Arriving in Kerikeri

After spending a very enjoyable couple of days with Andrew and Sam, we headed on North to Kerikeri where we were meeting up with Dan, Fiona, Aaron and Maria. They made good time with travelling and arrived around lunchtime.

Peter, Joseph and Luke were delighted to see Aaron again and we spent the whole of the first day sitting out in the sun at the campsite, while the kids ran around very excitedly. We also met Maria for the first time and she was very sweet (and very small compared to our boys...it made us realise Luke definitely is not a baby any more!). Peter, Joe and Luke behaved like typical boys around a new baby, by showing very little interest other than to say a quick hello...I think they found Aaron infinitely more interesting!!

Today after much debate and consultation with leaflets and guidebooks we decided to head over to Russell on the ferry and to book a boat trip for tomorrow. The sun was shining (something we have not often experienced here) and we arrived in Russell just before lunchtime. We had a nice lunch in a waterfront cafe before spending most of the afternoon relaxing on the beach as Peter, Joe, Luke and Aaron threw stones in the sea and built sandcastles. David and Dan hired kayaks for half an hour and had a little paddle around the bay.

We headed back over late afternoon and on the way back the captain of our boat let Peter, Joe and Aaron into the cabin, then let Peter steer the boat for most of the way back!! The boys thought this was great fun and we took lots of photos of Peter steering the boat. Luke was desperately trying to get in on the act, but we thought that might be a bit too much...so instead he passed the time by waving bye to "Scotland"...I think in all the excitement of Aaron arriving he thought we had been to Scotland for the afternoon!

Photos are here...we are having some internet problems so I have resized the photos hence they are a bit blurry.

Nic
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