Sunset at Sponge Bay

We never get tired of the spectacular views

You're such a Luge-r

Luging in Rotorua.

Christmas with the Larsons

We had a great visit with Todd, Tammy, Tara, Lee and Kelsey. They brought Christmas to us: decorations, presents, cards and greetings from so many of you back home.

The Mailman

 

This is a great source of excitement for everyone, except today all we got in the mail was a letter that wasn't even addressed to us. What a pathetic existence we lead.

Christmas in the Summer.

Carson here.

I'm gonna start this post off with a bit of bragging. We are in the first time zone to get Christmas. You folks in B.C will have to wait 19 hours longer for Christmas. Not to mention that we're doing the European thing and opening presents on Christmas Eve. I was quite excited to discover this.

Bragging aside, it's a weird thing watching Mum cook up Christmas dinner in her shorts and tank top. Not to mention our slightly awkward-looking Christmas tree. Lee called it the Christmas weed- which is a fair name. It does resemble a large weed.

Anyways, It's getting hot so I'd better hit the surf. (heheh)

Merry Christmas,

Carson

[P.S it makes me squirm writing "Merry Christmas" in the summer.]

OH Christmas Tree?!

 

Wainui Sunrise

 

Larson's are here! They all made it safe and sound, and we are thoroughly enjoying their visit.

Afternoon at Bushmere

Carson here.

This afternoon (Sunday the 13th) Mum, Dad, and I spent the afternoon at a winery called Bushmere Estate, drinking coffees and eating Garlic bread an onion rings while listening to a great easy-listening band. My idea of a perfect afternoon. Especially because my mocha was exceptional.

Evening Light

Christmas in New Zealand

Here is the New Zealand Christmas Tree -- one you don't have to decorate!: a Pōhutukawa Tree. This one is beside our drive.

 

Swimming with Moko

Moko, the dolphin has been separated from his pod for most of his life. He is very social, and has been seen all along the East Cape. (The boys saw him up at Tologa Bay in September). This is him, this past weekend, swimming with some surfers right off Wainui Beach. We watched as he bunted a surf board out of one of the kids' hands, and balanced it on his nose as he swam away. The kid swam after him, and just as he reached out to grab the board, Moko would flick it into the air, catch it again and swim away. He was playing keep away! He is very persistent when he wants to play. Recently, though, there have been some close calls. He has knocked some younger kids off their boards, snatched their boards and left them stranded. And because the surf is pretty strong to swim in, they needed rescue to get back to shore. He has damaged and stolen quite a few boogie boards, surf boards, etc. Anyway, we enjoy watching him from the shore!

The Neighbourhood

It could be worse! :)

 

The gallery (our little front room) is open! Here's the sign at the end of the drive. Mark's doing some beautiful paintings of the beach and the landscape.

 

The lemon on the right is one that you would see in the store in Canada, and the one on the left is one that we got from our friends who manage a farm and grow lemons, oranges, grapefruits, and other citrus fruit. Their farm is almost completely organic, so the lemon didn't have any "steroids", so to say. Steven

Rere River Falls

We visited the Rere Falls and rockslide with my boss's kids this weekend. It was spectacular.

Rere River Rockslide

What a blast!!

Te Kuri Farm Walkway

We did this hike, just outside of Gisborne, on the weekend. Seems all the places to hike around here are straight up and straight down. I realized I'm not in shape for this kind of hiking -- sore knees!!

Tiny car

All Manner of Shops!

Napier trip

This past weekend we took a little trip to Napier. We stayed in a nice cottage situated on a beautiful property and walked about the town for a bit. As you can probably see, Napier is art deco themed. It's a really beautiful town, with about an average of 5 cafes per street. (That's a street on a block.) There must have been about 30 cafes in the downtown area alone.

On Friday, we headed into Napier after arriving at our cottage, which was a little out of town, and walked through a neighborhood built onto the hillside. Such a cool place; reminiscent of a little town in the Italian alps or something. (Does Italy even have alps?)

For dinner on the friday night, we went to a cool little Turkish restaurant [run by actual Turks] and had to sit on the floor. Felt very authentic.

On the Saturday, we walked about town during the day and hit the pools before dinner. Great day.

On Sunday, we went to a Winery and then headed home.

That's the summary of our time there,

Peace out,

~ Carson

 
I truly hope that the clever marketing team from toyota were giving a bit of a talking to after coming up with this snappy vehicle name. "Say Bob, doesn't that sound a bit like something else....hmmm..can't think of it...." (Mark)

 

Beach at Okitu

 

This evening was one of the most dramatic surfs we have seen yet. Beautiful colours and powerful crashing waves.