Kiwi Sabbatical 2018

Daycare had a personal development day on Friday January 11 and so we headed out for the long weekend to Okiwi Bay, 83 km northeast of Richmond and a 1.5 hour drive. This is bach country at its prime in the kiwi summer. There was no internet and cellphone reception only out at sea. On the ride out I saw a small goat eating native bush on the side of a mountain. We arrived at the kids' bedtime, but Nico had fallen asleep in the car and when we arrived the kids were super pumped and tearing around the house. Mathieu was thrilled with the pool table. Prior to leaving, we had bought both the boys' little trigger rods and Friday at 11am was Nico's first kiwi fishing trip in the ocean. We took the strollers down the hill to the ocean and stopped at the only shop in Okiwi Bay for ice cream.  Nico went out with Granddad and Shawn in the boat, while Grandma, myself and Matheiu played in a little freshwater stream leading into the ocean. We made a sandcastle, saw a baby eel (eelle...

The kids were a bit concerned that Santa's slay needs snow to land, and they were still holding out hope that it would snow right up to Christmas day. However, in New Zealand Father Christmas (aka Santa) looks like this: no shirt and BBQ-ing (as modeled here by my holiday time beverage of choice). All Christmas trees are white pines or even the pohutukawa , the New Zealand Christmas tree, no fancy spruce or fir down here! It rained on Christmas Day, but no worries because we had plenty of Lego to build. For the 12 days following it's been smoking hot (25-30C). We had Christmas at my parents' house and I decided it would be fun for me to run there through the forest. Shawn drove the kids over in the car and we told them it was a 'race'. It took me 56 minutes to complete the run and I think I probably lost by about 1hr 6 mins (I had to get dressed and lock up after they left). The kids surprised me by jumping out from behind the trees with axes and pitchforks. H...

New Year's Day We headed out to Rabbit Island for most of the day with Grandma (Robyn) and Grandad (Malcom). It is about a 20 min drive from our house. Robyn and Malcolm brought their trailer and set up camp in a nice location not far from forest, toilets, and beach. Our home for New Year's Day at Rabbit Island. The day began with Grandad launching his home made bottle rocket high into the air and the boys chasing after it. It was a good idea to do this before the place got too busy! Then we had a water fight followed by lunch. It was getting pretty warm around lunch time so the beach was on the menu post lunch. The boys had a blast digging, running, rolling in mud and waves. Amy enjoyed a quick dip in the ocean too.   Near the end of our beach adventure! Natureland  A few days later, we decided to check out Natureland , which is a zoo at Tahunanui Beach . We were pleasantly surprised with the diversity of animals and the lovely layout with plenty of play...

It seems we are having too many adventures to keep up with the blogging! In this post, we show some pics of two adventures from late October, early November: the boulder bank and mountain police. Boulder Bank: Mathieu's kindergarden group took a bus trip to the boulder bank in Sept. The boulder bank is...well a boulder bank established to protect Nelson harbour from rough seas. It is at least 10km long.    Long brown line is the boulder bank. Nelson Harbour is in lower left corner. We visited the top part of the boulder bank. The kids had been learning about the Maori legend of Kupe and how the boulder bank was created and the school decided to have their regular Kapa Haka lesson down at the boulder bank so the kids could see the site and learn more about this legend. Mathieu (and I!) had a great time but Nico was curious about the boulder bank as he did not get to go (too young). So we decided to show Nico the boulder bank. The boys really enjoyed wa...

Had a busy and lovely weekend! We attended the Nelson Agricultural & Pastoral show on Saturday (Nov. 24) and the Santa Parade on Sunday (Nov. 25). Nelson A & P show Richmond Park Showgrounds (~ 15 min walk from our house) hosted this large fair. Plenty of animals, strength competitions (e.g., wood cutting), bouncy castles, games, etc. Nico was a bit under the weather but he enjoyed the animals. Mathieu spent a lot of time in the bouncy castle area and enjoyed watching wood cutting. Mathieu running around the bouncy castles. Mathieu and Nico had a ride in the large spheres!!! Santa Parade Santa paid a visit to Queen St. in Richmond this Sunday. Was a beautiful day with 22C and sunny periods. The boys enjoyed the people dressed as Star Wars figures, elmo, and of course, Santa. Waiting for Santa!  I see him!!! The big guy in red.

We have now been here for 2 months, so I am going to write a post to evaluate how kiwi we have become. Kiwi is slang for a New Zealander and it refers to the bird. Nico Nico refuses to wear shoes. I'll say 'lets put on your shoes' and he says 'go barefeet?'. He has once stepped in poop. Nico lives outdoors: he'll be eating his dinner and then literally run out the door. Nico also really likes to play in the creek (as does Mathieu). Once a week, Nico rides a horse called Stan. Nico is also the only one of us to have been bitten by sandflies, because he likes to play outside after dinner and before bath. At dinner today, Nico screamed 'I love pies!!!' (meat pies; eating pies is pretty kiwi, imo), although he actually didn't eat any of his pie. (Some of this stuff, like playing in the creek and riding a horse, is not exclusively kiwi, but I put it in there because it has some kiwi element to it). Mathieu One way that Mathieu has become a little bi...