Sheep shearing

Grif caught a lamb!  No nasty comments

All the mama ewes watch their babies get sheared 

In the lamb holding pen

Newly shorn lambs in the pasture

Our neighbor Graeme was shearing his sheep (2000+!) and invited us to come watch.  Didn't take pics of the shearers -- they were working at the speed of light and didn't want to disturb.  It's an amazing process - each lamb sheared in under a minute; someone constantly sweeping wool off of floor and into a large baler.  Newly shorn lambs are shoved down a trapdoor and emerge confused into the pasture - feeling frisky without their wool coats!  Boys went back to the holding pens and tried to catch lambs & found out how fast they are.

Rotorua!

Rotorua museum & surrounding gardens - really good museum; even the kids liked it!

Chairlift up for more luge runs

Luge!  Although you can't tell from the top, these actually got going pretty fast.  Lots of crashes - we saw people with some pretty bad road rashes.  

Amazing free thermal park you can walk through right in the center of town.  This thermal lake was eerie -- made you feel like a dinosaur was going to step out of the bushes at any moment!

Zorb!  A very crazy sport.

Griffin rolls down the hill...

View from our room of bubbling mud pots and erupting geysers.  We left the windows open at night and listened to the water sounds.  

Rainbow Springs does amazing work to
protect the endangered kiwi

Rafting the rangitaiki

Grade 3 & 4 rapids - so fun!

What a crazy town!  It is situated in the crater of a volcano, with thermal pools abounding.  Rich cultural history - we learned about the original Maori settlers, the Europeans who built "healing baths" and traveled all over for the thermal pools, and the tragic huge volcanic eruption of Mt Tarawera in 1886.  We also enjoyed the natural beauty of the area, and learned about the kiwi bird -- went to the "behind the scenes" kiwi encounter where we saw the day-old kiwi chick that just hatched!  We also partook of some of the crazy adventure sports the area offers -- luge down the mountain (the kids' favorite), and...Zorb!  Rolling down the hill inside a huge plastic ball filled with water.  Once was enough.  Biggest bonus?  Our "budget" hotel upgraded us to a geyser-view room -- we had an AMAZING view of Pohutu, the area's largest geyser, directly off of our balcony.  Pohutu erupts at least 20 times a day.  Free in-room entertainment!

Opunake town

Walked about town today taking care of "bits & bobs" like getting library cards, etc.  The day was so gorgeous we ended it at the beach.

View from our front yard today - brilliant sun!

statue of Peter Snell - Opunake's own Olympian

One of Opunake's Surf Lodges

The main drag of town

Where you get fish n' chips

cute little church

road down to the surf - with cows grazing

Mt. Taranaki in distance.  Beautiful blooming pohutukawas...New Zealand's "Christmas Tree"; so-called because the red flowers bloom only in December.

Forgotten Highway weekend

Took a 3 day trip along the "forgotten highway" to get to know the surrounding area.  Amazing hikes through hobbit-like forests in the Taranaki National Park.  Scenery along the country roads of the forgotten highway green green green, with sheep & cow dotted hills everywhere.  Rivers, streams, bridges, tunnels.  Great fishing along the Wanganui River - Ken cooked up the two nice rainbows he & Grif caught!

Dawson Falls in Taranaki National Park

Gav on a cool suspension bridge

Cute little house in Taumarunui

Ken chatting with Richard @ Creel Lodge in Turangi while grilling up the trout

Eating the trout on our porch @ Creel Lodge

Sign along the "forgotten highway"

Great lunch at the Whangamomona Hotel's pub

Famous old hotel along the forgotten highway - used to be a town of over 300  people; population now is about 30

Green hill after green hill, with sheep & cows

Fishing the Wanganui River

Merry Christmas from Opunake!

Here are some pics from the annual Opunake town Christmas parade.  Local businesses and families created "floats" and the townsfolk lined the main drag to watch.  Kids fought over candy thrown from floats.  Fun!  We decorated our own tree with handmade popcorn garlands and snowflakes.  Merry Christmas!  -L, K, G&G

Opunake bagpipers- who knew there'd be so many in such a small town?

There were lots of tractors...

...and silly families.

The new kids in town

Christmas carnage is the same worldwide 

Merry Christmas!

We've arrived!

We made it!  The boys and I joined Ken in New Zealand, and he introduced us to Opunake.  We love it!  More than we thought we would.  Our location is fantastic...kid heaven.  Here are some pics of our home and immediate surrounding area.  Weather is semi-tropical -- alternating sun, clouds, rain, wind - never very cold but never very warm either.  We've scratched the surface of the small town but will bring camera on next jaunt down main street. Happy Holidays!  -L, K, G &G

The view from our backyard, looking over Opunake Lake 

The view from our front yard - ocean down yonder

The greenbelt across the street - soccer!

Grif heads down the trail to the beach

Opunake Beach

The ice cream & candy shoppe @ the beach!

Checkin' the waves 

Opunake beach

Gav looking for abalone (we cooked some up last night)

Great boulder hopping 

Our house - with Mt Taranaki visible in the distance