Browns Bay Beach picnic with my friends and kids. Check out that amazing bright sky - its been like that all week! Fingers crossed it will stay like that for the weekend!

Check out the scones - I NEVER bake..lol. Last week I had resistance to heading to the supermarket and found I had the ingredients for scones. It had been years since I last made scones. Honestly I expected hard lumps to come out of the oven but they were a hit! So when we decided to get together for a picnic I knew just what to bring and these ones were even better. Something tells me there will be more scones to come! :)

Page from Waitomo Trip - Day one.
Had a meal at the Thirsty Weta - was very nice!
Savemart is like the country's largest recycle store. There is an awesome one in Northcote, so we thought we would stop in at the Hamilton one and check it out. Good thing we did since we both needed rain jackets!

Taped in Holiday Park map, tied in tourist brochure.


This is the page unfolded. I used the blank side to glue more pictures and add notes and reciept.
See the Black Labyrinth picture... so those guys are in wetsuits, with helmets, in rubber rings floating through the caves, UNDERGROUND! ummm yeah, definately not the option for me. The idea is so fun though! Baby steps to adventure girl..lol

Day Two
Page back folded and this is the reverse side. That was one HUGE rabbit. German Angora Rabbits which the shear like sheep for their wool(?) . I bought a sample bag and stitched some onto the tag. Very very fine and amazingly soft.
The picture lower right is a spiral ramp down into the Ruakuri Cave.
Cave image at the top is a flap that opens.

Day Two continued
The photo really doesnt do it justice but that was an amazing waterfall we walked out to. It was really raining, we got absolutely soaked! But after three days of rain it was seriously worth it. That waterfall was angry! whew, never seen so much water crashing down.

Day three
Had stayed that night at the Waitomo Hotel. All I can say about that is if you ever wanted a old hotel for a ghost movie - THIS is the one you want to pick. In fact, if you You Tube search Waitomo Hotel you will see some New Zealand TV that supports such stories. (I've never actually watched those videos - no need to add more fuel to my raging imagination!)... as to whether I think those stories are true or not... well, you would be very hard pressed to get me to stay there again. I 'slept' with the light on all night!

Having said all that - the place is AMAZING! Inspiration wise it was insane. We spent the morning taking photos all inside and out of the hotel. It has a huge history and the decor just made me want to do art there and then. Discovering old herb gardens, neglected bird baths, chandellers, odd rooms, sitting rooms, vines. I look forward to researching more of its and the surrounding areas history.

Day three continued
On the way home stopped into some thermal pools to avoid the heavy holiday traffic in the rain. Great diversion.