New Zealand - Paihia

Woke up to a beautiful morning in the town of KeriKeri. Walked down to the main street and found a bakery where we tried some of the favorite Kiwi foods such as creme buns and steak and cheese pies.

It's always fun walking down the main streets of smaller towns and looking in all the locally owned shops. This one shop in particular had a couple of lovely ladies inside. I was drawn to a dress and some jewelry in the window. We got chatting for awhile and she told us about her 4 girls (its always so nice meeting someone else who has 4 or more kids)

While Aaron and I looked around this tiny shop the lovely ladies took our kids around their shop looking at all the fun Christmas trees and ornaments. 

On our drive back into Paihia (Bay of Islands) for the day we came across a local Market and had to have a look around.  

Back in Paihia we had tentatively planned to take a taxi boat ride to one of the islands for the day but it didn't work out. Instead we had a very relaxing day around the seaside town.

A colorful piano right near the pier became a entertainment for people passing by as nearly all of us had a turn. A lovely older lady was very impressed with Joshua's playing and encouraged him to continue practicing.  

Mama and Pops took Josh, Rach and Joseph to lunch while Aaron and I took Rebecca on a walk and looked for the local LDS chapel. It was literally a block away from where we were.

A small branch meets in the building pictured below that is just down the street from the bay.

Kayaking was our next task and oh was it a task.  I was put with Aaron and given no ore as my job was to hold Becca. Pops was put with Joseph and Rachael and Mama put with Josh. 

There was a lot of arguing, crying and laughing. I thought it was awesome and couldn't stop laughing at our chaos. The kids were not as impressed when we returned back and they were cold and wet.

Another day of new adventures and everyone was exhausted by the time we returned to our beds.

New Zealand - KeriKeri

Our last stretch of road northward was about 2 hours. On our way we stopped at the family owned Kawiti Caves. We took a guided tour through the lush rainforest into the caves where we journey underground dodging stalagmites and stalactites to see the incredible glow worms.

I don't know how to describe the intense darkness that filled those caves, all I could think of is this scripture "And it came to pass that there was thick darkness upon all the face of the land, insomuch that the inhabitants thereof who had not fallen could fell the vapor of darkness" 3 Nephi 8:20

I cannot imagine how awful and scary that 'vapor of darkness' would have been for those people lasting 3 days after Christ died. 

The brief darkness we experienced in the caves was intense yet luckily we had torches to lead our way and the beautiful glow worms above our heads.

The glow worms brought a sense of peace to the darkness, they were beautiful. It was like looking up at the stars at night and gazing into the milky way. 

The beginning of our tour

The entrance into the caves (no cameras allowed past this point)

On our exit up and out of the caves and through the forest back to our cars.

As we made our way to KeriKeri where we would check into our accommodations we briefly stopped to see the world famous Hundertwasser Toilets. These toilets are the only project in the southern hemisphere by the Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser and was his last project before he died. Many tourists come by bus just to photograph the toilets.

Stop number three was at Parrot Place. The kids are still talking about this part of the trip and keep asking when they can get birds of their own.
We encountered many different birds and had the opportunity to hold and feed them.

Loved finding exotic flowers everywhere

Our big ending highlight to the day was our Parasailing adventure that took place in Paihia around the Bay of Islands. 

 Here we are on the boat, adrenaline pumping getting ready to fly.

 Joseph was so upset that he couldn't 'fly on the kite' because he was not five yet. He still talks about getting to fly on a kite when he turns five. He will probably hold us to it if he remembers then.

Up, up and away! Aaron, Rachael and I were first to go!

The views were spectacular as well as the colors. I still cannot believe how high we were. Just look how small the boat was in comparison to my feet.

Views from the sky

Coming back down for a safe and dry return onto the boat.

Next up, Pops, Josh and Mama

Did I mention this is New Zealands highest parasail at 1200 feet?

It was seriously incredible.

What an exciting day we sure had. After returning to our resort we took a walk down to a fish and chip shop where we had our first crab sticks. They were delicious.
Everyone was exhausted and ready for bed.

We got a kick out of the sign below. In the USA they call them carts, in Australia and England they are called trollies and in New Zealand they are called trundlers. 

New Zealand - Whangaumu Bay

It's such a strange feeling arriving somewhere after dark and not knowing at all what your surroundings look like.

The scenery from the house near Whangaumu Bay was out of this world. By far the best views from any place we have ever stayed. 

Excited kids doing some exploring and ocean gazing hoping to see some sea life.

We were literally out on the edge of this quiet secluded cove. That morning mum and I drove into Tutukaka to find a food shop to get some groceries for our day. The only shop nearby was a small convenient store similar to a gas station. 

The weather was strange and a bit cooler. It was beautiful so we walked down the road to play a game of boules. The wind and rain picked up and had us running back inside.

After the rainstorm passed we decided to drive into Ngunguru (opposite direction to Tutukaka) and have a look around. We found a great view point.

The bay below was just around the corner from where we were staying, we spent the rest of the afternoon there.

Hiking along the rocks was fun and we saw a few small crabs. 

The tide started coming in quickly so we had to race back.

Black sand, pretty fascinating.

Aaron, Pops and the children mounted a stick in the ground to see how quickly the tide was rising. It was nearly submerged by the time we left.

Lots of cool treasures to be found.

Before leaving they all wanted to have a go at trying to knock the stick down with a rock. After many attempts the stick had been hit a couple times but did not move.

There was this massive tree on the edge of the drop off from the house we were staying in. I was taken away with it's beauty and took pictures of it during different times of day.  It was so enchanting.

As we put the kids to bed mama and pops could be seen taking their daily walk down on the beach.

What a beautiful ending to a beautiful and relaxing day.