Happy Birthday Mum!

It was just so wonderful to have Mum here with us in New Zealand to celebrate her birthday. We started the day with cards and pressies and then lunch up the gondolas looking down over Rotorua and the lake.









I cooked a meal in the evening so that John could be around to celebrate the day too, finishing off with cupcake birthday cake and candle.

With this being her 1st birthday in New Zealand, she's now got the excuse of hitting the terrible two's next year, that could be trouble!!

Rugby World Cup Fever!

The Rugby World Cup has hit New Zealand this 2011 and put our wonderful little country in the lime-light.

At the last minute we were very lucky to be given 2 grandstand tickets to attend the Fiji / Namibia game held in Rotorua. So yesterday, Mum and I donned our Rugby regalia and headed on down to the Stadium in the gorgeous Spring sunshine.


It was a fabulous day, getting completely swept up in the World Cup atmosphere and with the final result 49 - 20 to Fiji, brilliant!

Skiing at Whakapapa

At the last minute, John and I decided to have a weekend away skiing at our local ski field, Whakapapa in the North Island.











We left early on Saturday morning and 2 1/2 hours later we were up on the ski slope having a hot chocolate.

The weather was fantastic, clear blue skies with spectacular views down the mountain.

We booked the Skotel Alpine Resort for the night, just at the bottom of the slopes and were spoilt with a view over the Tongariro National Park from our balcony.















Sunday morning we were up early and headed back up the mountain and were 2 chair lifts up at the top restaurant by 8am. Hardly anyone on the ski slopes and tucked into a massive breakfast before making the most of the early morning skiing.







What now seems to be a tradition for us, we stopped off at Lake Taupo on the way home and hit some golf balls into the lake. Another wonderful weekend, making it all the more special as it was a last minute decision to go.