Odd things
Yeah, not just random, but some pics of things that just makes the grade for the wierd and wonderful, and sometimes downright stupid!!

They really thought they were in for the whole trip to Wanganui - JUST STUPID! They were dropped at the kennels for the weekend!!



Breaking a leg in the middle of your holidays is not what anyone can hope for, but this was just classic that he chose this remote dune to go sit down. And we really had a tough time getting him up again!!

Odd! Money Laundry over weekends when kids mess water on monopoly tables!!

Ok, Ok!! JUST STUPID. The whole drinking and driving thing; I get it!! Oh, by the way, the really odd things is the steering of this trike is done with your legs and back!! Quite tricky, but it makes balancing a beer quite easy!!!

Hot steam in Rotorua, all day, everyday!! Just wierd how this earth works!!

No. Don't ask. It's NZ, what can I say...

Bubbling mud pools!! A first for me...

One of the firsts - all iron, even the brakes which is a little string attached to the steering and a clamp on the rear iron wheel! Imagine a bump in the road!!!!

Someone actually had the time to hammer out an entire body of copper for this car!! Check out the allaborate yellow copper snake horn. If it was a 4x4 I'm sure you can convert it to a raised air-intake!! :-) Just Odd...

Kiwis and Rain Forrests

Well, I'm sure it's a known fact that the Kiwi is the national bird in NZ. It's just so sad that the little bugger is on the extinct list, is of a shy nature and tend to avoid humans and is bred nowadays in strict controlled reserves. Hense the ban on all predatory animals!! Yep, in all the time here we haven't even seen a live one!! Niel and Ilse did, at the Wellington Zoo. It had only one leg!!!! See, it was attacked by a stray cat and hence the sad tearjerking little display and story you get when vsiting the Wellington zoo!! Hence, I've not been there!!!! :-)

So, enough of the sadness. The rainforrests are amazing. This one listed here is the Bushy Park reserve where Kiwi's are bred. But we saw none when we were there. Think they were all sent to visit Santa. (We were there in December)

The estate house on Bushy Park's land. They serve a mean tea!!! :-)

This is as close to a Kiwi as we could get!!!!

Huge huge huge trees!!! The demand respect for sheer size.

Speaking of respect...you just have to respect the dedication of a serious recreational photographer!!

But it's not without it's rewards! A camera flash lights up the "silver" bottom of the Silver Fern and can turn any photographer into a queen of the jungle. Go Jane go!!!!


Tree-Huggers!!!!Can't take them anywhere!! Wonder of dit hulle Bominee is??? :-)


The atmosphere in the forrest is pretty much magic!! We all just wabted our pictures taken in this amzing piece of nature.


Tiny, Esme and Minka & Maih also felt the awesomeness of the forrest!!

Oh wow, what a tease!!!

Yep, sorry for the loooong delay!! It's been holidays and then that was followed by digging into starting 2009 career wise. So, until I get my head around where to start with all the amazing things we experienced over the holiday season, bear with me as I present a few teasers from various times, places and events which will be followed by more detail posts later on...

Took 'em to the park - Queen Elizabeth Park


Took 'em for some "Birds & Beers"

No, really, birds and beers, just like I said!!! :-)

Amazing Beaches

Rain Forrests - Silver Fern really reflects silver when light falls on it. Here in the Bushy Park reserve you can see the flash reflecting off the bottom of the famous Silver Fern"

Like children we could swing over the river!!!

Camping!!!!!


Boat Trips!!!

I just don't get away from the brids, do I?

Amazing sunset on Xmas day in Taupo

Blue Rivers of the Huka Falls

Clear water pools in caves

Steamin' Geysers

Sulphur Pools

Snowy Mountains by "The Valley of Mordor"

People and Places
So the people started coming in from all over. Sonja's parents are here for the holidays (FROM SA). Henk's family finally arrived after some delays (FROM USA). The US postal services stuffed around with their Visa's so Mercia only landed with the kids a week later than expected. Henk is now a "whole" man again!! And we also have some family who's been here already for some time, Tiny and Esme. Niel and Ilse have been here since end of July 08. So here are some random pics of faces you may know...

Dennis ready for the big walk up the hills... (FYI - Gum boots are called "wellies" over here). Dennis is still Dennis here, we think...

The neighbour asked to let his heffers graze in our paddocks. We loved their presence, and they helped keep the long grass in order for a while till they were sold. Yep, you may have eaten them by now!

Tiny just could not resist the after lunch snooze in the shade

Pre-lunch, Tiny still with us in some form, Esme and kids (Mia and Minka) posing for the occasion...

If there's a braai, Niel's the man. Chef deluxe on the porch with the Gas Braai...


Re-united at last. LTR Sean, Henk, Mercia and Natasha

Me, taking Minka and Mia for a walk in the hills to go get pine cones. Wellies are essential as the recent rains left certain swampy bits were you slug through ankle deep muddy waters... (really sinister, the whole axe and kids thing in the forest)
Wat was dit nou weer van die aap en die bos?? Nou ja, there it is, some wierd tyre statue on Paekakariki Beach. We were not sure if it was put there for a reason, but Dennis decided that the work of art held some secret at the top.

Ina feeding the dukcs at the Whitby Lake. Well, pond, but keep in mind that NZ is small, so relatively, yeah, this may just pass as a larger body of water...



No lies. We actually walked all the way up the mountain and found the highest spot overlooking the road down to Paekakariki in the background.

The new addition to the Steyn-Swart family

Ilse also gets her turn to play with kittie, but all he wants to do is sleep


Like I say, he was just REALLY tired...

Creature Comforts!

One of the joys of settling in another country is the day when your container full of furniture arrives from back home. Being so close to Christmas it was like boxes and boxes of gifts all wrapped in boring brown, but boxes and boxes of stuff! :-) The off-loading happened on a rainy day, but the guys who did it were quite quick and nimble about it and left us with a house full of goodies to arrange.

For a change we could eat around a dinner table again, sit on comfy recliners, have a bedside table and so I can go on! Yep, that's right, count your blessings! When they're not there you miss them! And also, it just goes to show how little one needs to survive. All we surround ourselves with are just creature comforts really. So, a few picks to just show you guys how nicely it all fits in our new home...

Not a "DINNER FOR ONE". We had some more over for dinner. Don't worry, the 5th chair was added later.

Sonja obviously impressed that we don't have to squat all over lounge floors for dinner!

TV and sound all hooked up. Strangely enough my plans were to have the 5.1 setup done first of all, but the rear speakers are still not hooked up!! Priorities...

We have not found the keys to this display yet. Time will tell. Just not sure where they were packed in...

Ah, they're here! All in one piece and just so much more comfortable than the camping chairs we've been using