Grandkids School Christmas Festival

Went along to two of my grandkids school christmas festival on Thursday night. They were performing an Indian dance in full Indian costume. They were great, last year they performed in a Tongan group. They are both in a bi-lingual Maori class so maybe next year they will be doing kapahaka....lol. These are my eldest son, Karl's, two children.

Slides at the pools.

OK one of these is the slide from the bombing pool down to one of the bottom pools and there is another slide from another pool that has an easier slope and goes down to another pool at the bottom. The other pic is the bombing pool which is very deep, your ears are popping before you can touch the bottom. The pic dosent really do justice to the amazing "bombs" that the kids were doing, I got saturated just watching.

Class day at the pools

Had a wonderful day at the pools with three of our classes, the bombing pool was by far the highlight especially for the boys!!!!
All the students had MacDonalds for lunch (and the teachers)...lol.

Just one more week at school for teachers doing our planning etc for next year and then holidays...wooohoooo.

It's been a full on term this term and I am ready for a break.

Snow in summer

What a great day we had today. The Junior school years 0 to 3 all went to Snowplanet for a day out. It's an indoor snowfield and is bigger than these pics look, at least the size of two full size rugby fields side by side and they are in the process of extending it. Half of the kids went in to learn to ski whilst the rest of us had something to eat and then we swapped over. I came down the beginners slope 4 times, a little faster each time and didnt fall over once.....not bad for an old duck and 1st time on skis. 55 kids and 10 adults had a wonderful day but now my legs feel like they do when you ride a horse after not having been on one for a few years. Lmao wondering what I will be like tomorrow. What an awesome time we had. Next time I wanna have a go on a snowboard, can't be too different from handling a surfboard. Go Grannie, Go!!!!

Boogy boarding down the sand dunes on the other side of the harbour. We went over by boat and what a great experience for adults and kids.

Here we are at Opononi beach and some of the kids doing Waka Ama (outrigger canoeing) whilst the rest of us were swimming. There were two canoes going and the kids rotated around. A perfect end to the day in the forest.

Here we are in the Waipoua Forest. Joey Morunga from Footprints Waipoua is our guide and in this picture we are just approaching Tane mahuta, Lord of the Forest, a giant kauri tree who is over 2,000 years old. What you see here is just the lower trunk.

Hokianga

Here are some of our kids exploring Okopako, a small falls in the river at Whirinaki. A magical place away from the rest of the world, the kids were entranced by it.

Anna in Aotearoa

Anna in Aotearoa

Just returned from a wonderful week in Whirinaki in the Hokianga (the winterless north) with 70 schoolchildren. What a wonderful time we all had. The parents were wonderful and we ate, slept, swam and explored. We stayed on Moria Marae, a wonderful place and close to the river for swimming. We did so much in the week that we were there. Visited a family who live using traditional and organic farming methods, growing all their own food and grains. Was wonderful for the kids to see a plough pulled by horses and to have the opportunity to plant kumara in their gardens, with the invitation to return at harvest to gather our crops. The swing bridge was a whole new experience for some and yes I managed to cross it fine until some students decided it would be fun to jump on whenever a teacher was on it and give it a good wobble....lol, i didnt fall off.
The trip to the forest to see Matua o te Naghere ( father of the forest) was great. Whtas a magnificent Kauri he is and also to Tanemahuta (lord of the forest). The Waipoua Forest is a totally magical place and we had a great guide, Joey Morunga, Footprints Waipoua, http://www.omapere.co.nz/view.asp?websection=62 Joey lived in the forest for 8 years and is very passionate about it.
We had a great time doing Waka Ama ( outrigger canoeing) and swimming at Opononi as well as our trip over the harbour to the sand dunes where we spent hours boogie boarding down the dunes and into the water. A big thanks to the guys from Hakianga Harbour Tours.
WEatch this space, I will be adding lots of pictures of the time up there.

Summer at last

This wonderful couple are the parents of the wee one pictured below. What you cant see is that Wairama is actually bending down as he is 6ft tall and Koru (Fern) is only 5ft 3inches. I think that her and I are now the shortest (and maybe sweetest...lol) in the family.
Yesss we have that rare occurence, a fine Labour weekend and it really seems that summer has arrived. Will be taking lots of summer pics to upload here for friends and whanau. Our senior school kapa haka have just taken part in Ahurea Tino Rangatiratanga and came back and performed for us at the Friday hui a kura ( school assembly). They are wonderful, a great bunch of kids who have spent weekends practising hard. We are very proud of them all.
Well we are off outside to enjoy the sun.

Well here is the pic of the newest whanau member, safe and warm inside Koru (Fern).

The weather here today has reverted to freeeezing or maybe I am just getting old and feeling it more. Had an email from David who is in Melbourne right now and has been doing some songwriting. He's keen to record some of his stuff. Who knows I may be the mother of a famous popstar.

Koru and Mary have been busy making earrings from swarovski crystals, paua and mother of pearl so will upload some pics of them online for sale on a local NZ auction site. Wouldnt it be great if I never had to pay out an allowance again, they could earn their own. Jacob left this morning for a wilderness survival camp, can only be a good thing to have to challnge yourself like that. Looks like another day of playing dice with the weather and the washing. Looks fine outside but the wind is icy and when it rains it's so cold. 2 weeks ago was like summer grrrrrr. Cant wait to get out to the beach.

New Mokopuna

Will post a photo of the newest addition to the whanau (family) a wee mokopuna (grandchild) still inside Mum and only 11 weeks old but perfect...of course. Incredible how clear the pictures are. Well am still new to this so... still figuring what to put up here. Has been a quiet holiday with only Clark and Michelle here, Jerry has been up north these holidays and I havent had Harlem or Orongomaikio either. School starts again next week and I am back on the Monday then heading off up north to Paihia for an Apple iSchool 2 day conference staying at the Copthorne by the beach. Hoping for fine weather.