Getting to Dunedin - 21-Dec-2007

I had an awful nights sleep - there wasnt enough room in the car to recline the seat much , that and the risk of an axe murderer hacking me up in the night and that every truck that went over the bridge - all 500 of them made a hell of a noise all through the night . I woke at 5am and the sun was coming up so went for a quick walk and then decided to hit the road - the picture below is the sunrise at Kaikoura at about 5:30 am. I arrived in Christchurch at about 8am , got some breakfast and went to the Chch Airport where I put all the bikes onto the bike rack (except hayleys - wouldnt fit because of the trainer wheels). Was still a couple of hours until Anita, Hayley and Bradley flew in from Wellington, spent the time lying in the sun and reading. the arrived about 11:30am and we headed off south.

A quick stop at the cookie time factory and another at Temuka for a pottery break and some lunch in Timaru was all we did on the way down - arrived in Dunedin just on 5pm and at mum and dads in time for dinner.

This is bradley enjoying the drive down from Christchurch.

Summer Holidays in Central Otago - 20 Dec 2007

After work I (Darryl) headed off to the Ferry terminal with a carload of gear and bikes and only myself, to head over to the South Island. Getting into Picton a little late at 10pm I drove to Blenheim - fuelled up and got some dinner and also a bargain at the Warehouse. Drove on for another hour and then decided to sleep under a bridge. Pulled off the road and parked under the Clarence river bridge. about 11:30pm.

08 October 2007- Alma Park Zoo

We decided to finish the holiday with something a bit Australian , so we visited another wildlife park. Alma Park Zoo is abou 75 mins from Keirans place on the north side of the city. It is a small zoo with a range of Australian Fauna plus some exotic animals as well. Hayley wanted to feed the donkey , but it wasnt there they had isolated it so it didnt get Equine Flu.
Hayley feeding a kangaroo - she could have done this all day.

Hayley patting a snake , but she is still scared of pigeons, ducks and chickens.

Hayley with a Koala.

Ashleigh with the snake.

Ashleigh with the Koala.

Brad with the baby Croc and below a Python.

The park also had Wombats, Echidnas, Emu's lace monitors and a range of other lizards and snakes. Exotic animals were squirrel Monkeys, Baboons, water buffalo, ostrich's and a farm petting zoo.

7th October - Market and Pool

Today we thought we'd try another new market we hadnt been to before - a bad idea (although we know not to go again). We went to the Beenleigh Market which was very Dusty and had almost nothing of interest - mostly junk (and fruit and plants). Its unfortunate that the September school holidays dont include the second and third weekends of the month as it seems the better markets are on at this time. At least we know now travelling to Beenleigh and Ipswich for markets isnt a good idea.

Liam , Keiran , Anita and Ashleigh wandering around in the dust - most things for sale also had dust on them.

Anita, Violet and Ashleigh went to Diannes for a scrapbooking party and scrap session so Darryl and Keiran went to Donnas for a splash in the pool.

Keiran with Hayley and Bradley in the pool. After a session at Wet'n'Wild Hayley is quite confident in a pool with a inflatable ring jumping in from the side and kicking up and down the pool.

Keiran with his boys Connor and Liam in the pool.

6th October 2007 - Market, Presents and Party

After a spot of early morning Garage Saleing we were off to the Beaudesert Markets where we bought some glass Tanks for Connor and Liam. We then went to Grand Plaza and got the stuff needed for Liam to turn his tank into a Hermit Crab enclosure with 3 hermit crabs.

And Connor got 3 Goldfish for the Tank in his room.

In the evening we went to Donnas place for her house warming.

Here is Keiran BBQing at Donna's.

5th October 2007 - Movieworld and Wet'n'Wild

For a last use of our superpasses for the Themeparks , I took Ashleigh, Bradley and Hayley to Movieworld for a couple of hours, we then had lunch and went to Wet'n'Wild for the rest of the day. We did a load of rides and met a few characters in our short visit to Movieworld and did lots of floating around on inflatable rings on rides Hayley could do in the afternoon at Wet'n'Wild.

The kids with the Scooby Doo team

On the new Sylvester and Tweety lift ride.

See - I did come to Australia - Darryl with the Kids and Sylvester and Daffy.

Hayley and Ashleigh posing with Wonderwomn and Valkyrie

Off to Wet'n'Wild

Ashleigh and Bradley on the Aqua racers.

Hayley floating around the Whirlpool

The kids at the wave beach at Wet'n'Wild

4th October - Quiet day

We spent a quiet morning at home doing things like cleaning the pile of rubbish out of the rental car and sorting through and tidying all the previous shopping we had done , the kids relaxed watching DVD's . Since the shopping was all sorted , we went and did more at Grand Plaza in the afternoon.

Grand Plaza Browns Plains

Taking a break from the shopping in Grand Plaza

To celebrate the drought, the level 6 water restrictions being imposed and the extreme fire risk, we decided to light a fire (a small one) and roast marshmallows.

Bradley Hayley Liam Connar and Ashleigh around the fire (after it died down a bit).

3rd October 2007 - Movieworld

Off again to movieworld today - a bit overcast but still over 30 degrees. Its going to cool down to 18 overnight. Anyway - a great day at movieworld. Darryl and Violet took our 5 children plus 3 others for the day. Anita was dropped off at Grand Plaza for the day at 9am and Keiran picked her up at 3pm.

We went on the Looney Toons river ride, watched the police academy stunt show, went to the Shrek 4d movie and watched the Shrek live stage show. As well as all the rides in Looney toons village and getting to see as many characters as we could.

Bradley , Hayley and Ashleigh (with newly straightened hair - Shrek is the one with the green face.
Ashleigh, Hayley and Brad with Batman.


Liam, Connor, an unknown kid, hayley and Bradley on the new Sylvester and Tweety ride at Looney toons village.

Bradley, Hayley and Ashleigh with Bugs and Tweety.

Darryl once again gets selected to be the get away driver at the Bonnie and Clyde bank robbery show and gets frisked by an unknown older woman - why cant they pick the bikini models for this job.

2nd October 2007 - a rest day

Today was designated a rest day where we werent planning to do much , so most of the morning was spent playing computer games and watching the Parrots on the back fence. We have been feeding them each morning a mixture of sugarwater and bread. This morning there were about 20 Rainbow Lorikeets in total feeding.

In the afternoon we decided to do a couple of quick visits to a hair stuff wholesaler for a straightner , the scout shop for badges and a mall for the surf shop (which wasnt there anymore)

1st October 2007 - shopping day

Today was another shopping day , we set off for The Hyperdome at Springwood and after a few hours (incl about 100 visits to Mr Toys) we came home for a late lunch. At Hyperdome the kids took in a Spongebob square pants show.

In the evening we went out to Fasta Pasta for Donna's Birthday - Fasta Pasta probably isnt faster than anything else and Anita's Lasagne is better than theirs - but being Monday night , the kids were all free.

Anita, Violet and the kids wandering Hyperdome.

Patrick and Spongebob at the Show.

Hayley enjoying the Ice cream at Fasta Pasta

30th September 2007 - WetnWild

While Anita and Violet hosted a Lingerie Party at home (with Hayley) , Darryl and Keiran took the bigger kids to WetnWild for the day. It was another clear and Hot day - great for being at a water park. We got there just after 10am and left when they kicked us out at about 5:15pm. Wet'n'WildAshleigh floating around the river at Calypso Beach.
Keiran cooling off in the near 30 degree heat.

Ashleigh and Bradley in the wave pool.
Bradley Jumping waves in the wave pool.

Liam Drifting around Calypso Bay

Connor drifting around Calypso Bay - we did about 3 laps while Keiran cooked lunch