Gail Dickson .. my blog from Down Under

Considering the lack of preparation for Christmas and the holidays, it all went well and we really enjoyed being away. Unfortunately, now back at work (day 3 just ended) and normality returns.

Christmas itself was really good … the kids had loads of presents and had fun both opening and playing with them afterwards. Kyle had asked for a computer as he uses it quite alot at after school club so Santa obliged … along with a microscope and some meccano etc. Regan’s dolls house had an extension (it’s now got three floors!), she got a kitchen as she loves that whole role playing thing and lots of other stuff. Christmas Day weather was blue skies and warm so it was lovely just hanging around the house/deck all day.

Next day, we headed off to Blue Lake with the tent. There’s nothing else habitable (other than the campsite/tents/cabins) around the lake so it’s a lovely setting. The lake itself is as you would imagine a beautiful colour of blue and it’s surrounded by typical kiwi forest …. which I love. Kiwi forests have such a mix of tree types that it’s a big adventure just walking through and seeing what’s there! I have discovered since coming here that my favourite tree is the ponga which is also called the New Zealand fern tree …. If you’ve looked through our photos you’ll see loads of pongas as I just love taking photos of them especially in a light/shade area.

Anyway, got the tent up in record time (which was just as well as we arrived late due to not being very organised and it was getting dark!) and made it home … I will admit now that we ended up bailing out of the tent near the end of the holiday though and moved into a motel for the last few days. The campsite got extremely busy and some of our neighbours just got too much for us! Motel was in Rotorua though so didn’t change anything we’d planned.

When we’ve been to Rotorua in the past it’s always either been raining or just plain freezing (in NZ terms not Scottish!) so we’ve never managed to do so many of the touristy things that we wanted to do. So to name a few of the things we got up to:

- went to a wildlife park and watched them feeding the lions. The lions were a matter of cms from us which for Bobby and I was quite amazing as we’d never seen them so close up before. Not sure Kyle and Regan quite had the same feeling but they did enjoy it.

- went to a geothermal park that we’ve never been to before … have put some photos on Flickr ….

- went on the Rotorua duck which is an amphibious vehicle … they do a tour of Rotorua explaining the history of the town and the Maori legends of the area then take you on to two of the lakes … one of which was Blue Lake. My friend Leanne and her son Millan had joined us at this point so we all went on that one.

- went on the Gondola (cable car) and then back down on the Luge. Kyle’s first trip he did on his own but he didn’t like it much so subsequent trips were with dad. Regan came with me and absolutely loved it! She sat on my knee shouting “Whee” at the top of her voice and as soon as we’d got to the bottom, she started asking to go again! To get to the top of the hill again you have to go on a chair lift (much like the ski ones … I’ve seen them on the TV …. wouldn’t know from personal experience since I dislike snow so much!) and she had no fear of that either.

- went to visit a village that had been buried by a volcanic eruption … nowhere near the scale of Pompeii but still very interesting. Also had a lovely bush walk to a waterfall so took more ponga photos! :o)

Took the mountain bikes with us as well so did some local trails. Santa brought me a compact camera so that I can take pictures when we’re out on the bikes etc so have some good photos taken during our biking adventures.

As I said above, now back at work however Auckland Anniversary weekend coming up at the end of the month so we’re off for a long weekend to Raglan with a Waitomo Glow Worm Cave visit planned (it’s just up the road from Raglan).

My personal trainer is off on holiday till the end of the month so no p/t sessions for a whole month! She’s left me strict instructions on what to do though so that will start up again next week. Have also decided to start running …. first outing last night. Have to say that running is my least favourite form of exercise so didn’t enjoy it at all! Doesn’t help that Browns Bay is very hilly … and for Lynne’s benefit … I turn left at the bottom of our street UP the hill! Will keep trying though ….

Big reorg going on at work so no idea what that means for the future … will keep you posted!

Think that’s it for now … will try to blog again soon!