National Aquarium of NZ, Napier

As a family we love our aquariums so we were very excited to find one in Napier. Fortunately it was excellent although a little short as we were hungry for more! The highlights were the turtles and jellyfish. Ollie being a Nemo fan was particularly excited and wanted a shot showing off his map. Alex was impressed by the giant squid and decided it needed to be in the next Alex Rider book. The tunnels are a brilliant idea as you see so much more. The building was very modern and stands out in the art-deco feel of Napier. Weirdly, Alex was talking about the Megladon and whether it still existed, and they had a set of it's teeth! One of Tom's favourite characters from Nemo is Bruce, they have similar traits, and insisted I took a photo with him.

Splash Planet

One of the main reasons we headed to Napier and Hastings was Splash Planet and it did not disappoint. As soon as we arrived Tom headed to 'Tinyland' so he could feel at home. The boys loved the 'Pirates Fortress' and disappeared for an hour which was great as Fran and I could have a coffee. We didn't appreciate it till later as when we decided to join them the water was freezing! It wasn't long before we headed to the indoor slides which were heated. Not only did Splash Planet have lots of water rides it had lots of other activities as well as such as treehouses, karts and jeeps. An awesome day out.

Daddy is the greatest!

This is an entry without pictures for Nick Rothwell as he wanted more text. Typical teacher. Joe has been such a great daddy during the holidays and has made the boys holiday great fun. They have made aeroplanes, had water fights and been on many fun activites all lead by him.

Daddy also loves to share his love of film and games with the boys. One of my favourite moments was listening to Joe reproduce audio clips from 'Spies like us', (some ancient film for those who are too young to remember). We have been together 16 years now and it still makes me laugh when Joe does sound effects and can quote lines from films. Alex has a very similar sense of humour to Joe and so it is very funny to watch them together.

As well as Sing-star we have had to play some of the games that Joe says help the boys understand winning and losing! Mmmmm. But enough said my children have a fantastic father who not only is great fun but listens, that is when they are not sitting on his head!

Christmas Bits and Pieces

Over Christmas, we looked after our friends lovely dog, Sitka, and the boys totally loved it. We took out Colin (Fran's dad) and June out for a meal to the sky tower. The Orbit restaurant which rotates slowly, while you are enjoying the view and your meal is awesome. Sing-star also became very popular in our household over the festive period. The boys were briefly keen to start a their own band!

Alex is still obsessed with books and one of his favourite presents was his NZ version of Dangerous Book for Boys, from Jo and Dan. Alex has already asked me to build a tree house and he tried creating his own lava lamp! Interesting!

Kiwi Valley

Kiwi valley is in Henderson which is about 30 min drive west of Auckland. The boys are always very excited checking the map and planning a route. Alex and Ollie are both getting confident handling animals and even Fran held a rat today! They had a great tractor ride which showed off the magnificent views around the farm. The animals are very tame and occasionally aggressive when they see the bags of feed, Alex had a bag snatched from him by a goose! The boys loved the horse/pony rides and Ollie insisted on going at least 5 times!

Hastings, campsite

Our trip to Napier and Hastings was surprisingly mountainous and very hot. Hastings was built around the train track and the fountain was split down the middle by the track. The campsite was quiet so we got to pick our spot right next to the play area. They had a lovely Christmas light display which was great because most of NZ doesn't bother. During our first breakfast we were joined by about 10 families of ducklings, funny at first and then really annoying.

Huka Falls, Taupo

On our way to Napier we popped into Huka Falls as it was on the way. It really is a beautiful place and the boys were hoping to see someone kayak but unfortunately no-one was up for it.