A belated Birthday Wish

After a long hiatus (a couple of months, really? How time flies!) I thought it high time to get back into the blogging business. So to get me back into the swing of things a belated birthday post is in order.

To my sweet hubby who celebrated his birthday earlier this month. I cooked him a roast turkey and we went and bought a half chocolate chip cheesecake from the Cheesecake Shop.


Adam got a Wii for his birthday from me which has been providing hours of entertainment. He also received some other lovely things including this telescope from his mother. We took it out onto our little balcony and looked at the moon.

Christmas came early

I got my christmas present from Adam early this year. A brand new sewing machine. It is a Janome DC3050.

The first thing I made was this cushion. It was quick and fun to make and so satisfying to complete on the brand new machine!

New Zealand: Rotorua

We picked up our rental car on the third day and headed to Rotorua. Just before we left we made a stopover at Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter and Underwater World. It had some interesting information on expeditions to Antartica and nice displays.


We took the thirty second challenge. You had to put your hand in ice water and keep it there for thirty seconds. I made it (just)Adam made it too but obviously he didn't find it as challenging as I did (or he is too cool to react!)


We made it safely to Rotorua and explored the town.



While in in Rotorua we went white water rafting.


Of course Rotorua is most famous for its geothermal activity-geysers and bubbling mud. The sulphur smell is so strong! On our first evening we slept with the windows open and I woke up in the middle of the night feeling sick from the stink. I had to rush around and close every window.

We also ate very well. We had Thai and Indian and an excellent pub meal.
It was a beautiful place.

Auckland: The rest

( I am taking for ever to get to my New Zealand posts. I really want to do it though because I love being able to go back and look at my Italy entries. So bare with me!)

DAY 1:

The very first thing we did in New Zealand was go to the New Zealand Fashion Show by the harbour.

After which we went to the park near our hotel to eat kebabs and admire my newly purchased ring.

Skytower was the next stop. It had a fantastic view! You can see the bridge that Adam is about to jump off in the photo above.

We ended the day with a dinner cooked back at the hotel while watching the sunset.

DAY 3: We went on our canyoning adventure. It went all day and was an amazing, amazing day of absailing, jumping and climbing, So much fun.

DAY 4:
The next day was Adam's bungy jump. He only looks a little nervous!
And off he goes. He was dunked into the water at the end.
We spent the rest of the day wandering the city, visiting some art galleries and of course there was the zoo visit as well.

Auckland: The Zoo

While in Auckland we spent an afternoon wandering around the zoo. It was a nice peaceful time, wandering around and admiring the animals. I had a lot of fun taking photos. This is just a fraction of the amount I took!
I got up close and personal with a tiger.
Adam preferred the elephants.


Enjoy some of the amazing creatures we saw:




I had to take a photo of these little guys (actually I took about 10!). The Otters were so entertaining to watch. Full of personality. I think we went back to this enclosure about three times! I took photos of the Vet Clinic for Ben and Corinne,
and a photo for Mum and Laleen: a wall of bromeliads.

Nature in New Zealand

I have started going through the photos from New Zealand. So many photos! I will post some of our adventures soon but until then here are some of the wonderful flowers and plants we saw along the way.

A preview

of our New Zealand Trip.


This is us canyoning. One of the best things I have ever done. A fantastic day!