NZ - Martinborough Wineries

After many days on the road and thanks to the madness of John and Margaret, the four of us got to enjoy a kid free day in the vineyards of Martinborough. We had made plans to visit at least four wineries and to have lunch at one, which one was the only question being a Tuesday? Only time and tasting will tell. Jodie and Dom volunteered to be our tasters and Hannah and Lyndon the responsible driver and navigator.

10:01am we were at the cellar door of Schubert Wines and asking the all important question, are you open yet?

Bottoms up, the gang enjoying the spruking of the salesman. Would you trust a bloke who wasn't drinking?

Time for number two, Tirohana Estate.

Now this place had stepped it up and had a dinning hall but again too early and anyway it was also shut as everyone was out picking fruit due to the late run this season.

Number 3, Vynfeilds Winery had a more rustic feel and by this stage our tasters had now become instant experts. Jodie also spotted a poster of all the cellar doors and was now on a mission to collect as many signatures as she could.

Jodie got a few points wrong and put herself in the corner with the dunce hat, made entirely of wine labels. How appropriate.

These vineyards are so close we could have walked them all, but that would have been silly as it would have mae the last few a looonnng stagger.

Finally we arrived at number 4, our lunch destination Alana Estate, specialising in wild game meals. Jodie was found sampling our choices for the liquid part of the lunch.

The weather changed so quickly and we moved inside next to the heaters and enjoyed a wine while we waited for lunch, under the warmth and comfort of a mohair blanket.

Jodie thought she was a judge on Master Chef NZ, she went with the Duck - absolutely amazing.

After a magnificent lunch and a beautiful bottle of wine it was on to number 5, Ata Rangi.

Now this was the most rustic of them all.

Signatures had now taken a front seat over tasting, to the point that Lyndon had to drive back to the first few wineries to get them signed too.

Back to Tirohana Estate just a touch less sober but with a groovy poster for them to happily sign.

Sadly we missed Schubert Wines (they were already closed) and headed into Hannah favourite little coffee shop for a pick me up before facing the kids. As we entered town there was a pub called "Reload" just like our little one back in Tonga, but all grown up. One day hey Trish and Alo.

As luck would have it the actual chief wine maker from Schubert Wines was in the house and after a few tense minutes they realised that they had not made the cut, their cellar door was not on the poster. It just so happened though, that the girl on the left was his advertising manager. "Make it happen, I want to be on that poster" was the call by the owner. Next thing we had a post-it note and with some creative art work they had their first cellar door on the poster thanks to Jodie Lee Quirke.

NZ - Martinborough - Visiting Twin Tubs

On our way from Lake Taupo to visit the Twin Tubs (Margaret and John Bath) in Martinborough we crossed a big crater where the New Zealand national ARMY mmuseum and training base is located. The boys were very excited to see all the Tanks, you could say nearly as excited as Jodie was to see all the Wineries around Martinborough. It was great to stay with old friends from Tonga and to have us all in one house. It was a real flash back to a many a Hash House Harriers BBQ with John and Margaret telling each other and us what to do. We had such a great night that they even asked us to stay a second which we did and was very helpful after a day of touring the local wineries. 

 The National ARMY museum.

 Even more exciting was the opportunity for the boys to climb all over the tanks.

 Dyl and Jack liked this one because it had the biggest canon.

 When travelling with a car load of kids it's hard to pass by a play ground as big as this one. As the girls say they aren't Monkeys?

 The boys found this huge flying fox. Only problem was you had to run it back up to the next person.

 After a big play we finally got to enjoy some silence in the car.

We finally arrived, an hour late and John & Margaret had cooked up a storm but they didn't mind at all, they sere extremely happy to us all. The girls were straight back into the Tongan gossip over the kitchen bench and a bottle of vino. It was like Margaret had never left, she seemed to know more of what was happening on our Island than we did an she had been gone for over 6 months.

 Thanks possibly to many wines and beer after the kids had gone to bed and us adults were up talking about the good old days, John & Margaret decided to look after our kids while we headed out to the vineyards for the day. Just look at these Innocent faces "Have fun mum & dad you can trust us to be good." In Johns famous last words "what trouble could they possibily be???"

 "Club Racket" reunite for a grand slam championship with John. Nito would be proud.

 Peas in a pod. More like planning on how to get the boys.

 John found another play ground for the kids to burn of some energy.

 For the boys, John took them out to check the possum traps that his local Rotary Club has set up in a nature strip.

 Margaret has incorporated parts of Tonga into every section of their beautiful new home.

Thanks for a great stay Twin Tubs.

NZ - Huka Falls

While in Lake Taupo we had to visit Huka Falls where the lake runs through a small canyon. It runs so fast that nothing can swim up it. Dom told us about an adventure guy he knows who is one of a very small group who has actually kayaked down and over these falls, mad. As NZ is the home of Jet boating it wasn't a surprise to see one at the base of the falls. They also had walking tracks and mountain bike trails within the national park. Sadly for the boys we didn't bring the bikes but we did all go for a bit of a walk.

The Quirke tribe and Huka Falls.

 An uninterrupted view of the entrance into the falls.

This is the end of the falls were tonnes of water fall off the end every second. If you look close at the base of the falls there is a Jet boat about to whip past the falls.

 The less adventurous view of them from this larger boat and you can view it from this platform, where this photo is taken.

 A few minutes of looking at the falls, then the kids turned their attention to finding something new to do, like climbing up the cliffs behind us.

On our adventure Em found some wishing flowers, nothing like staying on the marked trail hey kids.

NZ - Fly Fishing

Being in NZ and with fishing in our blood what else could Dyl and Lyndon do but give fly fishing a bash. After a few calls we were booked in with "Fishy Steve", an American who moved here many years ago and put simply is in love with fly fishing and sharing the experiences. He has his own young kids so I thought it would be a safe bet that he would do a good job taking Dyl through the basics. I may have caught the first rainbow trout but that was where it stopped. Dyl came into his own landing both a legal size Brown trout and Rainbow trout. It was a great father and son day.

 With water temps in the single digits, water waders and booties are a must.

 Follow the leader and Steve lead the way into the back country rivers.

 Our first stop was a nice open corner to start off with some basics.

 A few casts into it Lyndon is on.

 Not a monster by any means but it is my first NZ trout.

 Another part of trout fishing Dyl really loved was the sneaking up on the fish. Over here Dad!

 Dyl and Steve with his first Brown trout.

 Dyl's money shot for the front cover of some fly fishing Mag or Steve's Face Book advertising.

 Our next spot needed a little more help from Steve to rescue us from catching too many trees. Both in the creek and behind us.

 Hey Dad was yours this big? Dyl and his rainbow trout.

What a magical day, Father and Son fly fishing NZ - tick.

NZ - Ice skating

On our drive through town the kids spotted a mobile ice skating ring overlooking the lake. It was now cold enough for the ice to last the day even in the sunshine so after breakfast we shot off with the kids to give it a try. Even Dom and Hannah jumped in for a slide down memory lane, typically Jodie missed out on the action again due to the injured toe.

The rink was set up right next to the main highway and obviously we think due to this, it dragged in quite a few families. There was a Segway (2 wheel scooter thingy) section next door for those who didn't like the ice, talk about catching you either way and making some quick money out of the tourists.

Evie didn't need a frame - she had Dom.

The Walton France girls have obviously forgotten how cold it is or maybe Tonga is still fresh in their minds 5 months after they had left.

Just like a first date outing only a little more cautious than 20 years ago hey Hannah.

Look at me Dad no hands and seconds later, Em ended up on her butt.

Dyl showing off his style, all that roller blading is now paying off.

Jodie and Lyndon decided to watch from the dry and safe side lines.

NZ - Lake Taupo

Our drive from Rotorua to Lake Taupo was our longest journey but luckily it was a simple case of follow the leader. The kids had decided that it was time to split up so we had the girls and the boys went in the Walton-France's, NZ bongo van. By coincidence their rego plates on their Tonga car was NZ07 and their new car in NZ is NZ70.  Jodie and I think that with the girls singing all the way "99 bottles of beer" and other various songs, we had been ripped off. When we asked Dom he said the boys simply listened to their Ipods the entire way and slept. Hannah had done her homework on our Lake Batch and it was a ripper. Lake side and not far out of town. The kids had their own area down stairs to hang out but spent most of it down at the lake side chasing ducks and riding bikes.

 This was our batch as the Kiwi's call it.

 The girls spent nearly every minute down here with all the ducks and swans.

 Jodie keeping an eye on the girls as she air's her manky toe.

 These are wild ducks but you would never guess it the way they followed the kids around, of course having heaps of bread helped.

 Jodie cooking up a storm, when in the mother land of little bah Ba's nothing but Roast Lamb for us.

 The girls had their turn too, look out DC cupcakes.

 How's this for a veranda view?

 Quality time like this made it even more magical.

 Evening drinks and nibbles by the lake was a must.

 Lyndon invited some new chicks to the table. Duck-a-la-ronge anybody?

Nothing but dead bodies in this room at the end of each night.