Snowplanet!!!

We got the opportunity to go to Snowplanet just outside Auckland (it is an indoor ski centre & the temp inside is -3c, which was great for Hannah).

Steve's back was MUCH better in the cold - this is the first thing he has done outside the apartment since he hurt his back on Saturday night. He was contemplating doing skiing, until Nikki reminded him his mum (also his physio) would not approve.

Both girls had a great time - Hannah was able to Taboggan & Jacqui was able to Ski (although her joints, especially her knees really hurt due to her Lyme Disease).

Hannah is MUCH better in the cold (it was -3c). She had a great time, although we are a bit worried about how tired she will be after all her fun. We wish we had something like this in Canberra - it would be a fun rehab centre (well more fun than the hospital gym).

Jacqui is actually a really good skier - she hasn't skied for ages, but she quickly got up to speed.



Nikki had a one on one private lesson (for FREE) for an hour. It was SO much fun. She can now stop, turn, use the magic carpet ("a whole new world") slow down & was starting to learn go parallel ski. Jacqui took her on the tow bar thingy halfway up the centre & she skied down from that as well. After being sick for so long, I never thought this would ever be possible, so it was wonderful.

An added bonus for the night is that it didn't cost us much at all. The Centre had its snow grooming machine break down (& then towed out of the snow), which meant that half the centre was closed. The lesson, ski hire, taboggan's, & "lift passes" cost us less than our dinner - three hours of skiing, tabogganing and a lesson - great value. We could have stayed longer, but we were getting really tired.

Steve's back, NZ Guide Shop & Bentos

Steve hurt his back - we think pulling Hannah up a few stairs in her wheelchair to get to the Ice Bar (the frustrating thing being that there was a ramp, but they had blocked it off with bar stools). This has meant he spent Sunday in bed & in a lot of pain. Nikki made him go to the Dr on Monday (surprisingly, even though they were a walk off the street Drs surgery - or how we like to call them "dodgy drs" - the Dr was really thorough and great)(actually it was more like a private accident and emergency clinic). It turns out Steve has a prolapsed disc (slipped disc) - the Dr gave him some meds, told him to exercise as much as he could but to mainly rest (it is a shame Australia lost the cricket to NZ so quickly), and to see a Physio next week.



We also visited the NZ Guide Shop (the main one was damaged in the Christchurch earthquake, and so this tiny little shop that you have to walk through a garage of a house to get to is now the National Shop). Claire the lady who works there was LOVELY. She was very welcoming & told us all about the upcoming Jamboree near Rotorua (that some girls from Canberra are going to). When we had finished our purchases (mainly badges to take home to our units), she presented us with some badges for us as a gift from her - it was so lovely, we were really touched. It was a very warm welcome to Girl Guides NZ.



Nikki is on a bit of a health kick at the moment, so we've been eating a lot of Japanese dinners at home in Australia (thanks to our friend Wendy for inspiration) & she's trying to make more bentos for lunch. We've been REALLY surprised at how many Japanese people there are in Auckland, which means that there is a Japanese supermarket (JapanMart) and a 100yen store (daiso - although it is a $3 store here). This has given Nikki the opportunity to buy a whole heap of plates and bowls for Japanese dinners (not the ceramic ones, although that would have been lovely) and some very cute (and cheap) bento supplies.

More geeky stuff, and church.....

We got up at 2am (well Nikki & Hannah got up, Jacqui & Steve had stayed up) to watch the Lunar Eclipse. We actually drove out to the Stardome observatory and joined in with a bunch of people - this meant we could watch it with other people (lots of excitement) and view it through telescopes (although it was better with just the naked eye). Apparently lunar eclipses tend to be blood red in Australia, and orange (or light brown) in NZ.

The lunar eclipse - we didn't take this photo, it is by Mark Harrison.

Nikki went to a church service at St Matthews In-the-city, which was FANTASTIC. The sermon was excellent (the best sermon I've heard in a really long time), and it got me pondering. The music was beautiful (organ and choir), but not really my thing (I don't mind it occasionally, but it doesn't get me excited) - why can't progressive Christian churches have modern music as well? Brunswick West UCA & Al McRae really ruined me for any other church after them. How much is it to ask for progressive theology and good boppy music in the same location??? Anyway, off my soapbox now (if you have any suggestions for such churches in Canberra, please let me know)

This is the billboard St Matthews had in 2009 - it was very controversial, but got lots of people talking about Christmas (and not just Christmas shopping). They seem like a great congregation (the offering included not just money, but shopping bags of food for homeless people - they do this every week). Their regular newsletter is called OMG! which tickled my fancy as well.

Steve hurt his back and so the day was spent looking after him (his mum gave really good physio advice over the phone from back home which helped) and watching the cricket. In the evening Nikki, Jacqui & Hannah went back to the stardome to watch a couple of really great presentations on the science behind the Christmas Star (it seems Jesus was actually born on September 15th), the summer night sky (and what stars, planets and constellations you can see) and mars (it seems the next NASA mission to mars which will land in August 2012 is doomed to fail).

Jacqui at the Skydome

I've been thinking that we've been having a Geek Themed holiday, and then it ocured to me that actually what we are doing is exactly what we used to when we were full time homeschooling - so it's not so much a geek themed holiday (although that is true too), but more a chance to do some homeschooling in the holidays now that the girls are at school.

Jacqui & Nikki went to the fishmarket & the waterfront - it was a lot of fun. There were some HUGE private "yachts" (both of the yachts in this photo are being refitted - they were HUGE)

Hannah got her needle changed (hurray, it went in first go - thankfully the next needle change will be done by the great staff at Zita Mary oncology clinic at Calvary Hospital)

We went to the ICE House Bar down by the docks - the room is -7c, there are wonderful ice sculptures, the bar is made of ice, and the glasses are made of ice. We were the first people they've had stay in there long enough to order food (wedges). Hannah does heaps better in the cold, so we stayed as long as we possibly could.

There was a plane towing a sign across the sky in Auckland for about 30 mins - it said "Jason T Groube convicted theif - ex boss". We aren't sure what the story is - we're hoping it will be all in the paper tomorrow, but we assume it is that an employee stole from work, got fired and convicted & the boss vowed to make sure everyone knew about it. Here we are looking out over our balcony at the entertainment.

WETA Cave!!!

You aren't able to go to the Weta Workshop in Wellington, but they do have a shop called the Weta Cave (in Wellington & Auckland). Even though it was just a shop (rather than a museum) we had a lot of fun looking through all the beautiful things that they are making, and talking with the staff who knew the artists who made the beautiful things, and were able to tell us stories about not only the filming of LOTR, but also The Hobbit, Tin Tin, Dr Who, Avatar, Narnia, District 9, King Kong and much much more...

Hannah with a full size Uruk-hai model (they also had gollum)

Please do not touch - execution awaits all transgressors

Yes, we were super geeky and took a photo with us & the Weta Cave staff - the manager particularly was fantastic - she loved sharing all her stories with great enthusiasm (& let us take photos which you normally aren't allowed to take). We told her about the couple that we'd heard of who went through Hobbiton on the tour & English wasn't their first language - in fact the woman didn't speak a lot of English, so the husband translated everything said by the guide not into not their native language but Elvish. The manager thought that was the coolest thing she'd heard all day.

Fun trying on hats

On our way back to Auckland we stopped at a shop that had all sorts of awesome hats. We all need a warm hat for when we go to Finland, so of course we had to try them all on - here are a few selections....

A lion

Eeyore

and here are the hats we finally bought (a giraffe, a polar bear & Hobbes from Calvin & Hobbes)

Hobbiton!!!

When we found out we would be coming to Rotorua, Hannah was VERY excited because about an hour away at Matamata is the farm where they did the filming for the Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit movies, for Hobbiton. We were VERY lucky in that they only stopped filming for The Hobbit 4 weeks ago - and so the sets have been completely redone (for the Hobbit movies) & there are still builders and gardeners onsite taking care of it until the filming is completely finished on the movie. After the LOTR movies they destroyed a lot of the Hobbiton sets, and those that were left were completely stripped (no doors, windows, or set dressing - it was just ply wood). We were able to see the sets almost identical to how they were used for the filming (complete with veggie patches, windows, letter boxes, seats, stools, pipes - it was just as if a whole town had got up and left - it was amazing).

We all really enjoyed the tour, but Steve & Hannah LOVED it – they were literally jumping up and down with delight every time they discovered something new – it was wonderful.

Here are some photo's (we can only put these up because this is a password protected blog - you actually sign a confidentiality agreement to say you won't put anything up on the internet that is accessible by the public. We took over 300 photos (and filled the memory on one camera) – so here is a small selection to give you an idea of what it was like.

Steve & Hannah in Gandalf's cutting

Hannah was pretty happy to be in Hobbiton

It was a lot of fun - the photo's really don't show the level of detail on each Hobbit home.

The Green Dragon & the Mill

Sam & Rosie's cottage

Outside Bag End

Yes, Hannah got out of her wheelchair & down on her knees so she could take a photo of her as a hobbit outside Bag End. If we'd thought of it we would have hired costumes so she could dress up for the tour (apparently die hard fans do that on this tour - we just didn't think of it).

There were hobbit holes everywhere! (over 40)

This is the path up to Bag End - it was VERY steep & Steve pushed Hannah's wheelchair up the whole way (we were a bit worried he was going to have a heart attack).

Amazing detail they they've done with each Hobbit home

Hannah was VERY happy to do the tour

All up, we had a fantastic day - we had perfect weather, it was great to see Hobbiton (Steve & Hannah are still smiling), and it was a lot of fun. The tour is very relaxed & they don't rush you at all, which means you get to soak in all the atmosphere. I don't know how much longer after the Hobbit has finished filming they will be able to maintain the set (they destroyed most of the set after the filming of LOTR - it was only by chance (and bad weather) that some of it was saved), so it was wonderful to be able to see it in its prime (4 weeks earlier they were filming the Hobbit & we wouldn't have been able to do the tour - so we were very lucky with our timing).

Hats & ZORB

We had fun today going to the Agrodome (not for their tour, which is expensive, tacky and really sad - we can't believe people pay money to get on a trailer towed by a tractor to go around a sheep "farm") - we were there to look at their assorted gifts (Hannah is on the look out for "unique" gifts).

This meant we got to try on a lot of fun hats ....


After this Jacqui & Nikki got to try out zorbing, or zorb globing, or zorbiting (I don't think they have decided on a verb for it yet). You get the idea. We jumped into a giant ball (like a hamster ball, but with lots of warm water in it), that they they push down a steep hill - it was HEAPS of fun (and much safer than bungy jumping).

just before we got pushed down the hill

It really does look just like a giant hamster wheel...

This is us after the ride - heaps of fun!

A Quiet Day

So we had a very quiet day yesterday. A long sleep in, followed by changing the needle in Hannah's port. Nikki has been stressing about doing this for several weeks - the needle is 1 1/4 inches long and goes into the port above Hannah's heart - and the window to put the needle through is only 4mm wide- the whole process is complicated by Hannah's generous chest, which makes it very hard to get the needle in the right place - but we had success!!

The blood in the syringe means that the needle is in the right place - we used surgical gloves (sterile) with a sterile drape and sterilised Hannah's chest before we started. A long complicated process, but it means she can come away on holidays, so it is worth it!!!


Celebrating the needle insertion with a small glass of wine! (and putting all the medical supplies away).


When we opened up the medical supplies we brought across from the hospital in Canberra we discovered that we didn't have the bung that needs to go on the end of the needle tubing. This meant we got to drive in to the Rotorua Hospital and ask for some bungs - we were REALLY very pleasantly surprised when handed us 4 bungs at the reception desk - we had expected to be here for hours waiting. We've never had such a quick visit to a hospital before.

To celebrate we had a late lunch at Fat Dog - the food was nice and the servings were HUGE (we had leftovers for dinner).


We are using our holiday time to catch up on some things we didn't get a chance to do back home - so both the girls got hair cuts.

Hot Springs

Jacqui found us an amazing hot springs. The ones in Rotorua are STINKY and very expensive. This one is about 20 mins out of Rotorua, much quieter, and HEAPS cheaper (like 4 times cheaper than the expensive ones in Rotorua). We got a private spa (which was lovely), and then explored all the public pools afterwards - I'm pretty certain we will go back later in the week.



We also got to do some bush walking along a fairly flat track that took us to see the spring that the water for the spa comes from (gorgeous scenery) - it is in fact a boiling river - the water comes out at 98c, and they have to cool it down to use it. We felt very relaxed after this little day tour.

On our way to Rotorua

On our way to Rotorua we got to enjoy two of he girls loves - tea, and cheese.


Here Jacqui is trying out tea from t-leaf T, a NZ tea company (we were very sad we couldn't bring any Adore Tea with us to NZ - so we are trying out their tea instead). They had a really funky tea pot, although the infuser was much harder to remove than the adore tea pots. The tea was nice - we tried berrylicious and earl grey blue flower - but obviously not as lovely as the tea at Adore.



Here is Hannah in the climate controlled cheese room at Over the Moon - we went there hoping Nikki could do one of their courses to increase her cheese making repertoire, but unfortunately there weren't any courses that fit whilst we are in NZ (she'll just have to fork out the big cash and do it at CIT instead). Hannah normally can't eat cows milk - but she made a deal with Nikki that whilst we are in NZ if she is super strict with her diet and doesn't eat any gluten or sugar, then she can eat cows milk cheese - so she's loving trying out all sorts of NZ cheeses.