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 ...

We left Auckland and its water to soon get into the countryside and stopped in Hamilton (1.5 hour drive) and visited the beautiful Gardens portraying various typical gardens from a variety of countries including Japan, China, Italy, and America. Very lovely indeed despite a little wilt from the heat! The huge rose garden was by far very scentul and beautiful. Stopped at a hotel for the night and enjoyed a lovely dip in the pool, a walk downtown and dinner at S...

We had a little excitement this week in that Brady did some indoor climbing (check out the photos!) and needless to say, he pushed himself for 3 non-stop hours and rocked just about every climb! Then we went outside to leave only to have had our car towed as we were in a rushhour lane with no parking from 4:30-6:00pm which we didn't realize! What a terrible feeling to see that the car is gone but a dear family that was also climbing took us to the impound lot a...

Hi it’s Brady. I am in Auckland New Zealand right now and my family is wearing shorts and t shirts because it is really hot in New Zealand. There’s no winter coats in New Zealand or winter mitts or hats. Are you guys jealous? HA HA HA HA HA. In Auckland, there are 48 extinct volcanoes and we are staying on one called Mt Hobson. On your Valentine’s Day my family and I went up Mt Hobson and we saw where the lava came out. It was pretty cool. The next ...

Staying midway up Mount Hobson is absolutely breathtaking and the morning sunshine is the perfect way to wake up! We hiked to the top today to join a few cattle and other fine hikers to truly see a spectacular view of the city. My knee is feeling it for sure but holding up well overall...slow and steady! Jeff then went and picked up the rental car and I was hoping he'd write the blog to describe what it's like to drive on the opposite side but think he's still...