23 December 2012

Summer holidays: Part 1

Despite the fact the weather forecast is not looking too flash for the next week, we have so far been enjoying the warmth and wide open spaces of the Waikato, getting outdoors while we can.



Daily (if not twice daily) bike rides are usually the order of the day while we're here. I have such cleasr memories of Noah at the same age (he got given the running bike for Christmas when he was 3) zooming up and down this long stretch of road. And it feels as if time has warped forward, now seeing Mylo's little feet flying over the same patch of ground as his big brother did.


I felt compelled to wear the gazinnias the boys so lovingly picked from the garden (sorry Poppa, I'm not sure you necessarily would have approved of those little fingers picking them had you known!) on our walk.


I always breath a sigh of relief when we finally drive up the driveway on our arrival here. The annual pilgrimage to Nana & Poppa's for Christmas is not for the fainthearted, being a 7-hour road trip with a couple of stops for coffees, wees (some more unscheduled than others!), and lunch on the way.

We get on the road bright and early at 6am, and always try and make it as far as Ohakune (3.5 hours) before stopping for coffee. After that the stops seem to get closer and closer together the further on we go!

I so love stopping at The Mountain Rocks cafe for coffee, the decor is so quirky inside.

And that little interlude was followed by 'quirky' outside with a lady strolling up and down the main street of Ohakune in pink pyjamas and gumboots - only in NZ!

The best sight of the trip though - this totally over-the-top laden down trailer with everything AND the kitchen sink on it. We did our best to pass it as soon as possible, so as not to be the ones who caught a flying scooter or baby safety gate in the middle of our windscreen!


The boys made themselves at home as soon as we got to Nana & Poppa's, Mylo entertaining us all by pouring everyone their favourite hot beverage from Nana's antique kid's tea set which we calculated must be not far off 60 years old. I have so many great memories of playing with it as a child too!


This year, for the first time, Nana & Poppa have splashed out with a real Christmas tree, and an 8-footer at that. I was unusually pooped last night when we arrived and just enjoyed lying on the couch watching the phases of multi-colour lights as they twinkled and danced their way through the evening. Mental note to self: I am definitely getting myself a better set of lights for next year, they are quite mesmerising and therapeutic.


And now we await the arrival of Nic and Kim from Melbourne, due any minute. And then Christmas celebrations can really get underway!

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