Gumdiggers Trail

After 24 hours of heavy rain we thought winter had finally arrived with a vengeance! However today was stunning with blue skies and a warm sun, perfect to drag the boys out on a walk! We usually head north to Rothesay Bay but there is a walkway southwards to Murrays Bay. The walk was lovely with constant clifftop sea views and beautifully presented throughout. The NZ government must have a specific budget for cutting grass, everywhere we go the grass is always immaculately cut! The walk back was great too as the sky slowly changed colours and the boys didn't moan, much.

Disney on Ice

Today we were lucky enough to go to the Vector Arena in Auckland to see 'Disney on Ice'. The story goes that Mickey and his pals wanted to go around Disneyworld/land and experience all the rides. Clever marketing, eh? We started in the Tiki rooms which the boys loved because Stitch came out and played an electric guitar in the middle of it! Then from there Donald went to Space Mountain and this introduced Buzz Lightyear who trained Donald to be a space ranger. Basically they covered all aspects of the rides in disney including the light parade and 'It's a small world'! Oliver was not so impressed with the Haunted Mansion as they used some clever effects to create ghosts to fly over the ice! An amazing experience for everyone and at a reasonable price, about 15 pounds each.

Orewa - Summer is back!

We had a lovely day with our friends Duncan and Katrina in Orewa today. Even though we are weeks away from our winter the temperatures are mild and when the sun comes out it is hot. The beach had some many waves that the boys couldn't resist and went for a swim!

Oli is thriving.

Before we moved to NZ Fran and I thought Oli was going to find the change difficult. How wrong we were! He has come on leaps and bounds. Oli is simply very happy! His school work is going great particularly his reading and importantly he loves to read so much so he falls asleep reading! Oliver has made lots of friends and constantly invites his friend's around. Don't know where he gets that from?! He has recently started drawing pictures every morning of his favourite cartoon show, Batman: Bold and the Brave, and they look awesome. What a star!

Walk/scooter to Browns Bay

We are definitely in late autumn now as the temperature outside feels colder which meant the beanies had to come out! The boys can scooter all the way through Rothesay Bay, on the cliff path and into Browns Bay. However, they are not keen on the hills. We, Fran and I, love the end of the walk as it finishes at Starbucks!

First walk to nearby shops

Since we have been living in Beulah Avenue we have started to go on many more walks to Browns Bay and our nearby shops. The boys get to scooter or, with the incentive of sweets, walk to the dairy. On the way we walk past the 'British Isles' pub which looks very inviting! There is a handful of shops within 10 minutes of walking including a lovely bakery and the all important dairy (small shop) which sells lots of sweets (named lollies here).

Look what we found!

We had some fantastic helpers on our first weekend who helped us remove carpets and pretty much anything else they could throw in the skip. It was great day as we achieved so much but the big surprise was finding the wooden flooring which is apparently Remu, which you can't use for flooring anymore! In the top picture you can see where the original house began and the extension started. Just as well we didn't order the carpets!

TVNZ

Dave and Doerte invited us out for a tour of TVNZ. We had to get there early which was not easy but Susan kindly looked after the children from 4.15! We are very grateful as the tour was excellent as it was great fun seeing how they film everything. Not sure whether Fran would have made it as a 'weather girl'? The apprentice in NZ is popular and they have huge card board cut outs on a stage with 'fired' on it when they are. Also, The Pacific is the latest big series to arrive which have on mysky ready to watch although I haven't watched one yet! It was amazing to see the newscasters joking with you one minute and then completely change and do there bit for the telly - perfectly. We went to a japanese restaurant called Rice afterwards and it was lovely.

The dream has become a reality!

Tom and Ollie are playing football!! Nathan looked after the boys whilst we were moving in and did enough to convince them to have a go. It's earlier days and they still need a little convincing but its looking good! Two wins and a loss so far. They have touched the ball about twice! Bribery with a visit to the mall is always a good one and they had some old video games today with 'Street Fighter' which they loved. Surprise, surprise. Ollie is already the 'flair' player as he constantly trying to do back heels instead of just passing the ball. Tom needs to move quicker but he has the aggression so if he can get near the ball, things could happen for him. Its awesome!

3D cinema

We had read such great reviews for 'How to train a dragon' in 3D we had to give it a go, I am still not convinced by the 3D thing. However, this film was fantastic and the 3D was good. Alex has become close friends with Jackson and they are always together at school so it was great to invite him along. Alex now has a good circle of friends and seems to be really happy which is a relief as he had a rocky start. We have officially living in our new home with lots of things to do and the weather is still amazing!