Taupo wknd away

So in the wknd me, Bro, Dad, Mum, Glenny, Fishy, Missie and Smyly all went to Taupo to chill and catch up.  I think Missie and Smyly had the most to catch up on cos they seem to be the busiest of the lot of us and also as far as I know don't text or ring each other to chat inbtwn meet-ups.  Glenny and Fishy argue that they are also very busy and me being me just let them believe this cos humouring them is more fun than not most the time :)

Laura and Ted came over on the Saturday to chill with us all too which was awesome.  Cant say we did much other than chat and eat but it was still a cool as wknd.

Bro and I met up first just out of Taupo to do the Opepe Walking Tracks, they were quite nice, nothing amazing but still a good place for a stroll with the odd photo, and as good a place as any to chat.  We then headed to Taupo and went shopping, spent loads at the CD store but it was an impt spend cos CDs are essentials.  We kindly took mum and dad there in the afternoon and also went back on Sunday, just cos.

We (mum, dad, bro and me) had lunch at The Deck, where I had an amazing GF Burger and we went back on Sunday to get dessert before dinner cos they had GF donuts and these were also amazing!!!  Then Laura and Ted arrived and we all hung out and just chilled till dinner, we had Indian, then after dinner there was more chilling and more talking hehe.

Sunday was much the same but without Laura and Ted and with a lil bit of reading thrown in.  All in all it was a good wknd :)

Opepe Track

the tiny as cemetery, there is one more headstone in the trees

Missie chilling at the base of a big tree

the top part of the big tree 

me and Missie in a cool coloured tree

working hard (cough cough) at the pit saw

just a cool pic

short pause for a photo and proof it was the Opepe Track lol

Just having fun in Taupo with Laura and Ted hehe

Yeah I know, it's been a while

Things have been trucking along pretty well over here in the Bay, am settling into a routine of sorts which is kinda cool.  Definitely feel like this is home for the next while which is a nice feeling.  Am enjoying work and love the team I have landed in over here, they are all awesome as people (well except for one but she is only on loan from Hastings Council and she finishes soon so it is doable hehe).  Some of us have started going out for drink after work on a Friday and sometimes partners come along too which is nice.  Definitely a good way to get to know workmates.  Samara and I often catch up in the wknds as well, and more often than not with her partner David, and sometimes with her mum as well.  They are all lovely people and are becoming good friends.  Steph and I are planning on joining a club together, we are just looking for one that we both like the idea of that doesn't cost the earth.  We have it narrowed down to a few, I'll keep you posted if/when we get round to doing more than just research lol.

Last weekend I went over to Ohakune to chill with Laura and Ted, it was a lovely wknd filled with lots of catching up and laughter and was a nice break from being over here.  Also is a real nice drive to get there which is awesome :)

On Anzac Day I went to the dawn service in the CBD, was the first time I have heard the national anthem sung at one and they sung the Aussie one too, turns out I know most the words to that one which shocked me a lil.  I blame the V8s for that lol.
After the dawn service I caught up with Mike and Suzanne as they were over here house sitting for a friend of theirs.  We went mini-golfing which was so much fun, Suzanne won followed closely by Mike and then I trailed at the tail, but in my defence I was positive it was highest score wins hehe :) After mini-golf we went out for lunch then took Jake and Jess and Miley (the dog at where they were housesitting) to the dog park where there is an agility course for dogs.  So much fun, Jake was pretty good at it and so was Jess - well when there were no other dogs that they were barking or snarling at lol.  Miley just followed Jake wherever he went, I think she had a crush hehe.

Ystdy Sparty wanted to go for a drive so as the good friends we are Glenny, Missie and I tagged along to keep him company.  We headed north cos we hadn't been that way yet.  Again a very nice drive, though I do think it would be better appreciated by the passengers than the drivers as there were a lot of pretty sights, most of which just didn't work when stopped to take a photo :( We turned around at Wairoa just cos it seemed like as good a place as any to do so.  On the way back we stopped at a really nice roadside cafe kinda place, its about 55kms from Napier so a bit of a drive for coffee and chips but they were really good coffee and chips and it wasn't super busy or anything so perfect place to sit and read for a while,  and there was no cell reception so no-one could distract me that way either hehe :)

Today we are having a quiet day, its happily raining and I have craft stuff I can work on so am happy to chill inside with some dvds and a book :)

Flowers in the middle of Napier CBD which change for events :)

Dawn service sunrise 

Dawn service sunrise

Just like this display, from one of our Friday drinks locations

Wairoa

Mohaka River

Lake Tutira

My coastline (just out of Napier)

Exploring with Spartz

Today was Spartz's turn to go exploring, and Missie of course came along with us.  Glenny as per usual wanted that lil bit more sleep so stayed behind to look after my room and stuff.

We headed off to explore stuff that we had seen on our road trip over here when we moved that we couldn't be bothered stopping at.  First stop was Dannevirke, we had been warned that there is not a lot to do there but we figured there would atlst be a museum, which there is, and it is also shut on wknds so that was no help to us.  Instead we wandered down the main street and looked at a couple of opshops before finding a cafe for a coffee and some fries, the coffee and fries were pretty good.  And then we wandered some more and took some pics before heading back to Spartz.

The next stop was Norsewood which had been telling us to visit each time we drove past, the two times that we had lol.  Norsewood was small and ok for a short wander, nothing fantastic and I think it would prob be best to visit the one wknd a year they have their big event but then there might be crowds and that wouldn't be as fun.  The museum was alright, small but not bad.

The next stop after this was Waipawa cos we wanted to visit the CHB Settlers Museum (CHB is Central Hawkes Bay for those who didn't know).  This museum was really good, had some cool interactive things and some cool things for Missie to pose with.  She had me worried she was gonna run away at one point but thankfully she was just messing with me.  We also had it confirmed that we would suck at war :( it started with bad luck when we spun the wheel and we ended up being sent to the Western Front where our chances were slim to start with, and then we packed not enough gear (damn Rangers for teaching me to pack light) and we died, well I died, Missie reckons she would have been smart enough to jump into someone else's pocket so she says she would have made it home.

Then we headed to the Pekepeka Wetlands which were small and a little boring for a wander but fun for taking photos :) The wander, with photo stops and photo redo's only lasted max of half an hour so I think I would only bother stopping here if you wanted a short leg stretch or actually cared about wetlands and knew what you were looking at haha.

All the stuff we did I think would have been disappointing if we had gone to do just that but as it was combined together as an exploring day it was actually quite fun.  Had to remind Spartz quite a lot what the speed limit was, think he misses his regular drives to work which include the open road.  May have to make an effort to take him out more often, good thing there is a lot to explore around here and friends/family close-ish by to visit :)

Dannevirke

Scott Fountain, something to do with one of the Antartica expeditions or something

Dannevirke Railway Station

 

Think this is a shop now, or something

Norsewood

Missie having a go at being the police person, or whatever they were called back then

Some old style buildings

This was a wedding dress worn way back when

An old school pram

Missie doing washing, for once

Missie with the three trolls

CHB Settlers Museum

Almost dinner time

Found a boat, bit small for Missie though

Tried our hand at writing with a quill...

Decided that typing was easier

Concept of sewing is about the same, we think (this one wasn't a to play with one)

But phones sure were bigger back then

hehe

Just liked this, it looks cool as

Missie pretending to run away

She does look rather pleased to have found a grenade

These poppies are all crocheted or knitted and I think there's one for each life lost from the town

This is the challenge we did where we found we wouldn't do so well at war...

Spun the wheel and got 18% chance of survival to start with....

Dressed and equiped our dude with what we thought he needed...

Turns out he needed all of this...

So we ended up with 0 as our final score, mostly cos there is no negative score possibility (this means we died, 5-70 meant wounded, 70 or above meant you lived and made it home to live a good life).

Pekapeka Wetlands

This pic does remind of one of the Scotland photos I have :)