Spring Vacation - Part 5

Finishing up New Zealand.........

My husband gave me this awesome "MacBook" for our anniversary last month and I have been working hard at making this cool video of the kids "Zorbing" in New Zealand. After clipping, editing, adding text, etc., the video was finally finished!!! BUT..... I can't upload it to Blogspot!! I think it's too large? I don't know. So I am bummed.

PAIGE and JESSA after their thrill ride!

If you don't know what "Zorbing" is, it is getting into a large plastic ball filled with water (like a hamster sans the water) and rolling it down a hill. Whee.......

COREY, ERIC, and LEVI after their ride

I opted not to Zorb. For $44.00 per person I figured I would have more fun watching them act like hamsters! (Sorry Jenny).

Towards the end of our stay in New Zealand, we decided to take it easy.

FISH and CHIPS is a MUST!!! We stopped at a local store, grabbed a bunch and went to the park to enjoy. The kids had a blast running around on this gorgeous day. They made an obstacle course, found a small "zip" line and happened upon some hot springs! I think they had the most fun at this "Low-budget" activity.

For our last night there, we had a wonderful dinner of juicy steaks, corn on the cob (remember, we can't get that in India), sweet potatoes, and veggies. It was the perfect ending to a perfect week!

Goodbye New Zealand!

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Spring Vacation - Part 4

Still in New Zealand..........

We woke up to rain but didn't let that stop us. The kids really wanted to go to the Wildlife Center so we headed out. I privately thought it was going to be a bust because animals don't usually come out in the rain. But we were lucky!

This Wildlife Center had it all figured out. They provided food to feed the animals - and the animals all knew this! As soon as we approached an exhibit, the animals came to us right away! The kids loved it and had a wonderful interactive experience.

We also saw them feeding the lions fresh meat - that was pretty cool.

They claimed to have a spring with 99.9% fresh water that we could drink from. The kids drank and said, "this is the BEST water I've ever had!".

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I decided to create a slideshow of random nature shots:

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Spring Vacation - Part 3

We decided to make Lake Taupo our home base and go on day trips from there.

First stop was a geothermal park just south of Rotorua called Wai-O-Tapu. The attractions are sculptured out of volcanic activity that has been going on for thousands of years. Bubbling mud pools, huge volcanic craters, Sinter terrace formations, geysers, and sulfur pools (P.U.).

Once we were used to the smell, it proved to be a very interesting tour.

Create a free digital slideshow That evening, we drove into Rotorua to New Zealand native Maori grounds. They had prepared a traditional dinner that was cooked in an underground pit, took us on a walk in the woods, performed traditional dancing and singing, and ended the evening searching for the famous glow worms in their natural pond. We were able to see about a dozen - no pictures though.

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Spring Vacation - Part 2

After our day in Singapore, we boarded the plane for a 9 1/2 hour flight to Auckland, New Zealand, which is on the North Island. We met our friends, the Mitchell's, and drove 2 1/2 hours South to Hamilton where we spent the night.

It was the beginning of Autumn - about 70-75 degrees - beautiful weather. We did have a couple rainy days but after months of heat and sunshine in Chennai, we welcomed it!

The LDS temple is in Hamilton, so the next morning we spent a few hours there. After lunch, we drove another 2 1/2 hours South to Lake Taupo. The Mitchell's were friends with a family that owned a house on the lake and we were able to rent it from them for the week.

New Zealand is 7 1/2 hours ahead of Chennai and we suffered a little jet lag, but didn't let it ruin our vacation.

Here are some slides of our first couple days there...........

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Spring Vacation - Part 1

First stop...... Singapore

We started out by taking a 4 hour flight from Chennai to Singapore - which brought us in at 6:00am. We had a 15 hour layover so we decided to explore Singapore.

There was a train at the airport that could take us anywhere we wanted to go. The Singapore Zoo was first on my list but got voted out due to the high chance of rain. The kids thought the animals wouldn't come out. The Safari was only available at night - so that was out. My next choice was a bus tour of Singapore - BORING was the reply. Can we split up?? No, let's stay together. Sentosa Island was it.

There was a ton to do on Sentosa. We tried to get in to the new Universal Studios but it was sold out. Sold Out?? Do amusement parks really sell out? I guess we needed to get tickets on line weeks ago. Oh well, we tried. We ended up riding the mountain luge, went to several "inter-active" exhibits, ate at the Hard Rock Cafe, toured the Hersey's store, and discovered yummy popcorn at Garrett's Popcorn of Chicago.

In spite of having to lug our 5 carry-on's around and getting soaked in the rain, we had a memorable time!

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Our New Neighbors

The other day we came home from school and were greeted by new neighbors! They were waiting for us outside our gate entrance ...........

We live on a dead end lane quite far from main roads - guess they needed a break from the noise. We let them graze on the trees and garbage - Refreshments!

Luckily for us, they didn't overstay their welcome....... it could have become quite stinky!