Yesterday we arrived at our friends Tim and Celia's lovely little hideaway known as 'Haere Mai Ki' or easiest as The Purple House! It is so lovely and lush with various fruits and vegetables growing (grapes, blackberries, pumpkins, green beans and much more!) We had a lovely lunch and BBQ on the deck and enjoyed a stroll along the Waikato River where we saw some students rowing and jumping into the water.

Today we drove to Raglan Beach to enjoy the black sand (yes, BLACK - check out the photos!) due to the volcanoes and beautiful scenery along the way (glad Tim was driving as it was very hilly, steep and 100km/h speed limit!) The boys frolicked in the waves which was great fun along with many surfers. Very high-tech public toilets which were amusing and space-age like!

Tonight we are off to an outdoor market downtown for dinner....yum!

Lauren & Gran are currently in the air en route to Kenya!!!!!!