volcanic valley and tree houses

We stayed in this hideawy tree house at the weekend. view of the house from the extremely steep drive...

Mike soaking up the panoramic views from the tree hous deck...

Waimangu - Volcanic Valley is the worlds newest geothermal area. Created by volcanic eruptions from Mt Tarawera in 1886. Frying Pan lake is on average 55c covering 38,000sqm, its the world largest hot spring. Rather atmospheric with steam pourinf out the hillside and swirling on the lake...

all the vegetation is re-colonisation since that date. 70c crater lakes, overflowing to make a boiling waterfall and steaming streams...

Darren and Mike taking in the beautiful aqua mineral pools and silca terraces and craters...

all leading down to beautiful Lake Rotomahana with Mount Tarawera in the background.

The Who - ooh ooh ooh ohh!

Last night we went to see The Who...

we were totally rocked out by the ageing musicians who did a cracking 2 hr set!
Roger is still an smarmy weirdo who Jo is freaked out by...but Pete was legendary with his windmill arm action on the guitar. They had Ringo Starr's son Zack Starkey playing on drums who was pretty good too (apparently he also plays with Oasis)

They were supported by The Counting Crows who were bland as!!!

Nancy & Tony

Nancy & Tony (Hannah's mum & dad) came to stay this week...
We went the west coast and to our local Thai restaurant...

They are on a lifetime trip through Australia, NZ and then leaving us to head to Rarotonga.

Great to see some familar faces, we had lots of laughs and they love our wonderful country...Tony is particularly fond of the face cloths in the motels!!!

Tutukaka coast and Poor Knights Islands

We headed north out of the Smoke for the long weekend, destination: Tutukaka. The first surprise of the day was spotting a heron's nest in a pohutakawa tree with two chicks.

Tutukaka harbour boasts a pretty marina, with more than a few "gin palaces"

From here we set off to Poor Knights Islands, a marine reserve 22km offshore.

The stunning volcanic landscape was the perfect backdrop for what Jacques-Yves Cousteau described as the best sub-tropical diving in the world

We took the plunge... the snorkelling was fantastic. Huge snapper, kingfish, rays, stripey mado etc.

Our boat took us inside the worlds largest sea cave, Rikoriko, where the light in the entrance gives a stunning blue grotto effect.

We returned full up with subaqua experiences, with the shearwaters following us for company.

The following day we journeyed further north, stopping at Whananaki South, a pristine sandy bay where the oyster catchers outnumbered the people.

Waiheke Island

For Auckland anniversary weekend we went over to Waiheke Island to stay with Mike for a few days...we had amazing weather, good company, nice food and wine and fishing what more could we ask for!
Palm Beach lookout... 'Special forces on patrol'...our favourite of one of the many interesting sculptures on the 'Sculpture on the Gulf" exhibition/walk on the side of a hill on the island.

sunset fishing on the secret spot by Mikes house...

my first ever snapper catch...such a kiwi now!

Michael with his snapper too...it was very exciting. The snapper lived to see another day as they were a little small to keep.

roadsign on

the unsealed road to

Man o' War bay...

enjoying the food and wine at Passage Rock vineyard...

views from the top of Trig rd across the gulf towards Auckland city...

the rare Dotterill shorebird on the beach...

these are lovely delicate highly protected NZ birds...

Mike's very own beach at the end of his drive...

Otakawhe Bay

The two Mikes at Man 0' War Bay...

Best left hand break in the world!

This weekend we went to Raglan about 2hrs away, south of us on the Waikato west coast. Raglan is famous for its surfing spots...reputedly having the longest/best left hand point break in the world!

we stayed in a holiday home with Trevor and Metta...were very sad as Metta (we call her Mayday) is our new friend who leaves NZ next week to return to her native Denmark to complete her masters degree, we hope she decides to come back soon...

Mike contemplates risking his life at Manu Bay's famous left hand break...(as seen in the 1968 cult surf movie 'Endless Summer')...its a great wave but very close to a very rocky shore...

Mike wisely decides to give it a miss until he is a little bit better on his board but Trev got straight in and caught some awesome waves...without any injury whatsoever.

Mike & Metta watching the surf...

It was a great little trip for the weekend even though we had a bit of rain we had 3 surf's in one day (body boarding for Jo) at Ngaranui Beach (its sandy not rocky) on Sunday.

nye events

without much planning Trev, Metta, Michael and I decided to go camping on the beach for NYE...

we found a great spot, Trev did some dune riding...

we all tried our hand at sea fishing...

however, we got evicted from the beach by the mean forrestry people so had to de-camp and saw the new year in on our deck at home...

so we did get to see the fireworks off the sky tower in the city...happy new year everyone x