birds

Sylvia Park and Kiwiyo

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It’s holiday time for Me AGAIN!!!! My original plan was to have 3 weeks off work while Ana and Kaik were in town. Later, my Kiwi-Mom and I decided to I would work Monday and Tues of this week and then still have Wed-Fri off. It worked well for all of us because the girls and boys were able to be entertained at the same time 🙂

When I was woken up (Ana let me have a decently nice sleep in) the weather wasn’t amazing so we decided it would be a good day for an indoor activity. The girls had never been to Sylvia Park Mall (the 2 floor mall that has some of its stores outside). Ana wanted me to be adventurous and drive without the gps. I had been before but Emzie drove so I wasn’t sure if I was up for the challenge. The drive was pretty straight forward once we knew what turnoff we needed to take. The girls and I had a pretty productive time at the mall. We tried not to stray from buying anything we didn’t need!

In the evening we picked Em up and headed towards Mission Bay. We were all missing Victoria’s Qoola (a frozen yogurt bar where you get to choose your own toppings and your payment is by weight) so we treated ourselves to New Zealand’s Kiwiyo. I wish you all could have been there. Ana always has a big smile on her face but while she was making her selections she was BEAMING from ear to ear. Our verdict being it wasn’t the equal or better to Qoola but it was yummy. We took our creations by the beach to eat.

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Emzie wasn’t too amused by all the birds that were closely watching us. We took advantage of the opportunity to practice our action shots and photo poses before calling it a night. We dropped Em off at home and promised we would pick her up again tomorrow. She gets Fridays off work so we ladies would all be bunking at my house for Friday – Sunday until we had to drive the girls to the airport Sunday morning.

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Thanks for reading and a special thank you to Ana for her active participation in the blog!
There will definitely be a blog for tomorrows sailing adventures!! 🙂
xox Amanda and Ana

Falling Birds in Bay of Islands (Day #4 of roadtrip)

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First tour around Bay of Islands on a backpackers budget today. We decided to check out the town KeriKeri and the little shops within. Of course Emma bought something on my list of “to buys” and I didn’t (this isn’t the first time) but I am glad she found a new wallet that is lovely!!  On another note, Ana finally found the fedora she had been searching days for. We picked up some lunch at the Bakery. The prices surprised us because they were actually decently priced. While I was at the bank Emzie told me they would be at the Deli, so I was taken on a little DETOUR trying to meet up with them. After I found them we all enjoyed delicious sandwiches before heading off to the beach.

Then we headed up to Rainbow Falls, a wonderous large waterfall that some backpackers told us was a must see. The waterfall was different from the other one we visited. Both striking in their own way. The first waterfall (Kitekite) was very narrow but was unique in its three tiers. The Rainbow waterfall was one tier but very wide and much larger. It appeared as if we were in a large hole surrounded by trees on three sides and the waterfall on the fourth. You could venture behind the waterfall if you swam through the pool to the falls. It was neat behind the falls but very slippery as all the rocks were covered in mud. Emma secretly was gripping for dear life as we ventured behind to the other side of the falls. The mud was so slippery and thick but we both survived the adventure. We were able to capture some pictures before her waterproof camera’s battery died.

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After the waterfall we drove to Matauri Bay. The water was a light teal green and clear. We thought we seen a flock of seagulls possibly gnawing at carcass’s but it turned out to be a flock of seagulls hanging around some chunks of seaweed. Ana and Emma did some sea shell searching while Kaik read her murder mystery book and I had a well deserved nap. We had a lovely afternoon at this beach except for Emzie constant fear of birds of attacking her. “They are going to attack me they are OUT to get me” -Emzie Doodle Doo

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We went to a little café down the road for dinner. I ordered your standard cheeseburger and Ana, Kaik and Em ordered a bacon and cheeseburger. They were shocked when they found one missing key ingredient…the burger patty. Another slightly small sidenote is Emzie  chocolate milkshake that she eager waited for with high hopes was a bust. At first she suspected that it was strawberry flavoured but after some sampling by others we came to the conclusion that it was a fluffed shake that used minimal powdered cocoa. A “different little café” that Emzie insisted on calling everything  “cute”.

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We headed back to our hostel to check into our new room (we had to pack our bags and store them for the day as we were reassigned rooms today so we could all still bunk together) and then finished off the evening with a stroll down to the water’s edge to fill our bellies with ice cream-a treat well deserved. Our bunkmate works at a restaurant and has his alarm set for 3am so we will have all gone to bed early to try and get some rest and enjoy a long day of beaching and shopping  before we begin our trek back to Auckland on Sunday. 

~~I have really been enjoying the extra hands in the making of these blogs. The extra insights have been splendid and I believe it’s giving the blog a much needed boost of freshness 🙂 !!

Buddha Blessings and hope everyone in Canada is enjoying the snow while it’s a muggy 25 degrees here!
xoxo
Amanda and Kaik (also known by many as Kristy Aikman)