Waiohine Gorge

We're having a quieter week this week before we head off on Saturday for a couple nights in Wellington and take the ferry to the South Island on Monday.  Lots of planning and booking as we'll be staying in a lot of different places as we make a loop around.

We went to check out Waiohine Gorge yesterday where there's a suspension bridge.  We stopped for this beautiful picture on the way!

We spent a few minutes at the bottom before the sand flies started attacking :p

Lukas a little afraid to go any further but he did do it!  Pretty proud of him as I just gave up and stayed on this side and sent the camera to the middle.

The kids all got a t-shirt souvenir...just to make sure everyone knows we're tourists.

Silly kid - I had to sneak this one of him in his shirt and his is the best!

The last km of the road up to the gorge was closed because a piece fell away.

Or maybe the caution is for these crazies...

It was a hot day!  Haha!

 Beautiful...

And a couple colleges of normal, everyday life (well, as normal as it can be).

Getting in some school work on the rainy days and most mornings...

Playing, crafts, hairdos and lots of dress up.  The one day was so great with them all playing together, creating some sort of Murder Mystery that needed solving - dead person and all!

Tramping

 Last week met up with Conrad's former supervisor from his masters and PhD years.  We headed to Mount Holdsworth and took the kids on their first longer hike.  Almost 6 hours and they did so great!  Lots of climbing in the gorgeous Tararua Forest with someone who knew the trails as well as lots about the flora and fauna.

A large part of the way up was climbing up root stairs.  These girls are still smiling!

I think Sophie likes pictures...

Taking a breather :)

The way down was much easier!  Board walks and gravel paths, aptly called the "Gentle Annie" track.

Our first views on the way down, taken by Conrad who climbed on a big rock.  A little later we did get to a lookout point so we could all see ;)

Beautiful vista!

Close ups of a few plants.  So much detail!

Castlepoint

On Wednesday we went for another windy drive to Castlepoint.  It was a beautiful day with gorgeous blue skies and ocean all around!

Another lighthouse - so picturesque sitting on a rocky peninsula.

Surrounded almost all the way with water.  These three panorama shots all connect for a 360 view.  So many different blues in the sky and sea!

So far down!  Hard to capture on pictures and video but it was a long, long way down.

The ocean swelling on the left and a protected lagoon on the right.  Castle Rock in the background.

A really neat experience to see the ocean heave and roll on these cliffs.  Good thing it was a calm day or it would not have been a good idea to be up here! (you many want to turn your sound down - the wind makes the video really loud)

We saw this starfish and then noticed on the picture when we got home we captured two on the picture!

We were fascinated by how the kelp attaches to the rocks.  It's pulled at so hard by the waves - must be a strong grip on that little end!

We did some kite flying on the beach.

It was low tide so there was lots of beach!

Who needs shovels when you have hands?

We managed to get stuck in the sand - haha!  I guess we miss the snow...

The lighthouse catching the late afternoon sun.

Lots of flowers lining the sides of the roads on all our drives - beautiful!