We had breakfast at a cafe in downtown Rotorua before heading out to see Okere falls. We made the short hike to the falls while searching for the perfect silver fern branch which of course my dad found. There were no raft trips coming down the falls while we were there but we enjoyed viewing the falls and showing my parents where we rafted and sledged. Daddy and I made the short hike over to the viewing area for some of the other small waterfalls while Mommy and Justin brought the car around.
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| Okere Falls...the same falls we visited and rafted down before |
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| Silhouetted in the cave we climbed through to start our sledging adventure |
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| Daddy with the perfect silver fern |
Next we headed to Green and Blue Lakes and enjoyed some more spectacular views. We went back into town for lunch at the Fat Dog Cafe. We had a fun lunch by the fire while the rain picked up outside. We planned on going to the redwood forest after lunch but due to the pouring rain, decided to head back to Auckland instead. After a long drive back to Auckland, we had dinner at Mexicali on the patio under a heater. Mommy tried the whole way home to snap a picture of a panel beater sign (panel beater is kiwi slang for a body shop) but was unsuccessful!
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| J&L in front of Blue Lake...I later waded into it to prove the usefulness of my gumboots....not sure where that pic is! |
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| View over Green Lake |
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| Fun Lindsay excited about lunch at Fat Dog Cafe |
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| Dinner at Mexicali |
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| Outside Mexicali...hard to get a good shot in the dark with neon lights! |
The next day Justin and I had to work and M&D went back over to Devonport to grab some souvenirs and gifts. They then picked me up and we met Justin in New Market for lunch at a local Thai place. We had a great lunch as we tried not to think about saying goodbye. M&D drove me back to my office and we said a tearful goodbye in the street.
After work I was surprised at our house by a sweet note and goodbye gift from parents (a game known as balancing kiwis). It was a tough evening and weekend with just the two of us knowing we would likely not see anyone from home until March!
Update: Since my parents left, Kara and Aaron have booked a tickets to visit in November! We are so excited to share our home and have some NZ adventures with them!
1 comments:
It sounds like you are having some colorful adventures. Silver ferns, Silver gumboots, Green Lake, Blue Lake, Redwoods. There were heaters and beaters. And more family coming in November. I look forward to some new colors and different rhymes.