We had a lovely time in Picton catching up with James and Connor. Kate and baby Bowen were in England as her mother took a turn so she rushed over to be there for her.

The Queen Charlotte track is a beautiful walk (we only did a small part of it) when we stopped for a snack for Connor we ended up a piglet on our toes. It didn’t complain too much about being captured and luckily we didn’t get an angry muma coming at us. The poor wee fella must have lost his mum and while I think he is a pest he deserves a home at least until Christmas when he is big enough to be ham. Along our walk we offered him to all the local looking walkers. Back at the start/end of the track the caravan that sold ice creams was open we asked if they would take it or if they knew someone. They had taken in a piglet in the past but was about to go away for a month. They needed up calling a neighbour who happily agreed to take little pig. A very happy ending.

A very picturesque ferry crossing. I did eventually fall asleep and had a little nap.

Once in Wellington we caught up with Michaela and Gareth who we have missed the last few times.

In the afternoon we headed up to Shane & Lisa’s place in Whanganui. Rowan cooked dinner and we had a lovely catch up.

The following day we headed north to Reporoa to stay with my sister Sarah and her family. We took the scenic route around Mt Ruapehu. Rowan wanted to sit in the plane in Taupo as he hadn’t done that before.

Sarah & Keelan’s kids are growing fast and they’re about to move into Rotorua. They have purchased a house that needs a renovation. If they decide to vlog or blog about it I will be sure to let you know.

We stayed in Papamoa for 6 nights. My cousin and two of her kids joined us in the weekend. We had lots of swims in the surf and even spotted a very large Bronze Whaler. Rowan got the kids out after seeing it, not because he was worried, but he didn’t want to be responsible for a shark nibble. We also did some fishing and had some great walks at Maketu and Mt Maunganui.

Rowan and I have our gold and some silver with us to take to a refinery in Penrose. The melt it down for us and we can sell it to them or they can give it back to us in ingot form.

Rowan helped mum with a bit of a pickle with one of her properties so we had to go out and celebrate.

In Te Awamutu we caught us with my aunty and more cousins and lots of babies. It was great to see them all, they all grow up so fast!

We spent a night at my Dads place on Beachlands. A very nice catch up with him and Sue. Dad just had a big 70th birthday and this silly sausage forgot his gift in Christchurch. I will need to post it to him.

We have use of a car while up in Auckland. Paul is overseas for work and my sister Emma has lovingly let us use his car. She warned me it’s thirsty but we have been driving Camele, who is a lot more thirsty than his Volvo.

A warm welcoming in Whangaparāoa. My Nana went all out with a wonderful home cooked meal on our first night. It was absolutely delicious, we had mussel fritters and lovely crumbed fish.

On Saturday we said goodbye to our beloved Camele, she went off to her new home.

We also had a chance to catch up with Lynne, Rowans cousin and my friend Sarah and her family.

On Mother’s Day we took my sister Emma’s kid Ellery off her for a few hours so she could get some stuff done. We first met at Mitre10 for a coffee and a play date with my sister Clare and daughter Skylar. Clare suggested a tree tops walk in Northcote where you walk among the giant Kauri trees. We went in and out of the park so many times I think we must have washed our shoes about 16 times on our walk. The bird life was great and it is awesome having a forest in a city.

In the afternoon we went to Runamuck for a little shindig. It is great to see all the trees growing. Rowan and Ellery ended up hunting for all sorts of things in the bush.

We had a couple of nights at Emma’s house and my mum was up for Nana duties as Emma was away for work. We got an extra night with Nana on Tuesday night where we took her out for dinner and we had a great morning and lunch with her the next day.

Rowan and I are on Aunty & Uncle duty in Warkworth at Clare’s. She is also away for work so it is great to have a chance to help out as normally I am way too far away. We had Skylar on Wednesday night and dropped her off to school on Thursday morning before flying to Christchurch later on that day. I was very thankful for the use of Pauls (Emma’s partner) car. It made getting around very easy.