Monday 6 July 2015

Project Life: Week 22

I’m back again with Week 22 - May 25th to May 31st

This was a pretty good week for us… especially since we were able to head off on a weekend away on Saturday morning thanks to Queens Birthday weekend.  Here’s an overview of our week:FULL_1

It was a busy week at school this week and we were lucky enough to have the Matariki Cosmodome at our school complete with an astronomer to talk to the kids.  You wouldn’t think that such a small area could fit all the kids but it was actually quite large inside.  The astronomer showed us through the whole galaxy and gave us lots of interesting tips and info along the way.

Mike also took a few photos for me this week… one of the dinner he cooked (which was delicious!) and one of his view from the top of the scissor lift!  It’s certainly not something that I would enjoy… I like to keep my feet planted firmly on the ground!

On Friday we had a Teacher Only Day and spent quite a lot of it sitting in a bus visiting various sites around Rotorua and learning the history and Maori ancestry to do with the area. We started off the day meeting the bus at the lakefront and I took a few photos and didn’t think too much of it but when I saw the photos on my computer there was one that I was super pleased with.  I’m even thinking that I might make an enlargement of it and frame it for the lounge.

Here’s a close up of the first page for this week:LEFT_1

After all the sitting around on the bus my back was feeling pretty achy and one of my teacher friends mentioned the massages down at the Queen Elizabeth health spa.  Since we finished a little earlier than I had expected I decided to treat myself to 30 minutes of pampering before heading home… and it was FANTASTIC!!  I’ll definitely go again!

On Saturday morning Mike and I had the bike all packed up and we headed out on the bike at 4.30am!!!  Yes that’s right… half past four in the morning!  Not only that but it was FREEZING!  By the time we got to Matamata my legs were numb with the cold and it was a mere 3 degrees outside although I suspect it was heading closer to zero when we were going over the Mamaku hills!

After a hot chocolate and toilet stop we headed off to the Bombay hills and my legs were actually in pain… it was like having needles coming in my knees and up into my thighs and I was very grateful to stop for breakfast.  While we had a delicious (and HOT) breakfast, Mike got onto Google and found a bike shop on the Northern side of Auckland that was having a sale so we stopped in there and bought some bike pants… SO GRATEFUL for feeling warmer!

Here’s a closer look at the second part of our week:RIGHT_1

We had a few more stops along the way but I have to say it was lovely to get to the top of the Brynderwyn hills and look out at the view.  Just in case you were wondering where we were off to… Dad and Jan had invited us up to Whangarei for the long weekend.

Rotorua to Whangarei 380km each way

New-Zealand-Itineraries-North-Island-Map

We spent most of Saturday afternoon hanging out with Dad and Jan chatting and catching up on life.  It was so nice to be able to talk face to face and just spend time together.

On Sunday, Dad took us out to Tutukaka for a drive and we spotted the Marina Pizzeria… of course we HAD to stop for lunch!  Dad and Mike both ordered the blue cod and Jan and I both had pizzas.  I decided to try the chefs special… the blue cod pizza and it was DELICIOUS!  I highly recommend this place… great service, great food and I would imagine in the summer months it’s pretty busy.

On Sunday afternoon Mike and I headed down to the town basin for a look around.  We found a little fudge shop and a place that did great juice.  We also came across a very ‘exclusive’ little art gallery.  It was the kind of place where if you have to ask how much something costs you already know you can’t afford it.  It was also the kind of place that has big NO PHOTOS ALLOWED signs… but apparently Mike didn’t see those signs and walked out with about a dozen photos!

On Sunday night we went to a steak house with Dad and Jan for dinner and then Mike and I headed to Auntie Daphne’s for dessert.  She made the yummiest bread and butter pudding and it was also my cousin Chris’s birthday!  He and his wife were expecting their first baby to arrive any day so it was nice to catch up with them.

After that we headed back to Dad’s and on the way spotted the Whangarei War Memorial and we were so impressed.  We took quite a lot of photos and it was very special to be there late at night when it was really quiet.

So that was our week… I’ll share the rest of our trip in the next update xx

1 comment:

  1. Are you sure the Cosmodome wasn't really the Tardis? For one, it was bigger on the inside and secondly, it was just the right colour, lol Liam would have loved it one so many levels.

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