In Rotorua we rested...

 Uncle Mark taught us how to do some pottery in his studio.

 Walking in the giant redwood forest was awesome.

 Uncle Mark preparing the boats for our fishing expedition.

 The fishing was good, on the first day Jack almost caught a fish! But on the second day Jack broke one of Uncle Mark's rods.

 Uncle Mark is telling us the history or Lake Tarawera.

The view from Uncle Mark's place, that's us down in the lake fishing.

Last pics from Auckland

 On our last night we went to Lone Star for tea with the Sherlocks and Grant's friend, Millie's family. Jack was in heaven with his spare ribs, he even polished off everyone else's bones!

 At one end of Devonport is North Head. This was a great place to explore as it was full of tunnels and gun emplacements. There were some awesome views to. Here you can see Rangiototo in the distance.

So much fun was had at Rainbow's End

 That's us in the yellow carriage, I'm the one in the back with my eyes squeezed shut, screaming my head off. Tim was beside me, also eyes shut, but much quieter and Rohan and Jack were in front, loving every minute of it.

 We all did the Fear Fall as our last ride of the day. From the top to the bottom of this tower in what felt like 2 seconds. Yes, I was screaming again and I left all my insides at the top of the tower. The boys all loved it.

 This is the wee kids version of the Fear Fall, only this one gently goes up and down. Jack, Tim, Rohan and Anishka are in the middle.

 One on Grant's highlights was the bumper boats, there was lots of crashing and splashing.

That's us all, totally exhilarated after our afternoon of thrill seeking.

Day two was action packed!

 First up was the Sky Tower. Jack and Mum were brave enough to venture onto the glass floor. 

 It was a perfect day with blue sky all round. Tim wasn't keen to stay up that high for too long.

 Then it was off to Kelly Talton's. The penguins were the highlight.

 Don't worry this shark was fake, but we saw lots of real ones too!

We finished off the day at the Easter Show where Jack got his tattoo.

Our wonderful holiday up North: Part 1.

We have just returned for an action packed (Auckland) and relaxing (Rotorua) holiday. Over the next few days we'll share some holiday highlights.
Let's start with some Auckland adventures...

 On our first day we took the ferry from Devonport to Auckland, you can see the naval base in the background of this picture.

We had a lovely time exploring Wynyard Quarter on the Auckland waterfront. This is the boat that Grant was keen to buy, just a little beyond our price range!!

Posing beauty!

What a selection of boats! Jack found it difficult to choose his favourite.

Tim is about to explode ... but luckily he survived.

Jack sets the naval base gun, watch out Sky Tower!!

Grading Day

Tim and Jack both went to a karate grading today. The expectations were high, the pressure was on and I'm pleased to report the outcome was positive. Jack is now a yellow belt and Tim an orange belt.