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21st JanuaryI'm writing this from the lap of absolute luxury... a cabin!!And not any old cabin I'll have you know, one with its own loo!I just don't know myself!!Isn't it funny how everything becomes relative, and what now constitutes a bit of luxury?!More of that later.Our time in wellington was great; we really loved the city, heading in there early on Saturday morning where we parked up and made for the museum of New Zealand (Te Papa which is Maori for 'our house'). The museum was fantastic, and we were particularly chuffed to be able to see the temporary exhibition on whales, which following our adventure in Kaikoura was a must.The children feel like marine biologists that specialise in sperm whales and dusky dolphins, and really got into doing the quiz provided by the exhibition, having taken advantage of the face painting on offer! It was lovely to do something like that and not have to endure the never ending queue that always seems to accompany face painting at home!Rosie went for the dolphin option, Connie a whale, and Isla and Meg the ..you guessed it..pink butterfly?!The museum was brilliant; it felt pretty new, and was really well set out with plenty of interactive stuff for the kids.It included a zone about plate activity and volcanoes.We went into a house and lived through a simulated earth quake, which at the time was interesting, but later on, Connie was completely flipped out at the thought of an earthquake whilst we are here.After lunch, we mosied about Wellington for a while, and enjoyed taking it all in.Toby found a park for the children to play in, whilst Michele and Connie walked about town.Wellington certainly is windy, but a lovely city, and it was interesting to see how at the end of the day, the central business district shut up shop and it became so quiet.The entertainment district was a short walk away, and we decided to treat ourselves to our first meal out of our trip.We found the Hog's breath cafe, and really enjoyed the treat of not having to cook a la camping for a night!!The following morning, we left a sunny Wellington, and drove towards the East coast, and the rain!Maybe Connie wont see her earthquake, but we are now in the midst of a cyclone which should pass over the north island but is bringing some really heavy wind and rain all over.We did a long day of driving to get to Napier, and Toby (knight in shining armour!) decided that we all needed some slack and booked us into a cabin in the camp ground.The camp ground was right on the sea front, and would have been absolutely stunning if we could have seen it!!The cabin was pretty dingy, but such a welcome relief.We all squeezed in; sharing beds, and Toby on the floor (see what I mean about knight in bling?!).We decided this morning that there was little point in hanging around to get wetter, so we journeyed to Taupo, where we booked into another (deluxe!!) cabin with its own LOO!!!!!Can't tell you how nice it is to have had a cup of tea after 7 pm (I've been v decadent and had 2!!) - haven't been doing that, as the hike across a camp site in the wee (no pun intended!!) hours of the morning has put me off!The cabin has a TV aswell, and the children have really loved watching it - they have been LCD starved for weeks, and enjoyed watching cartoons; they even wanted to watch the news!!!They are now all asleep, and for the first night since we have been away, Toby and I are able to sit and talk!(Usually we pretty much go to bed with the children, as usually I am in the van, and Toby in the tent, and we wouldn't leave them on their own.So now we are going to have to plan what we do tomorrow; move on (cyclone weather should lift by Wed, but that gives us at least another 36 hours of it) or batton down the hatches here.Girls, I can hear you shouting "stick with the loo!" Fellas?Well I'll let you know what the man says!!Anyway, hope you are all well - we are constantly overwhelmed by the lovely messages and comments we get about the blog, and how much people seem to enjoy it, and we can't believe how many hits the site gets.Toby bought a thermal mug today(told you it was a day for luxury!!) which came with a T shirt (Cup of Tee!) that says "Live the dream" on it... we sure are!It certainly isn't all easy, but that's part of the deal, and we really are loving it!
Additional note from Toby- apologies for the layout of the text above. The PC I'm using in the ''Universal video and Internet store"' is playing silly b*****s.
Today was the funeral of Sir Edmund Hilary as I'm sure you know. The strength of feeling for him in NZ is just incredible. He is truly treated like a God to many folks. The state funeral was massive - and there were ceremonies all over the country. The esteem with which he is held is indicative of the passion the people of NZ have for key aspects of their lives - eg the natural world, sport, taking part in any activity and being friendly!
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