MAHALO HAWAII

Mahalo Hawaii - thank you for having us!
Todd and I managed to get away to one of our dream destinations - Hawaii. There was a lot of trepidation and much planning, but we got away and had a fantastic holiday together.
I would highly recommend this place as an all in one holiday, including beach, sightseeing and shopping! 
Here is a snapshot of the holiday:

Felt the warmth when we stepped off the plane! Love that feeling!

The trees and buildings wrapped in lights were a lovely welcome to Hawaii

The view from our balcony, where much Malibu was sipped (with coke and also in the form of premixed Pina Coladas)!

All the surfboards lined up on Waikiki

The Volcanic Lava Nachos at Jimmy Buffett's restaurant at our accomodation, the Waikiki Beachcomber , were mammoth (and delicious)!

View of Diamond Head crater from Waikiki Beach

The famous Pink Palace (first hotel built in Waikiki built originally for Princess Kaiulani )

Where we swam and watched the fabulous sun set over Waikiki beach.

ABC stores - a store on just about every corner (a great source of macadamia choc covered nuts, premixed pina coladas and magic kiss lipsticks! We were told ABC stood for All Blocks Covered!

Our hotel overlooked The International Marketplace, similar to the markets in Hong Kong, but trimmed prettily with greenery, a waterfall and exotic fish.

The Pink Trolley Bus took us past many fabulous statues overlooking the beach, depicting warriors and princesses of Hawaii.

Many locals pay homage to these statues by placing beautiful flower leis on them. I loved seeing those beautiful sunsets.
  

Ohh laa laa!

Todd outside The Big Kahuna (where he cured his shopping addiction for sunglasses).

We took a tour of the island of Honolulu - people actually pay to use this private beach at Hanuama Bay - the scene of one Elvis movies, Blue Hawaii.

Patience paid off as I managed to capture one of the renowned blow holes in action.

The windiest point , overlooking the North Shore of Oahu, where the pearl harbor bombers flew over.

The world cup surfing event was just getting started when we visited.

Surfers warming up for the big event

A sombre day to visit Pearl Harbour - a week before the 70th anniversary of that dark, sad day.

We took a poignant boat trip out to the U.S.S Arizona memorial

Says it all really...

The Dole Plantation where we were surprised to view the exorbitant prices of pineapples in Hawaii! Must be because they export most of it. Kinda like how much our lamb costs us New Zealanders in a country full of millions of sheep!

We timed the holiday perfectly, which included Thanksgiving day with a high school band competition held over this weekend and an early Xmas parade combined in one.

One of the few left Pearl Harbor survivors, honoured in the parade.

Our favourite shopping store in Hawaii, the Ross store- worth the trip for even just the shopping! We went with 13kg baggage and came back with 46kg combined! 

Lots of these stretch limos everywhere, along with girls carrying surf boards, a true Hawaiian girl with hair touching the ground, Burger King with surfboards for door handles and....

the token homeless preacher outside the seven eleven! 

RANDOM STUFF...

Ahhhh, isn't life sweet when your chillaxing??

 Daniel is into telling everyone "Hi Dude, PEACE to the WORLD dude!" (Luckily his peace sign he can manipulate his fingers round the right way or it could have the opposite meaning!).

Cool Dude

Todd and I got out for a night on the town (well, really only a dinner and walk round the town, but it was a start). The Wynyard Quarter is equalling pleasing to view at night.

Towards the middle of November, I was lucky enough to get away for a mother's retreat weekend with Recreate NZ. A small group of us mums of kids with special needs took a much needed weekend away at Vaughan Park recreation centre in Long Bay, the perfect setting with the gorgeous beach backdrop. The company, food and view were all fantastic. A much treasured weekend away sharing valuable information, support, laughs and a few tears with like-minded supermums. 

Me & Sharron overlooking Long Bay beach.

Priceless and treasured moments with Mums of special needs children

We even got to explore our arty side with a bit of art therapy conducted by Ursula (an Art History teacher in her 'other" life!).

Lil piece of L'amour

Finished canvas taking pride of place in my dining room beside my other favourite art piece.

The weekend was perfect for rejuvenation, re-energising, relaxation, refreshing and all nice things starting with RRRRRR!!! It was great to meet such a neat group of mums who we have now made connections with for valuable information sharing. Long live the mums weekends!

RUAKAKA HERE WE COME, EXPLORING AGAIN!

Yay - we have now officially ditched the winter sheets, extra duvets and sweatshirts and socks. Roll on the 3/4 pants and open-toed shoes!
What's more, we organised a long weekend away with the lovely Sharron, Wayne and Jess at Ruakaka - great family times, great weather, great Northland!  I even ended up with a slight bit of sunburn (thank goodness we had the forethought for sunblock before the beach visit, but wasn't quite enough for my fair clavicle!) The season has really turned now.

The trip started off with an awesome photo opportunity on the drive up to Ruakaka - one of the things that makes a huge difference to our family now, that other families would just take for granted as a normal achievement - Daniel being able to have an emergency toilet stop on the side of the road! Well, I had my camera right there - the photo was begging to be taken!!! Don't worry, no unsightly body parts exposed here...

The house we rented at Ruakaka with Sharron, Wayne & daughter Jess was HUGE! A great holiday home for 2 families to share and within walking distance to the beach, with tennis courts at the side of the house.

 From the lounge, you could just see the waves through the blue tinted windows of the neighbours...

There was loads of fun and activities experienced. We enjoyed playing tennis at the courts with Cameron and Nicola. There was cricket played with a softball bat in the street, and a nice leisurely walk around the neighbourhood.

Daniel and Cameron enjoyed watching Mr Bean, the laughter coming from the room was infectious!

The kids enjoyed Singstar whilst the adults socialised, lovely group dining and even a boardgame was played!

A game or two of petanque was played on the lawn which then progressed to the beach.

"Hey dad, we're just chillin', can we go to the beach?"

"Ok son, the beach is close by. Let's go"

"Nooooooo, not the sand down the neck trick!"

Bream Bay is simply gorgeous, miles of golden white, clean and squeaky sand stretching in a wide curve as far as the eye can see, complete with endless blue sea. Dipping our toes in the ocean - what could be more fun?

EVENTFUL SCHOOL HOLIDAYS IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE!

Phew, those school holidays were upon us very fast this term, and this time they flew by.

They started with a hiss and a roar, and finished with a huge bang.

Firstly, Daniel had a wee holiday at Lezanne's while Cameron, Nicola and I took a short trip to Wellington to catch up with good friends and relatives.

Lunch with the girls: Suz, Claire, Me and Nikki (Cameron was the great photographer)

Drinks with Julie, Suz and I.

Precious times with the Odens

Dinner with the extended family

and a flying visit to Masterton with Aunty Suz. Lots of fun in a paddle boat (hard work on the legs!)

Surveying the beautiful spring scenery on the banks of the Queen Elizabeth park in Masterton 

The beautiful spring blossoms were out in full force

and in the Masterton town centre too...

We enjoyed the day after a few iced chocolate lattes...

And spent dinner in good company with a nice curry (some hotter than others!) 

Our residence for the night was the Copthorne in Masterton, watching the RWC semifinal, and having a go at the driving range (nearly knocking myself out in the process!)

 Then the next day we moved on to Palmerston North to visit Jenn and my niece-the-great Amelia Mae. I am now officially not a great-Aunt, but Aunt the Great!

Me (Aunt the Great) and Amelia-Mae

The end of the holidays ended with a bit of a shock and wake-up call - Daniel had a prolonged seizure - a whole year to the day when he last had one. The good to come out of it was testing of the red flag system with St Johns ambulance, the tour of the inside of A & E at Starship, and the action plan that we put into place with the neurologist - all worked like clockwork. It really cemented some of the reason why we moved up here, the expertise and experience of the medical staff ( the advanced life support officer from the ambulance , Starship medical staff, and the neurologist backup) was fantastic.

A bittersweet ending to the holidays in parallel with the above, the Rugby World Cup final - Go the All Blacks, you beauties... .- beat France in the nail-biting final by just 1 point
NEW ZEALAND ALL BLACKS - world rugby champions!