Bridal Veil Falls

Just a few miles east of the little surf town of Raglan is Bridal Veil Falls. We were delighted to find this oasis among the cows as we took the long way home from Auckland.

A Room With a View

The last few days of my Mom's visit we spent in Auckland seeing the sights and enjoying more great weather. Mark managed to find a Mexican restaurant in Auckland

Mom and I enjoying sunset on our cool balcony High Tea at the Langham

All kinds of fabulous treat to be sampled

Waiheke Island

Only a half hour ferry ride from Auckland, Waiheke is one of the most visited islands in the Hauraki Gulf. About 8,000 lucky ducks live here among the gorgeous beaches, vineyards and olive groves. Waiheke has a micro climate which is similar to the Bordeaux region of France. There are twenty-four vineyards on the island, most open for sampling. We rented a fabulous holiday home with an amazing view. On November 19th it was Mark's B-day so we spent the day exploring the island and sampling all the goodies Waiheke has to offer. Our Waiheke holiday home Mark & Mom busy in the kitchen The gorgeous view and backyard We found some alpacas, I love alpacas Mudbrick WineryMark's Mudbrick "mud" cakeThe birthday boy getting ready to make a wish

Someone has a sense of humour

The crusty woman spreading mad sheep disease at the Stony Batter (WWII tunnels)We decided not to explore the tunnels, the woman said "they are some dark tunnels with some old machinery inside" She wasn't much of a sales woman.

It was a lovely walk though

Fully!

My Mom is an intrepid traveller. In the three years we have been cruising, this is her fourth visit! She came to see us in Mexico, Panama, French Polynesia and this last trip she travelled over 7000 miles to New Zealand. She spent nine days with us and we kept her pretty busy. A few days at home in Tauranga showing her our little town and daily life. Then for a week we hit the road. Mark played photographer with his new camera. New Zealand even cooperated with great summer weather! Thanks for everything MLM! Can't wait to see you in another exotic locale.

Enjoying lunch and a tasting at the local Mills Reef winery

A night out at Tauranga's French restaurant. Lots of singing and giggles that night. Behind the scenes at Morton Estate

Another New Head

The latest project on Scholarship has been the forward head. I pulled off the 30 years old wallpaper, sanded, primed and painted. The most time consuming part was the tile mosaic on the countertop. I think it turned out well for my first effort. Yes the green is very bright!!
A nice wave to honor our watery lifestyle!

Yes the sink is original. What gave it away?

Great Outdoors

For the past few weeks spring has been touch and go around here. We had one beautiful weekend of pure sunshine so we got out all our toys and went exploring. We strapped the kayaks to the van and headed out to a nearby river to check out the bird life, and anything else we might see. Mostly it was cows, but still great to get back out on the water. A day later we jumped in our neglected dinghy for a cruise around Tauranga Harbour with a stop at nearby Matakana Island. We even found a new restaurant we could dinghy right up to. Just in time for Bloody Marys. Inspired by all this great weather, we decided to book the next weekend in the snow at Mt. Ruapehu. New Zealands active volcano Rupehu is part of the Tongariro National Park and home to some of the greatest New Zealand hikes around. We decided on the Tongariro Crossing which is a 18 Km hike crossing by two volcanoes and alpine lakes. So we made a reservation at the historic Tongariro Chateau and packed all out woolies. Well a week later the sunshine was gone and so was the famous view from our Chateau window. Fog and rain socked in and we managed to get in a few short hikes but even the two ski hills were shut down because of the fog. Instead of a grueling alpine hike we spent the weekend in the Chateau by the fireplace chatting up Kiwis and eating great food. We will try again in the summer but it wasn't all bad. Check out Scholarships newly varnished transom
The beach at Matakana island, a 10 min. dinghy ride One of the tanker terminals across from the marina
New Zealand Oyster Catchers
Tongariro Chateau on our very cloudy and foggy day
The view we should have had of the snow-capped volcanosGetting bundled up for our adventure away from the Chateau fireplace