Trip to Auckland 2021

We drove up on Thursday afternoon after I spent my last day at Prophecy, which really was me just getting in there and saying thanks for the party the night before, cleaning up the remainder of my desk and formatting and handing back in my work laptop.  My really lovely little XPS13 with 32G of RAM and a 2TB SSD.  In a 13" package.  Man I'll miss that little laptop, it was a corker.  Anyway I'd already put the dog in the doggery that morning before heading into work, so he was all sorted out.  I ubered home and we got ready.  I then went to pick up the kids from School, I tried to explain to them it was their last day even though it was a Thursday, but it didn't really sink in I don't think, Theo was still excited to go back to school the next day to finish a little art project thing they'd been working on, so I didn't have to heart to explain to him that he wouldn't get to do that, instead relying on the fact he'd be having a great time on holiday to help him forget about that.

We drove up to Taupo with no issues and found our little cabin at Debretts.  As I've already posted, he kept calling it a cabinet which was so cute, even though we explained it wasn't a cabinet, just a cabin, he kept switching back to the wrong thing and it was so lovely.  Once we'd got checked in we got in our togs and headed to the springs.  Sarah ordered KFC to be delievered to us, while I got in with the kids.  They had a great time splishing and splashing, until dinner arrived and we all had to get out to eat dinner.  Which was fine, just a little bit cold.  It cost quite a lot of money to get into the hot springs and it was only valid for that day, so that's why we made the most of being there, they didn't close until 9pm and we were there pretty much until they were about to close.  There was a little water park thing, a pirate ship with lots of water squirters off it and they loved playing on that, but also getting in the various pools.  Each pool had a different degree of hotness, from super hot to almost cold.

Once swimming time was over we walked back to our cabin(et) and went to sleep, the kids were knackered from 3 hours of swimming/splashing in the hot pools.  Next morning we got up and went and had some breakfast at a great little cafe Sarah found.  Attached to the same complex as a service station I didn't really expect much from it, but it was great!  Little French cafe it is, we'll def go there again becuase it's right on the outskirts of Taupo so we'll be able to stop in without having to go into Taupo.

Once on the road we stopped at Tirau and re-created a photo we'd taken 4 years prior.  Pretty funny.  Then we kept on driving up to Auckland, but stopped in at the Hamilton Gardens for a couple of hours to break up the drive.  The kids really loved Hamilton Gardens, the only problem was when Beth lost her toy Manatee (Milo) in one of the Gardens.  We'd told her not to bring it, she was sure she wouldn't put it down and lose it and of course that's what happened.  So Beth and I split up and backtracked and thankfully after only a few minutes we bumped into a family who said "Excuse me are you looking for this?" and held up Milo.  So that was very lucky.  The gardens are great though, each "Garden" is the size of a small soccer field and it's done in a particular style.  They're very, very well done and really interesting to walk through.  There's little hidden paths and things to look at.  The kids really enjoyed it and to be honest, so did I.  The kids were a bit sad we didn't get to visit every garden but we had to explain we saw about 8 or them and there's something like 16, so we'll go back another day for another exploration.

Then it was finally onto Auckland.  Of course once we started to get into Auckland the traffic become nuts, we had to crawl for about 30 minutes on one section of the motorway, then followed the ol' Google on the roads to Ben and Di's house.  Finally we got there!  When we arrived their Nanny was still there, but Sarah told her she could go and instead we looked after Jacob and Abbey who were more than happy to see Beth and Theo!

Saturday we went out to a playground that Ben and Di knew of, way out West, called Woah!  It was quite an interesting setup, it was a very flash playground attached to a theatre and fancy resturant.  Seems like an odd setup, especially a really nice resturant next to a kids playground, but it seemed to be done so that parents could eat someting better than the usual fried garbage available wherever kids playgrounds are, while the kids had a good time playing.  Anyway it worked out great, they played for an hour before it was time for the show to begin.  The show was called "Who wants to be a Superhero" and we booked it thinking it would be about Superman or something like that.  But no, it was about being a superhero and knowing to call "111" (The New Zealand emergency number) in the event your parents keel over or something.  So it was a bit tedious for us parents to sit through, but the kids seemed to really love it (though hard to tell if Beth did).  Theo even got called up onto the stage, here he is doing his thing, and got a photo with Chris afterwards which is the cutest little photo ever.

After the show we all sat down for a meal and over the course of about 2 hours ate while the kids played on the playground, or had icecreams etc.  They had a really good time, and it was nice to just sit and watch them.

Saturday night we just took it really easy and gave the kids Pizza for dinner and we got takeaways.

Sunday morning was the big event we'd driven up to Auckland for, Sarah's bridge swim!  From one side of Auckland Harbour to the other.  She got all ready and I drove into town with her (getting a park under the overpass at Viaduct Harbour! What are the chances? I mean sure it was 7am or whatever it was, but still) and then waited at the Ferry Terminal with her for her to get on.  Not sure exactly what the deal was, but the Ferry took a bunch of compeditors over to the other side approx 2 hours before the start. Why so early?  Anyway I waved her off and then went back to Ben and Di's, got the kids ready and everyone back in the car, then we headed back to find a park at the arrival zone.  At one stage the traffic was so bad I thought we'd left it too late!  But we arrived pretty much as the race was starting on the other side, so we managed to get there and get a position.  It wasn't a great position but as a few people arrived a few gaps came up so we were able to wait and see her arrive out of the water.  She did a great job, official time was 28 minutes and a bit.  The only fly in the ointment was the sharp rocks/shells that she and everyone else getting in on the other side had to contend with.  She still has 7-8 cuts on the bottom of her feet with bits of shell/volcanic rock in there.  The "warm shower" for people was red with blood from the number of cuts and gashes.  It was insane.  Anyway apart from that it was a great event, she did it and didn't need help with getting over before the harbour had to re-open to boats.

We didn't do much that afternoon obviosuly, mostly the kids just played on the tramp and did artworks etc.

Monday Ben had to go to work (Poor Ben!) but the rest of us took the day to go to Auckland Zoo!  We got out there about 11am and there were zero parks, I guess that's to be expected on the first day of School Holidays in Auckland!  Anyway eventually we found somewhere and went into the Zoo.  The kids had a great time looking at all the various animals they have. I won't talk through them all, rather here's a little video compiled from the photos I took that shows off what we all saw.  Suffice to say it was a long day, but the kids handled it really well.  Lots of walking, it rained on us for a bit too.  But it was fun for them, with playgrounds and animals and icecreams and all that stuff.  It was a long day, I think it was about 4pm by the time we arrived back at Ben and Di's!

Tuesday it was time for that thing every chid hates, having to leave your friends behind and say goodbye.  At least it was tempered quite well by the fact that they knew Jacob and Abbey would be coming to visit US later that week.  We headed off and did the same thing we'd done before, spent a night in Taupo before doing the final drive home the next day.  It's just too long otherwise.

And that was our Auckland trip!  Overall great sucess!  The kids really enjoyed it, Sarah did her amazing bridge swim like a champion and we all had a really good time!

Next I have to write about Ben and Di visiting us and me starting my new job yesterday.

Tim