Harrison's 3rd Birthday

Sunday was Harrison's 3rd birthday. He requested pancakes for breakfast and got a special "H" pancake. I'm pretty sure he was excited about the "H", even though he seems to be growling at it!? After breakfast we opened presents.



We had plans to grill hamburgers for lunch, unfortunately it was raining most of the day, so we were unable to grill. I think Harrison was okay with not grilling...Brad & I were a bit more disappointed. In the evening, we invited some friends over for cake and ice cream



We had a fun day celebrating and even got a hike in (even though it rained on us). Happy Birthday, Harrison!

One Week and Counting

Well, our time here in Gisborne is almost up. We leave one week from today on our long (did I mention that it is a LONG trip) back to the States. We leave here at 2:30 in the afternoon on the 13th and four flights later our plane gets in to Wichita at 9:00 p.m. on the 13th...a 24 1/2 hour trip that includes a 14 hour flight from Auckland to L.A. Whew, I'm exhausted just thinking about it!

We figured it was time to head back now that it's getting to be winter here. Basically, this means it's cold (in the 50's) and rainy with a few nice days thrown in here and there. Two weekends ago, we took advantage of a break in the clouds to head down to the beach and search the tide pools for creatures. Our friends, Mark and Lori and their daughter, came with and we had a great time getting out and exploring the rocks. Gum boots (aka rubber rain boots) were a necessity for the kids...



We went to a beach called Sponge Bay. It has a really rocky coast line, and at low tide you can even walk out to an island that is about 400 yards out from the beach. The rock formations are quite interesting...



Brad & Mark relaxing after climbing around on the rocks.



WARNING: You may want to put on a pair of sunglasses for this next picture...Jonathan dressed himself and it's a bit intense.

Jonathan checking out the crab we found.




The kids showing off their gum boots.



Harrison with his bucket looking for hermit crabs.

The Old Man and the Sea

Well, the ocean has finally swallowed Brad, chewed him up and spit him back out. Last weekend while surfing, Brad got pummeled by a rogue wave that caused his board to attack him (and the board won), tangled him up in his leash and dragged him back to shore. This is the result:





Needless to say, he hasn't been back out on his board since. He just hobbles around the house, moaning and groaning in pain. (He thinks he's going to get out again this weekend...I don't think so).

Easter

Ahhh, the changing leaves, just screams "Easter" doesn't it!? I saw a carved pumpkin outside one of the classrooms last Thursday, and just had to shake my head...THIS DOES NOT FEEL LIKE EASTER! At least the weather last weekend was beautiful and we were able to spend a lot of time outside.



The Easter holiday here consists of Good Friday and Easter Monday. We realized what a serious holiday this is for the Kiwis... They're heading into winter which brings colder, rainier weather, and Easter is the LAST Holiday for them until October! That's FIVE months (winter months) without a day off...the inhumanity! So the Easter holiday is a big travel weekend for most Kiwi's. We chose to stick around Gisborne and just relax, instead.

We went out to a reef north of town one afternoon. Jonathan had a great time searching for little starfish, and crabs. Here's his collection...Three starfish, two tiny hermit crabs and one mudskipper (the fish). The boys carried them around in their bucket for a while and then let them all go before we went home.




Easter afternoon, we went out to Gray's Bush (a small forested area with walking trails) and hid Easter candy for the boys. They had a great time searching for it, and an even better time eating eat!



We hiked up to the top of Makarori Point on Saturday morning. It's not a long hike, but it's pretty steep. When you get to the top there's a wide open grassy area that the boys had fun running around in, plus the views from up there are amazing!





One evening we went out to the beach and right by the parking lot is a trampoline (once again, something you would NEVER see in the States). So we burned off some energy jumping around for a while.




We're kind of in wind down mode around here. The evenings are getting pretty short, it's dark by 6:00, so we've been trying to find indoor activities to amuse ourselves with. Since Brad can't surf in the evenings after work anymore, he's starting to look forward to fishing back in Kansas, and the rest of us are looking forward to our return, as well. Only 3 1/2 more weeks!

Weekend Trip to Hamilton & Raglan

The weekend before Easter we took off for an extended weekend trip to Hamilton and Raglan. Hamilton is about an hour-and-a-half south of Auckland. It's New Zealand's largest landlocked city. It has a population of around 135,000. Brad's main goal for this trip was to get some surfing in at Raglan (NZ's most famous surf break). Raglan is about 35 minutes west of Hamilton. Unfortunately the swell was minimal to non-existent, so we spent our time at the beach searching the tidepools.




We found a couple of starfish that the boys were quite impressed with.



A beautiful sunset over the Tasman Sea in Raglan.



On Saturday, we spent the morning at Hamilton's zoo. It was a small zoo, but the boys really enjoyed it, especially the elephants and zebras. We forgot the camera, so I don't have any documentation of this outing, but you know...a zoo's a zoo! We spent the afternoon relaxing and then headed back to Raglan to check out the surf again (none!) and eat supper. It was a pretty low-key trip, but it was nice to get out of Gisborne for a bit, and it will be the last trip we take before heading home in a few weeks.

"We're gonna need a bigger boat"

A few Saturday's back, Brad and some of his co-workers went out deep-sea fishing. Luckily the swell was minimal so A) Brad didn't miss a good day of surfing and B) it was calm out on the ocean, so Brad didn't get seasick. They left at 7:00 in the morning for a beautiful day of fishing. The first couple of stops resulted in only a few bites, so they kept moving to various locations, until they hit the jackpot! Once they were settled in their prime location, Brad would literally drop his line in, wait a couple of minutes for it to reach the bottom, hook the fish and haul them up. They spent most of the day out fishing and Brad was beat by the time they returned home...He was in bed by 8:30!

They had a really great time and we enjoyed a couple of great meals of fish!

Changing Seasons

Well, it's starting to feel more like fall here. We've had more rain which means everything is green, flowers are starting to bloom and, well, it really doesn't look like fall back in the States at all (besides the few Northern Hemisphere trees that are changing color). The days are rapidly getting shorter, which means fewer daylight hours for Brad to surf, but he is coping amazingly well!

As of today, we officially have only 52 days left until we bid farewell to Gisborne. There are definitely mixed feelings...It will be so good to see all of our family and friends back home, but we will miss Gisborne and our friends here. We're already planning to come back in about six years for a six-month stint (Brad can't wait to get the boys out surfing...He is truly addicted!).

Otherwise, not much out of the ordinary has been happening here, no exciting pictures to post, just doing our day-to-day thing. Hopefully we'll get a few more pictures up before we head home!

Catching Up...

Okay, well, I have officially failed at keeping this blog up to date. So, I'm just going to post some pictures with captions of the past few months. We've had a lot of visitors, so I'll try and show a bit of what we've been up to, starting with a few more pictures from Dave & Jean's visit in January.

Dave & Jean at the local golf course. Brad took them golfing one day while they were here.




Jonathan hanging out in the hot tub in Rotorua. We spent a few days there with Dave & Jean, and the boys' favorite part was our own private hot tub.



Dave cruising down the luge course in Rotorua.



Brad & I figured we'd try this swing out since we had someone to watch the kids...It was a blast!





Brad surfing at Tolaga Bay.



Jean and Harrison hanging out on the beach at Tolaga Bay.



On Dave & Jean's last evening we went out to eat on the wharf. The restaurant had a bunch of fish hanging on the walls and from the ceiling. Jonathan was quite impressed by it all.



Dave & Harrison on Wainui Beach, getting in a few more hugs before it was time for Grandpa & Grandma to leave.



Dave & Jean left January 16th. Then my dad, Fred, and my sister, Shana, arrived on February 14th. They were here for two weeks and we had a great time showing them around Gisborne, and including them in our day to day activities.

Dad & Shana reading to the boys. The boys were so excited for all the new attention!



We didn't waste any time...We gave Shana one day to recover from the jet lag and then we signed her up for surf lessons. She did a great job, and she and Brad had fun heading out for a couple of surf sessions during the week. Here she is during her lesson with Frank, her surf instructor, cheering her on in the background.



Shana reading to Harrison at the Library.



Harrison really enjoyed making bread with Shana.



Shana, Dad & Kim at the end of the wharf at Tolaga Bay.




We went to Mahia Peninsula to go snorkeling and see Moko the dolphin. Luckily, we were able to see Moko (Dad & Shana actually got fairly close to him), but we didn't get any good pictures.

Shana & Brad out snorkeling.



Dad & Harrison playing on the beach at Mahia.



On Sunday, Dad, Shana & I headed about an hour and a half northwest of Gisborne to hike at the Whinray Scenic Reserve. Here Dad and Shana are on the swing bridge that spans the falls at the beginning of the track.



Shana and the Falls at the Whinray Scenic Reserve.



Brad took the day off from work on his birthday and we went to a beach we had never been to before. It was about 40 minutes north of Gisborne and it was beautiful. There were even some sheep that came down to check out the action...Here Shana is herding them over to where Brad and the boys were sitting.



Besides some people camping, we were the only people on this beach. It was incredible and the water was so clear!



Brad pulling the boys around on the boogie board.



On our way back from the beach we stopped at the village where the movie The Whale Rider was filmed. This is a picture of the Maori meeting house that is in the film.



We were also able to visit a small farm and tour their grounds. The gentleman in the picture below is the owner, and he and his wife have a small vineyard, where they produce grapes for their own Chardonnay. They also have a variety of olive trees for pressing their own olive oil and a variety of fruit and nut trees. It was really interesting to talk with him and have him tell us a bit about their place.



We are so glad that our families were able to visit us and share a bit in our experience over here in New Zealand. Thanks for making the trip!

Surf Competition!

Well, Brad entered his first surf competition this past weekend. It was a longboard competition which means the boards have to be over 9' (I think...don't quote me on that!). He was pretty excited about it, I was a bit more leery. He figured it was a good omen when he went to register at a bar Saturday evening, and the guy at the registration table was wearing a Kansas City shirt. They got to talking and I guess this guy's girlfriend lives in KC and so he visits there quite often. Anyway, he was entered, and the only other thing to do was go make some bets with his friends that he wouldn't come in last in his heat.

The competition started at 7:30 Sunday morning (I think this was the first time we've used our alarm clock since we've been here!). Luckily, one of the guys picked Brad up, so the boys and I could head out to the beach a little later. Unfortunately, we arrived about 15 minutes after Brad's heat, so we missed his surfing. Brad didn't care, he was so excited that he placed 3rd out of four in his heat! He was on cloud nine the rest of the day.



Even though we missed Brad's surfing we had a fun morning hanging out at the beach, it was beautiful weather and the water was so clear. The competition lasted until late in the afternoon, but the boys and I only managed to stick it out until noon. Brad went back in the afternoon to watch the finals and stick around for the prizes (everyone that surfed got one). Brad won a hat (that will be staying in NZ, it's quite homely), and when his name was called, they announced him as "Dr. Brad, the only surfer from Kansas in the competition"...Brad is still reveling in the afterglow of his first surf competition.



* Sorry, no pictures of Brad since I missed his heat!