The last time I blogged was in September/Spring 2009. It's unbelievable how time flies. Now, Summer is half way over and my Mom's visit here is about to end. Where to begin?
Mom's trip has been an all go roller coaster ride. She arrived on the 15th of December and leaves on the 2nd of February. The first line of business was seashell hunting. Mom and I both LOVE seashells so on her second day here we took her to St Heliers Beach where we hit the mother lode of all mother lodes. It was tiny-sized seashell heaven.
On her last visit to NZ, we had taken her to The Piha Kitekite Waterfall track and half way up the track a downpour started something fierce so we weren’t able to make it all the way up. Well, this year she is in much better shape and we weren't letting anything stop us from getting up to that waterfall. On Christmas Eve we did it! It was such a rewarding experience. Holming and I refrained from going back to finish the walk because we wanted to do it with her. Once up there the 3 crazies (Holming, my Mom and Sunny) jumped into the freezing cold pool under the waterfall. Since mama didn't raise no fool, so I just watched.
Christmas was nice, we had Holming's family over (except for his older sister Surina and her husband Mark who lives in Australia) and had a turkey/ham feast. Unfortunately, I overcooked the turkey (that cost $70!!!), which was a sad shame as I had been looking forward to having turkey for a few months.
Notice the absence of a turkey photo? 
As you can see, maybe my Mom was “son-in-law sitting” since she was doing all the work. Honey was sleeping on the job.......
This is what it looked like from above the water.
Mom wants to take this home with her......
On a side note, prior to owning a kayak I didn’t care one iota about tides but now it seems as if that is all I look for when I read the weather report ( well that and if it’s going to rain but I don’t need to have a weather report to predict the rain as it ALWAYS rains in Auckland)
Mom's trip has been an all go roller coaster ride. She arrived on the 15th of December and leaves on the 2nd of February. The first line of business was seashell hunting. Mom and I both LOVE seashells so on her second day here we took her to St Heliers Beach where we hit the mother lode of all mother lodes. It was tiny-sized seashell heaven.
On her last visit to NZ, we had taken her to The Piha Kitekite Waterfall track and half way up the track a downpour started something fierce so we weren’t able to make it all the way up. Well, this year she is in much better shape and we weren't letting anything stop us from getting up to that waterfall. On Christmas Eve we did it! It was such a rewarding experience. Holming and I refrained from going back to finish the walk because we wanted to do it with her. Once up there the 3 crazies (Holming, my Mom and Sunny) jumped into the freezing cold pool under the waterfall. Since mama didn't raise no fool, so I just watched.
Christmas was nice, we had Holming's family over (except for his older sister Surina and her husband Mark who lives in Australia) and had a turkey/ham feast. Unfortunately, I overcooked the turkey (that cost $70!!!), which was a sad shame as I had been looking forward to having turkey for a few months.
Notice the absence of a turkey photo?
The next day, Boxing Day we went on a kayaking trip from Wenderholm Regional Park up the Puhoi River, which is an 8 km paddle upstream. Holming got to “Mom-sit” and hired a double kayak since she had never gone kayaking before. I on the other hand, I had a single kayak since I’d been thinking of buying a kayak since last Summer. We thought I should give it a go on my own to see if I could handle it (up until this kayak trip, Holming and I had always used a double).
As you can see, maybe my Mom was “son-in-law sitting” since she was doing all the work. Honey was sleeping on the job.......
This is what it looked like from above the water.
On New Years Eve we walked the Auckland track in the Waitakeres which had a many bridges, kauri trees, streams and a very bad view of the Cascades waterfall.
Mom wants to take this home with her......Shortly after our kayak trip I had the I-need-to-get-a-kayak-now! attitude so went out and bought a brand new Frenzy kayak. What colour do you think it is? Yup.... Red! The day we bought it, the tide was all wrong so I couldn’t get it out on the water till the next day. We took it down to the beach that is just down the hill behind my house. Once I was in the water Sunny, in a panic about my leaving him, went swimming way out (about 60ft/10m) to catch me and jump on the kayak. What a freak!!! I mean he isn’t a water dog and he is just a wee tiny thing. My poor dog has severe separation anxiety.
On a side note, prior to owning a kayak I didn’t care one iota about tides but now it seems as if that is all I look for when I read the weather report ( well that and if it’s going to rain but I don’t need to have a weather report to predict the rain as it ALWAYS rains in Auckland)
