waitomo Caves. This is a well known tourist destination that we made
our way to on Saturday. The weather was marvy and we had a 50% off coupon
clasped to our chests so we signed up for the 3 cave tour. Stalagmites and
stalactites galore and throw in a magical boat float in blackness with only
glow worms on the cave ceiling above you - truly something I'd recommend to
everyone.

Our neighbors. Not only do they have a pool, an eight year old son (as
well as 2 older kids) and the most amazing dog, they are truly kind and
lovely people themselves. Chris and Jackie are their names and we are
learning that there is no such thing as just one drink with them. Jackie
is a white wine drinker and has the most amazing ability to refill your
glass endlessly without you even noticing. Twice now I have had to be
helped home and laid into bed!! On Saturday they had us over for a bbq
with 2 other couples which was a very kind thing to do. It was a fun
evening.

LOWLIGHTS:

The 120 mm of rain that fell on Sunday. This was a long weekend here in
Tauranga and many a plan was dampened/cancelled because of the deluge that
fell from the sky. Good thing we did the cave thing the day before because
driving was not advised. The bucket outside our back door was filled by
the rain, so we literally got a bucketful. Lots of TV for the boys that
day, and we hosted the next door neighbor's boy (Jack) for a few hours. As
my mom said, mother nature manages to screw up long weekends all over the
world!

The cockroaches and rat(s). Yep, all manner of unpleasant things around
here. The cockroach count in the house is up to 4 and there was one even
in the office the other day. Connor has killed one, cuz the bug spray had
taken most of the zip out of it - but in general they are very fast movers.
The rat was encountered sitting in the alley way up the block. Happily
sunning himself, brazen as all get out. We could have touched him if we'd
wanted. Thanks but no. Don tried to deny the reality of rats in the
neighborhood by suggesting that perhaps it was a possum (he wasn't with the
kids and I when we saw it), but the neighbors quickly disabused him of that
idea. Definitely a rat. Ick.

The general price of things. It's wacky how expensive some things are.
Cars, houses, gas, milk, utilities - all very dear. We came here knowing
that, we'd done our research so we just close our eyes and our minds and
buy what ever we need. Also, the stuff you can't get at the grocery store
is irritating. No shortening for baking, tiny bags of chocolate chips
(major snack food for me!!), no tahini for Don, no big marshmellows for
rice krispie cakes. If anyone comes over here, I may fund an extra bag
full of the supplies I'm itching for :)

So there it is, my update for the moment. Hope everyone is enjoying
themselves in Canada. We anxiously await word on Cathy and Doug's new
arrival - could we possibly end up with 3 kids in the McLeod clan born on
the 19th??? Connor would be tickled. And now that her belly button has
popped, the moment must be close at hand!

V