Tea cosies, volcanoes, dolphins, boogie boarding, barbecues and sunburn!

Well - there you go - that was our hols!

Tea cosies I hear you wonder?! Well, whilst the man of the house was showering, the rest of us were studiously packing and getting ready - NOT! (In our defence - most of it had been done the night before). So my darling offspring decided to play with our new tea cosies (we do use them properly too - it's just that we were thinking what they'd be like as........



HATS!

I particularly like the thoughtful look on their faces - reminiscent of Communist Russia!

Here's another one:



By now all seriousness is lost and collapse has begun - again perhaps reminiscent of ..............!

So - after all this, we finally got ready and left the house - Kev had no idea of these goings on until later on when examining the day's photos - he liked them though!

We arrived at Tauranga (the district of Judea) sometime in the afternoon - made our way to the Mount and clambered up a little hill to look at the beautiful views:



Kev and Adam surveying the Mount.



Corrie surveying the opposite side!

An arty shot by me!

That evening, we strolled around the town centre of Tauranga and decided upon an American style restaurant for dinner - the portions were HUGE - but delicious! The men had fush and us girlies shared fajitas.

December 22nd

This was such a COOL day! We got up early and drove down to Whakatane (around 1 1/2 hours away) ready to board a very snazzy boat to White Island (which left at 9.15am precisely!).

Here's Kev watching Whakatane disappear as we set off for the Island - note that I am inside the boat under cover as it was sunny, but a little chilly that morning!

The journey to the Island takes about 80 mins and guess what! We stopped twice to cruise along with pods of dolphins - woohooo! Tried to get photos of them, but the bloomin things kept moving - as they do.... They were Common Dolphins - but not to me they weren't - they were FAB! Here's a couple of blurry piccies:

Well - after all that excitement, it was time to proceed to the Island which was looming ever larger in the distance:

The boat couldn't take us to the island itself - so we had to get onto a little James Bond type speed boat thing which whisked us to some rusty ladders. Upon reaching these ladders, we had to climb them (obviously) totter across a rickety platform and then clamber over boulders in order to reach the 'safety' of the shore - well as safe as a live volcano that could erupt/explode at any time can be.....

Here're the boats:

Can you see the steam from the crater? The helicopter in the foreground shows that the Island is a little bigger than you first realise!

There were helicopters constantly coming and going - very surreal. There were blue ones, black ones and red ones - very girly comment.

Just before we got to the island, we were given hard hats (Bob the Builder style) and gas masks (WWI) style - these were for the sulphuric fumes - and I'm telling you now - I used mine - especially near the crater (full of sulphuric acid) - the fumes got right down into the back of your throat!

Here I am practising!

Upon reaching the Island we had our wits frightened out of us:

• If there is an explosion - hide behind the nearest cover
• If there is an eruption - get to high ground
• Put on your gas mask - of course
• Find your guide - who will take you to safety (if they're still alive that is)
• Pee your pants and cry - last girly resort

We were also told not to stand on any of the little hills with white tops (rather like volcanic pimples), because if we did, we would fall into the boiling mud below! Believe you me, I did as I was told!

The whole landscape was covered in rocks of varying sizes - this was due to the last eruption/explosion in 2002 - apparently it was smooth before that AND they travelled at BALLISTIC SPEED - jeez - we'd have no chance really would we?!

Anyway, after all this, we had our tour of the Island, saw its crater and heard of its history - what an exciting day! I really enjoyed it.

The pale blue/green water near the shore is the sulphuric acid in the water mixing with the sea water.

Well - it was a long, exciting and tiring day that we shan't forget in a hurry!

The next 4 days were spent on and in the sea boogie boarding and getting burnt!

Christmas day was one of those and we ended it with a barbie of delicious steak back at the motel with the owners lovely dog slurping nearby - we gave her some of our leftovers - she loved them (the dog I mean!).

Boxing Day was the day on which we travelled back to Auckland via Hot Water Beach (more boarding) and Cathedral Cove (absolutely beautiful and I want to go back there to stay and explore further).

I think this was called Emerald Cove - it's another marine place full of fush and fab for snorkelling - I clambered around on the rocks and saw a huge reddish/purple crab with lime green markings - cooool!

These photos are of the beautiful coastline around the Cathedral Cove area - it really is gorgeous and it was very hot that day too!

Today is New Years Day and I would like to wish you all a very happy and wonderful two thousand and heaven!

Have a good one and to all of you in the UK I'll see you in July!

Have now been here for 1 year and 2 months ish and cannot believe how fast it has gone - amazing - came here with my passport and no job - now have a permanent job and residency! Wow!

Take care and all the best.

x Sue

PS Thanks to everyone who sent us cards and pressies this year - it was LOVELY to hear from you from so far away!