Another month gone!

Yep, January seems to be officially toast.  We are officially on the last weekend which for us is a long weekend here in NZ.  And marvels of marvels, the weather may actually be worthy of such a treat.  Last night we had the remains of a cyclone pass over the area and we had rain.  That's a bit of an understatement actually, cuz if that was the tail end of a weakened cyclone, then I can assure you I don't want to be anywhere around a full strength one.  The rain started at about 5 pm last night but really picked up the pace by 11.  It was like a bucket was being upended over us.  By 4 am the kids were in our room complaining that the sound and strength of the wind and rain had woken them up.  The noise really was quite something.  But this morning we have awoken to blue skies, warm temps, and a very brisk wind.  The rain and wind were so intense that it actually blew rain between the roof tiles and dripped into our living room.  But all's well now - the wind is due to die down but the sun will stay and trips the the beach will be the order of the day tomorrow I think.  We haven't had it nearly as bad as Australia but we sure have had 2 intense weekends in a row now so there is lots of flooding and road closures even in our neck of the woods.

After a multitude of adventures, day trips and miles around NZ, my parents have returned back to their home in Manitoba.  10 weeks is a long time to live in someone else's (very small house), living with their schedules and whims and my parents really did it beautifully.  I'm quite sure they collapsed in their house upon their return and vowed not to leave it for a good long time!  On the last weekend they were here I had rented a house for us all in the Coramandels, which is one of the most gorgeous places in all of NZ (which is saying something) and is only 3 hours north of us.  The drive up there is not for the faint of heart as the roads are wretchedly windy and tortuously narrow in places, however the reward is well worth the drive!  I wanted them to experience the beauty of the area, but mother nature had other plans and cursed us with rain for most of that trip.  We did manage to get some site seeing down on the Saturday, when we visited a nifty little amusement park called 'Waterworld' (and no, it was not related to the movie of the same name) and a narrow gauge railway up to the top of a hill. 

Waterworld was a real fan favourite as it is, funnily enough, all about water, which is used to do funny/ingenious things in the very rural and rustic park setting.  Lots of ops to get wet and play around.  No electricity is used to run any of the stuff and lots of the attractions are made using recycled materials.  They had a playground that was tremendous.  Highlights included the human hamster wheel and the 'E.T.' bikes.  The railway is the creation of an area potter who originally built the first bit of track to bring down clay for his crafts and wood for his fire.  But then he went higher and higher/longer and longer so that over the course of more than 30 years he has built a narrow gauge track that extends more than 5 kms, built 5 tunnels and 3 bridges up to the 'Eye-ful' tower.  It's really lovely stuff.

The most wonderful time of the year is on Feb. 2nd for Don and I.  The kids start back to a new school year after 2 months off.  The brilliance of the NZ school system is that you can buy the kids' stationary pack from the school so you don't even have to go school supply shopping!  And as long as long as your kid hasn't changed schools or grown, they can even wear the same uniforms, so no clothes shopping.  And even bigger bonus, no shoes required (even PE is done in bare feet around here)!  All our kids have to do is to show up, and believe me, Don will have them waiting at the school gates at 8:30. 

Our kids have had a pretty low key January, happily spending hours in front of the xbox, either here or at the neighbor's place.  We forced them to participate at a Y camp for 3 days just to give Don a sanity break and for them to relearn what the outdoors looks like.  With grandpa here they ate an ice cream about every 2nd day, so their middles might be a little thicker than pre-holidays, but then with the amount of drinking the adults did I don't think I should be pointing any fingers.

On one of the final weekends they were here, my mom made some Canadian food, including some lovely perogies and I did some pumpkin pie, and we fed up our neighbors.  I do believe we have converted more souls to the wonders of our national foods :)

Up next in our lives, we are expecting my friend Sharon in mid February for a 3 week visit.  While she's here we are all going to make our way down to Napier in West Coast winery region for a weekend and then Sharon and I are going to have a girls' getaway, driving up to the Bay of Islands, which is in the far north of NZ, for 5 days.  So still more adventures coming our way!

I hope all of you are somehow enjoying your winter months, skating or skiing or even making a snow angel or two. 

much love,

the McLeods