Christchurch Busker's Festival 2010

Friday evening 5pm finishing work for a long weekend away with friends in Christchurch and G&T is on the mind!



Hannah & Helen enjoy pre-flight G&T's



Sunset on the way to Christchurch

Saturday morning brunch involved pouring over the programme of street theatre events and making a plan for the weekend ahead.

Ben gets involved...

Time for a beer?

Evening events with fire

Inside the sculpture

Christchurch or Cambridge?

Drawing in the crowds

Thermal wonderland

We couldn't let Pasq visit New Zealand without a trip to Rotorua and Taupo to see the bubbling mud, smell the sulpher and bath in hot rivers, so we headed down there for our last weekend together.

Smelly enough?

Alice's friend "The boy" joined us with his girlfriend. They now live in Auckland too.

Next stop was kerosene creek and the hot river in the forest. "The boy" also introduced us to another secret bathing pool around the corner.

In the evening, we decided to go for a "cultural evening", which consisted of a traditional greeting, thermal areas, local crafts, a hangi meal (cooked in the ground using natural thermal heat) and an amazing concert. Very much aimed at tourists, but we had never done it before, so new to us too!

Woke up to another sunny morning, so decide to explore Taupo before heading back to Auckland.

Breakfast at the apartment

Lake Taupo

Oh, that river really is too hot!

The Huka falls

Craters of the moon...not quite sure the moon has the same vegetation though!











So, an action-packed few weeks has come to an end. We were getting used to having Alice and Pasq around, so it feels very quiet now without them. Not long until we catch up again though and we have so many amazing memories! Thanks for coming guys :-)

Gareth's 31st birthday

Gareth started his 31st birthday with muffins, croissant, coffee and presents....can't think of anything better!

Mum and Dad's present first!

What could it be...?

Perfect for planning!

After work, we all met at a cocktail bar in the city, then heading up the Sky Tower for a meal in the Orbit restaurant. We watched the sun set over the harbour and the city revolve around us!

Heading in to the city after a quick shower and change.

Karangahake gorge and Waihi gold mines

After flicking the pages of the NZ "Must-do weekends", we decided to go somewhere new for us and Alice & Pasq, so we headed south east of Auckland towards the Karangahake gorge. En route, we passed Peroa "World famous in New Zealand" for their soft drink Lemon and Peroa (L&P).

We booked a little cottage in the gorge and spent the afternoon walking through the old gold mines and exploring.



























The evening was spent in "Cockrel cottage" eating yummy pasta and playing cards.













On our way through to Waihi, Gareth, Alice and Pasq took the historic train and Hannah met them all there....the train did go at a snail's pace, so Hannah had lots of time to plan the rest of the day.













Next stop, Waihi and the open-cast gold mine. Sounds like this will be a lake in a couple of years as little gold is now being found.





And to the beach for a dip with the sea lettuce...we didn't stay long!



Back to the gorge on the way home for a swim under the waterfall before driving back to Auckland.

Big Day Out!

Each year, Big Day Out comes to Auckland and the big bands play their tunes to the summer sun. Gareth took the afternoon off work and went to the festival with Alice and Pasq...via Mt Eden for lunch (Hannah decided to use her leave to go shopping with Alice a different day!).

Mt Eden views

Circus Circus for lunch

Hobbit holes in bookshops

Biggest lemon cake...?

Pre-festival excitement

Ice drinks to keep it cool

Drinking age verified :-)

Festival sunset

Mid-week "fush & chups"

To celebrate reaching half way through the week, we went to the beach with Anna, Owen, the girls, Sarah & Mike for the kiwi tradition of "fush & chups" (they really do say it just like that!).

Pre-beach swing in the hammock

Hot chips and chicken pox!

Bev & Rob in NZ

Bev & Rob dropped in for a couple of nights on their way south. We had a fun time catching up, which mainly revolved around drinks and food!!

Walk down to the beach

Red devil champagne

Happy new year!

Japanese meal in the Viaduct



The 'flat white' tour of NZ begins!

Happy travels!

Alice and Pasq arrive in NZ!

On a sunny Friday afternoon Alice and Pasq arrived in NZ. We took them straight down to the Viaduct for a beer, which was much needed after an early start in Sydney. We spent Saturday in Mairangi Bay - brunch, beach garden, kayaking, swimming and BBQ.



























Sunday took us to the French market and the botanical gardens sculpture trail.





























And we came home from work today to an amazing Italian meal...

Fiordland tramp

We wanted to make the most of the Christmas break, so decided to take another trip to the south island. Our itinerary included a circuit from Queenstown, the 3 day Routeburn track, Te Anau, and back to Queenstown.

We spent our first two days relaxing after a busy year. The beautiful vistas, great coffee, and inviting food helped soothe our tired minds.



Southern alps



Jetset Han



Fish and Chips by Lake Wakatipu



G&H with the remarkables

The Western arm of Lake Wakatipu

The Routeburn track is a 3 day, 2 night, 33km hike over the mountains separating Glenorchy from Milford Sound. It crosses an alpine saddle, and we stayed in department of conservation huts.



Starting the track





Swing bridges galore



Scenic toilet trips





Routeburn flats





Routeburn falls hut (our first night's accommodation)



Yummy dinners in foldable bowls (thanks Geraldine and Aloys!)



Waking up to a cold wet morning - but our spirits weren't dampened!



Mt Cook Lily - alpine flowers on the track





Day 2 - climbing up to Lake Harris saddle



Lake Harris



Its snowing!



Storm's a clearing







Hollyford valley





Lake MacKenzie






In Lake MacKenzie Hut (our second nights accommodation)




Waterfalls on the 3rd day



Lake Howden



Trampers with style



Obligatory finishers photo!



Our trusty boots

We completed the walk on New Years Eve and headed on to Te Anau, where we celebrated with a nice bottle of wine and an early night (after all the fresh outdoor air)!





Lake Te Anau



Road back to Queenstown









View from Queenstown Gondola



Preparing for our luge ride (wheeled sledges on a downhill racing track - great fun!)





Enjoying dinner back in Queenstown



The sun sets on our amazing holiday!

Happy Christmas 09!

Happy Christmas everyone!

We were up early on Christmas morning for a packed day of activities, but the first job was to water the lettuce!



Gareth has been practicing with his friend Mike over the last month to play at the City Mission charity lunch. Every year the City Mission put on a concert and lunch for all those who would not otherwise have a Christmas...this year, there were 2000 people, 450 volunteers and it was in the Vector Arena. The song went down really well!









From there, we went to Helen and Andy's, where we had a gathering of expats (and a token kiwi!) to celebrate the big day.

Andy & Helen cutting the turkey

A kiwi tradition - the pavlova

Afternoon sunshine nap

Iced mulled wine....a new tradition

A few games on the Wii to complete the day :-)

Meeting with the usual tradition, we had a more relaxing Boxing Day around the house, packing for our trip to the south island. The weather has been beautiful here, so we also managed a swim at the beach down the road, before relaxing in front of a Boxing Day movie. Perfect.

Decorating the Christmas tree and garden games

The Thomsons came to visit for the very important tradition of decorating the Christmas tree.

All that excitement...must be time for a sleep now...

Boules, croquet or make up a completely new game

Maiden voyage

The start of the summer and the start of our time playing on the water! We took our new kayak for a paddle up the coast for a lunch in Brown's Bay.