TOMATOES

most people come to new zealand seeking thrill and adventure...im no different...and for karin, what is most death defying act karin could do? bungee?skydive?roll down a hill in a hamster ball? NA!!! try a tomato. and that she did....i know it amazing eh?
so here is how it happened. i was with the family in christchurch and we got some breads and dips and one dip was a very chunky salsa. well from there its simple, the peer pressure began and i tried ..and enjoyed it :) as you can see from the progression of pics below :) now dont get all excited because i still claim i despise tomatoes (even as mike and ilona, these tomatoes were not the average tom...boiled down or something) but i did it!!!!!! heh good on me huh? :)

the finals days of island living

nearly a week ago we got back from the family trip to the south island....and today is my last day here in the 'heke... it was a very quick turn around and ill be sad to go, but rhona and i are itching to get going....so this past week i have been up to no good. spent a lot of time with friends and alexander. yesterday was a good day. mike ilona alex rhona and i went to stoney batter and had 2 delicious meals all together...and today frantically packing and running errands. rhona and i will be living out of her van ("fully" equipped with a bed and camping supplies) stopping whenever and wherever we want. in russell we met and shared an apartment for a week and had a great time...this should be a blast....south island here we come! ps these pics: alexander in lisa'a glasses....heh lisa and vini on beach me and lisa eating the biggest ice cream i have ever had...got belly ache me adn lisa sporting 2 hats a crocheted and my dear friend vesna and i at malones (thats friendship...she came all theover to a bar she hates, just for me!)

huka falls

just outside of taupo is huka falls. more than 220,000 litres of water tumbles over the cliff face per second. the wooshing of the water can be heard from the car park, and would not be my first choice for white water rafting :)

pancakes, yum

well i do love pancakes...and pretty much in any form...even rock pancakes

on my mom's new zealand bday (heh st louis is 17 behind NZ) we went from barrytown (a beautiful tiny lil area just North of greymouth) to nelson for a few nights but not without stopping in Punakaiki. its best known for the pancake rocks and blow holes. now we really had lucked out with weather all this trip so i guess we can't really complain about the rain that day. as michael says its good for the soul to walk in the rain.
these rocks are made of limestone and they reckon are 30 million yeas old. the weaker/softer bits have worn down and formed pancake esque layers. it was a gorgeous rest stop up to nelson.

nelson is a artsy town on the northern bit of the south island. we spent 2 nights there and we able to go to the saturday market and have some delicious meals. we also came across an indoor playground called chipmunks, where alexander could run around and play for the morning. he was pretty muchin tears when we had to leave there :)

arthur's pass

arthur's pass is located among the southern alps on the south island. it connects the east to the west coast. it is a gorgeous drive. we stopped over for lunch and a mini hike on the way to give our legs a stretch.

night at the museum

so we are safe in wellington and staying at a special hotel....its rights across the street from te papa, wellingtons interactive museum. which is why its called museum hotel. heh clever eh? we got in and wandered around the city looking for grub. and man did we choose the right place...not sure its proper title...but to the tricks and me it will be called the steamboat place. basically you get a pot of boiling oil and get to cook your own dinner...unfortunately me being a veg, i "missed out" but really just on the actual food, i was entertained the entire meal!



the following day we went to a playground and then te papa. its has a lot of hands on activities for wee ones


and an outdoor garden. alexander loved the rocky bridge and the glow worm cave...lucky ilona got dragged in the tunnel bit a few times!



the botanic gardens had a playground, so naturally we were drawn to that! we took a trolley up the hill and had a nice (but semi cloudy) view of the city


we also took a tour of the city and got a chance to see all the areas around wellington. heh like most tours i take...no one else was on it! so ilona, alex and i got a personalized tour of the bee hive (govt buildings...pretty much NO security...very diff than white house)

st pauls church
and a stop off at a local playground so alexander could stretch his little legs!

i got a chance to walk around the city a bit in the afternoons which was great. it has a feel of san francisco meets portland oregon. on our last night i hit the town and ended up meeting some real characters...also a guy from waiheke who was in town visiting his girlfriend! small world eh?

christchurch

from kaikoura we drove a bit further south to christchurch. it too is located on the east coast of the south island. mike was giving some lectures there and stayed in a hotel right in cathedral square. christchurch is a charming city that is managable by foot or tram. there was a tram that circles the major square....the rivers interject during the ride to tell some facts and some of their stories of christchurch... we spent a lot of time at the canterbury museum. it was great and had a discover room for kids...
after searching high and low for a kids playground, we found one in the botanical gardens. the garden was quite impressive, i could only imagine it during spring or summer...there were some great trees and most of them were "nudified" as alexander would say. seeing that its winter here...
on my own was able to see some cute boatsheds and wander some of the galleries.
there is a great art center that has heaps of crafts, ranging from wood to knitting to fudge :) fudge obviously being my favorite..
outside of one art gallery they had decorative poles, but close up, the artist had taken everyday images (noses in this case)and made a kaleidescope-esque image from them.
on our last night we went to a restaurant called winni bagos. a really tasty pizzaria. halfway through our meal a group of high school girls gathered at the front and sang acapella. they were in town for a competition. when they finished alexander charmed them all by blowing kisses to them.

kai day 2

k here are more kaikoura pics....

kairkoura the city of wow!!!

so today we took the early car ferry over from wellington to picton...the ferry linking to south to the north island. it is a massive ship with a movie theater, 2 cafes, a family area, bar, and sitting area...i was exhausted from going out the night before in wellington...heh as you can see here:


once i was able to say hello to the world, i went downstairs to play with alexander in the play area...and what a play area it was....
it definitely made the 3 hr journey go by fast (heh well napping helps too)

we had a nice drive (which i slept through) to kaikoura...and all i can say is wow! the pics will have to do the talking...




















mike did a great job with this hotel. it was right on the waterfront and more importantly had a playground across the way! alexander and of course his beloved pal mickey truly are getting a playground tour of NZ!!!!!

napier

the tricks and i are taking a 2 week holiday down to the south island... we left from waiheke and drove to napier...a city on the east coast. we took a pit stop in tirau...the city with a massive sheep dog info center :)


also has some great lil boutique stores. the city is known for its sheet metal....and they were not shy about. most store fronts had a sheet metal something or other in front. alex and i entertained ourselves by trying on any sort of goofy hat we could...he found the winner though!
we arrived in napier at night and wondered aroung the city in search of food. we ate at the hogs breath cafe which was a hit with ilona...we had lunch there the next day as well :) besides revisiting the restaurant...we played in a park in the morning. this is one serious playground...4 different sections of playgrounds with different themes and different levels of difficulty as well. heh i must be a nanny if i am blogging about playgrounds.

from there michael served as a tourguide through the city centre. in 1931 napier was flattened by an earthquake and rebuilt in an art deco/spanish design...art deco was chosen for a few reasons, durable, cheap, as well as stylish...