Ohakune

I've finally got everything unpacked so now it's time to update the blog for our holiday in Ohakune. We drove down on Friday night arriving around 1am (-7 celcius). The next day we took the girls out for a walk and were very surprised to find Miro Lake (pond) with about an inch of ice across the surface, a new experience for the girls and I to throw pebbles across the surface!

On Sunday we took the girls up for a ski. Ali seems to have remembered her lesson from two years ago and in no time she was snow-plowing everywhere she wanted to go, weaving through the crowds of beginners and catching the magic carpet lift by herself. Lily enjoyed skiing with Mum and Dad for a while as well. At lunchtime we switched to the toboggan which was a big hit with the kids and there were some big hits with other kids, kinda like a demolition derby :-) We had such a good day we came back on Monday and did it all again.

Tuesday we popped out to Tokaanu hot pools and visited Oma Jose and Opa Darryl while we were in Turangi. Jose took us to see the neighbour's little ponies and friendly sheep before making us a mountain of yummy cheese toasties. Opa Noel and Granny Rosie arrived while we were out with Buttons the cat. Wednesday we headed up for another ski in the morning and then to the indoor rock climbing wall where Ali and Lily impressed us with their enthusiasm and ability. The top photo is Lily who just loved calling "Look out below" as she launched off the wall at the top to abseil down.
By Thursday we were ready for a rest so we puddled around Ohakune, helped stain the new sign for 'Chalet Rozel', and took the kids climbing again.
Friday Noel and Rosie looked after the kids while we had a grown-up ski. We came down the Mountain to spot them all having a picnic by the river which was Lily's favourite part of the whole holiday. Saturday Phil went up and the fair-weather skiers stayed home by the fire, making masks, cards and pictures. On Sunday we made time to stop off at the hot pools at Toka-anu again :-) on our way home. And despite getting home at 11pm we still got Ali on the bus for school on Monday morning.Here we are having dinner at lake Taupo on the way home and admiring the view, the smoke rising at the other side of the lake is actually steam from the local geothermal activity. Ali and Lily were impressed by the volume of Huka Falls on the Waikato River.

Cheers Noel and Rosie for a great holiday!