Puzzling World and Lake Wanaka

Fun and games at Puzzling World in Wanaka.  We successfully made it out of the maze.

And the boys on the banks of Lake Wanaka.

greetings from dunedin

Greetings from Dunedin... the boys would tell you their top thing was the Cadbury World Tour, Dan would tell you it was the mountain bike riding with Glenn and I'd probably say the peninsula.  It's been a joy to hanging out the Symons.    

Taieri Gorge Railway

Some photos from our trip up the Taieri Gorge Railway trip.  The last time I did the trip I was pregnant with Ben and miserably ill, thankful I got the enjoy this trip a bit more this time.  Our meal at the Middlemarch Hotel was a classic Kiwi meal and one of the most entertaining of the trip was spotting of the Middlemarch nudist colony on their Sunday afternoon train greeting (they were standing by the side of the tracks drinking a beer and waving to the passengers).

St Clair Beach

Here's a fun artsy photo I took at the end of yesterday, while taking a stroll along St Clair Beach.  Photos from our adventures on the Taieri Rail trip once I sort them out...  We went for a play at the beach afterwards so the boys could run around (they never left the playground, but I enjoyed a walk along the beach).

Otago Peninsula

The boys on Allan's Beach on the Otago Peninsula.  We read the sign about the yellow eyed penguins and sea lions before we walked on the beach and Josh was terrified of the sea lions.  The sign said "Stay at least 5 meters away" and our lack of metric system led to all sorts of interesting discussions on how far was 5 meters.  When we did eventually see a sea lion (after almost dragging Josh down the beach) he said in a very scared voice, "We have to go we're more then 5 ounces away".  Oh precious child.  So our trip to Allan's Beach was rather brief, so we went on around the peninsula to meet Dan and Glenn (who were riding their bikes).

We sat in the parking lot waiting for the boys and after we'd eaten our lunch we decided we'd brave the "steeper then Keyhole" sand dune to head down to Sandfly beach.  (Down wasn't my worry, it as up that had me concerned).

Dan and Glenn arrived, we fed them their sandwiches and cookies and we drove back to Dunedin while they rode home.  We had a quick visit with my friend Leah, the photo below is the view from her kitchen of St. Clair Beach.

Cheers, what a delightful day in Dunedin!

explore

I love that our arrival into Wanaka left us with little to no adjustment time- hello world, and we're off.  We had a catch up with several friends, dinner with Lesley and Gareth and I ended my epic long day with a hike up Mt Iron.  Love that no one seemed at all phased about hiking through the bushes in the dark with head lamps on.

A wet walk along the Clutha River in Wanaka, the fall colors are just lovely...  thanks to Lesley for being a good sport and ended up soaking wet.

And am amazingly picturesque drive to Dunedin.  Dan and I both marvelled that we never took this drive for granted before, but with a new set of eyes, it's really rather spectacular.  The boys declared that there's a "sheep invasion" and we were in awe of the lack of traffic.

hello wanaka

hello New Zealand, it's like we never left.  After many, many hours of travel we stood at the shore of Lake Wanaka on a sunny, crisp fall day, and felt like no time had passed.  Yes, our friend's kids are taller and missing more teeth, but there's something about the small town life in Wanaka, that reminded us that while the world changes and evolves, some things never change.  It's nice to be back...