Swim meet - school tournament

Both boys were selected to represent Opunake at a multi-school swim meet last week.  They got to miss a day of school to compete, so both were excited about it.  Gav & Grif swam well, and both of them made the finals and placed in their events.  We enjoyed the spirit of the meet - it was somewhat competitive, but really all about fun and participation.  Our elementary school in Solana Beach doesn't have interscholastic sports, and so the boys are really enjoying this part of school life here.  They have done competed in swimming, rugby and will start soon on the school's basketball teams.

Coach Frank in front of a benchful of hooligan swimmers

Griffin wins his freestyle heat

Griffin & Brody

Grif hanging in the stands with his classmates

No touchpads here - judges hand colored sticks to finishers...
orange for first, blue for second, green for third.  Low-tech, but it works!

American kid gives rugby a go

We admired Gavin's courage when he agreed to play on his school's rugby team.  He has been practicing once a week for a month, and today was his first game.  It was a school tournament (he missed the day of school for it -- boys are liking these school sports).  Although Opunake lost both games, and played against bigger stronger kids, the boys gave it a valiant effort.  We were especially proud of Gavin; although he was nervous, he gave it his all.  In the first game he scored a "try" (similar to a touchdown), breaking several tackles on the way.  In the second game he had a truly amazing tackle of a kid who had 10 inches and 20 pounds on him who seemed to be heading straight for a score.  Go Gavin!

Gav starts his run with a few guys on his tail...

...evades the early tackles...

...shrugs off the late tackles...

...and scores his first "try" (equivalent of a touchdown)!

Another great run

Team Opunake

Gavin, Samuel & Jamie

Field Trip!

Today Gavin's class went on a local field trip.  It was really cool...it was to learn more about their local region - "Taranaki".   Parents drove, and we visited local landmarks and areas with historical or cultural significance.  Kids were divided into teams, and it was "scavenger hunt" style - we had to find clues and take pictures at each place.

I was one of the parent drivers -- the poor kids in my group were at a distinct disadvantage riding with the American Mom.  I just kept thinking the whole time about how there was NO WAY we could do this in the states.  A mish-most of parents driving, with from 2 to 5 kids per car, racing from clue to clue and site to site, kids jumping in & out of cars.

The neat thing was that I saw places here in Taranaki that I might not have otherwise seen.  I had to remind the kiwi kids in my car that they were so lucky because they live in such a cool area, AND because they live in a country where one parent trusting another is enough to allow a field trip like this to take place.

The starting point - a random house covered in coffee cups (this picture represnts
only the beginning) in Rahotu - I still don't understand Krafty Cups and no one here
can explain it to me

We visited Egmont lighthouse also, still in operation

Connor, Jade & Gavin

We visited local farm areas - had to find a "Taranaki gate",
which is electric cow fence

Jade watching Gavin take a photo of the shipwreck on Oakura Beach

Our group taking a photo with Paritutu Rock & Sugarloaf Islands
in background.  Both are volcanic remnants.  The Islands are home to
diverse wildlife including marine mammals, birds & fish.  Captain Cook
named them "Sugarloaf" because their frosted appearance (from bird
guano) reminded him of the sugar loaf lumps he put in his tea!

Kids check out a cannon at Kawaroa Park in New Plymouth

New Plymouth tidepools - home to crabs, urchins and limpets

No school field trip would be complete without a visit to a skate park...
no helmets or pads, of course (kiwi style).

Gavin & his teacher, Miss Hale, orchestrator of this whole day

The class ended up in Puke Ariki museum in New Plymouth, learning about
local Maori legends, volcanos, local wildlife, and local history.

I'm exhausted!

Hawke's Bay is foodie heaven

There is a lot more to do in the Hawke's Bay are than just ride your bike around and drink wine, although that clearly was our favorite part.  The area is heaven for foodies.  We spent Sunday tasting cheese, beer, chocolates and honey.  Came home laden with gourmet items.  Will have to work on eating and drinking all of it in the next 2 months!

This was another example of the car travel being part of the journey.  Everywhere we looked we saw green hills, pastures, sheep, cows, dramatic skies with every color of blue white & grey imaginable.  This country can really take your breath away, if you make sure to notice it.

The town of Napier has an interesting history.  It was a thriving seaside town in the early 1900s, and was devastated by a huge earthquake in 1931.  Massive rebuilding commenced at once, and the town is famous for having so many buildings in the art deco style that was popular in the 1930s.  Our B&B, SeaView Inn, was fantastic.  Situated up on a small hill just steps away from the main hub of town, overlooking the ocean.  Fell asleep at night to the roar of the waves.

Ken & I climbed to the "Bluff lookout" in Napier.
Unfortunately it looked mainlyover the port...
still pretty, but would've been nicer with southerly
 view across Hawke's Bay

Napier's art deco fountain light up @ night

Tasting tray @ The Filter Room...we tasted 2 ciders & 3 beers

Filter Room in Meanee, a well-done tasting room with nice outdoor
eating area.

Cheese tray @ Te Mata Cheese.  Sooooo good!  A nice aged blue,
a soft cow's brie, and some fantastic sheeps cheese.  Served with bread, fruit
and 2 types of chutney.  Yum.

View driving out of Hawke's Bay

Always the dramatic skies here in New Zealand

Photographer in a cornfield

The BEST day!! Napier wine tour by bishicul

OK, wow was this a great day.  Ken & I are away for the weekend without our kids for the first time since arriving in New Zealand!  Grif & Gav are staying with the Park family in Opunake.

We had breakfast in our B&B here in Napier, on the East Coast.  Headed to "On Yer Bike" in Hastings, and from there did a self-guided bicycle tour of 6 wineries in Hawke's Bay...known for syrah and for a different style of Sauv Blanc.  The bike company packed us a picnic lunch, and away we went.  It was a glorious day.  Perfect weather for 2/3 of the trip - cool breezes, sun with clouds.  And, most amazingly to anyone who has ever tasted in Napa...NONE of the wineries that we visited charged a tasting fee!  OK, so it did start to rain 2/3 of the way into it, and by the time we were cycling back to the shed it was pouring, but by then we had visited 6 wineries so honestly, who cares??  Headed back to our B&B for a nappy after that.  Lots of wine in the trunk of our car!  Looked into shipping it back to the states, and due to taxes, customs, etc...it is over $300 per case to ship.  So, we'll be drinking a lot of wine over our last 2 months here...

Ready to head out!

The starting point just outside of Hastings

We never found out what a "cattery" is...

Parking lot

Triangle cellars.  I LOVED this rose, "Drama Queen"!

Cellar door @ Ngatarawa 

Tasting room @ Ngatarawa.  We liked the "Farmgate" wines.  On the labels are featured local Hastings food growers/vendors.  For example, we bought the Farmgate chardonnay, and on the label is the local cheesemaker (since Chardonnay goes well with cheese, get it?).  The fishmonger is on the Sauv Blanc label, etc...

Biking through olive groves...

...and through vineyards

Tasting room at Te Awa.  Our new friend Jack poured us some great
Noble Chardonnay.

We loved this cellar door.  They did wine tastings and also some
food tastings - mustards, olive oils, dips.  Bought some Dukkah there!

Biking back to the shed in the pouring rain was so much fun!  Haven't
laughed that hard in a while. The bike hire people drove around to the wineries
 collecting our purchases for us.  What a great day!

WOMAD!

WOMAD is a 3-day music and dance festival that takes place each year in New Plymouth, New Zealand.  The acronym stands for "World Of Music And Dance", and it is a global musical experience that we are so happy not to have missed!  WOMAD festivals take place around the world - Abu Dhabi, Spain, the UK - and we feel so fortunate that the NZ WOMAD is located locally.  People travel from all over NZ to attend, and we only had to drive 45 minutes.

Musical acts ran the gamut from Creole Choir to Mongolian punk to Inuit throat singing to NZ reggae.  The festival took place in beautiful Pukekura Park, and there were 6 outdoor stages set up.  Fortunately there was no rain, but boy was it HOT.  We were all grateful for sunset.  Food also ran the ethnic spectrum...we really enjoyed our Hungarian fry bread.  Craft and clothing booths rounded out the day.  Boys ran around with friends eating gelato and ice cones.

We each had our favorite musical acts.  Griffin & Gavin both loved Calypso Rose, the 70 year old singer from Trinidad & Tobago.  Ken liked Hanggai, the Mongolian punk/folk fusion band, while I loved Rango, the Egyptian/Sudanese ensemble.

For those of you who know Gavin's track record with festivals...yes, he did throw up that evening:)

If only I could have gotten the teenager off the "W"...

Awesome food, smelled sooooo good...

Our favorite treat...

Flags everywhere gave the park an extremely festive feel

Shelley & Lori at the Creole Choir of Cuba

Chinese Dragon roamed about

Rango...my favorite act.  From Egypt & Sudan.

Hanggai...started by a Mongolian punk rocker who became interested
in folk music using reed instruments and pipes, and who gradually blended punk
and traditional folk music into a crazy fusion

Taylors & Parks @ Brooklands Bowl

Griffin, Logan, Gavin, Jonah, Isaak & Jade clown about after dark