Off to the South Island

We all woke up around 4:30 on our third morning in Auckland. It was a dreary start with plenty of rain falling overnight and as Cameron asked me repetitively if we could "just go home" or at least to the Denver Children's Museum, I started to feel a bit of a panic start to creep in. I didn't have my control over our environment or what the day would hold. And that would be the case for countless days to come...

Of course the skies cleared by 9:30 and it turned into a perfect weather day. Around 70, very sunny with a little breeze here and there. We did the rest of the scavenger hunt we had had to abandon the previous day - walked the city Lorne Marjerison style, checking out sights left and right. We ended up in gorgeous Albert Park (full of historical statues and colorful flower beds) as well as - my favorite - a short spooky path with "pohutukawa" trees. The kids had a blast climbing along what appeared to be horizontal trunks spreading endlessly in all directions.

We grabbed a little more ice cream before taking a cruise around the harbour. I think my kids are not the norm in that they actually enjoy the historical commentary that accompanies this type of excursion. Where did they do cannon blasting practice a hundred years ago? How often did the lighthouse worker get food delivered to his tiny abode? How did they add extra lanes to Auckland bridge. They are all about it (except Cam). It wasn't remotely crowded and we had all taken our dramamine. Happy afternoon.

Now we are in Wanaka on the South Island. The flight down here yesterday was easy peasy and I totally kicked driving-on-the-left-side-of-the-road's ass! Drove through amazing FALL colours, no one vomited on the twisty mountain drive and this place feels more like our pace.

Zachary and Quinn have been playing some catch game outside involving a tiny deflated football and the trampoline with local boys Stan and Fred. We are expecting a LOT of rain while we are on the South Island, except for tomorrow - James' birthday - so we will see which activities we are able to check off our list.