On Friday morning, he headed out for Don & Gwenda's (Craig's aunt & uncle) bach on the Coramandel.   En route, we decided to pop down to Matamata to check out Hobbiton. Unfortunately, it was going to cost us $225 for the 4 of us to tour, so we decided to pass. We just walked around Matamata and bought some sandals for Wyatt (he forgot his at home) and a rugby ball at the sports store. From there, we headed up towards the coast, with a stop in Wai...

Upon arriving back in Auckland, we decided on a little relaxation and some laundry and Craig's aunt and uncle's place for a couple of hours. After having this "refresh", Don and Gwenda graciously hosted a dinner with a cousin of his mom, her son and his family. As well, Craig's cousin Steven joined us. We had a terrific meal of fresh salads, BBQ and delicious cake for dessert. The next day, we headed to Piha beach in the West. A hot water surfing beach, wit...

Waking up on Wednesday, we headed back on the Ferry and over past Pahia to visit Waitangi. This is a historic site and is known as the birthplace of New Zealand. It is where the settlers and missionaries first landed in New Zealand, followed by the big bad government representatives. This is where the Treaty of Waitaingi was signed between the Crown and the tribes. To this day it is a very controversial treaty as it read differently in English than it did in...

We had a great day out sailing yesterday in the Bay of Islands. It was a little chillier than usual as their was a South West wind coming up from Antarctica - equivalent to a Nor Easter at home (coming from the Arctic). There was also a little rain to start, but things cleared up halfway after not too long. As true Canadians, we were the only ones out on deck - and, it was at least 25 degrees warmer than the temps we left back at home. We sailed out to one of...