Autumn Hike

A few weeks ago, while Cameron was away for the weekend at Scout camp, I took the other boys on a hike with the cubs from Taylor's Mistake to Boulder Bay and Godley Head. It's a really good track that has been upgraded since the earthquakes. After a snack at Boulder Bay and throwing some stones in the ocean, we went up the hill to the gun emplacements before heading back to the car park for sausages and winding down on the beach.

Pirate Golf

Recently I took the boys to play crazy golf at a pirate-themed course. Of course in keeping with the theme there is a lot of water around which meant I spent a lot of time fishing balls while the boys whacked the ball all over the course, and even further afield for Cameron!
















I'm not sure about Finlay's scoring here but I can see a future as a tax accountant!

Christmas Road Trip

Vicky's sister Felicity and her youngest son Callum have been staying with us for December so once the boys had finished school we jumped in the car and headed south to show them some of NZ.

First we went to the Peel Forest for a couple of nights. There's lots of great walks, long and short, through the bush. The boys coped really well with the walking and I took the chance to get a run up the nearest small mountain.

The Canterbury Plains stretching below

 Near the summit of Little Mt Peel

After a couple of nights there we headed south to Lake Tekapo. In the past we have just passed through here on the way south to Queenstown or Wanaka but after a few friends had said good things about it we decided to stay a night. The weather was poor on the way there but it stopped raining when we got there and after a trip to the hot pools the sun came out giving fantastic views up the lake.

Callum and Ewan explore the lakeshore at Tekapo

 

Brightening skies over the lake



After a few photos it was back to the hot pools where the boys played in the lower pools and I took advantage of the peace in the adult only pool.

Next we went to Mt Cook National Park. Again somewhere we'd never been before but can't believe we haven't because it's stunning. The mountains are amazing and it is so accessible with well-made paths and bridges making it easy for us to walk in with the boys right up to a glacial lake below Mt Cook. A great place to visit before the long drive home.

Mt Cook from the bottom of Lake Pukaki

The view from the hotel window

 

 

 

Ewan finding out that water with ice floating in it is really cold

Aoraki/Mt Cook