The top building visible is the deck next to dining room. Juni was not allowed near the fence.

After a breakfast we got a view/tour of the lovely terassed garden which wasn’t really visible in full when we arrived the day before. With lemon and orange trees, chicken and lambs for neighbors it likely puts quite a few parks I’ve seen to shame.

Te Rewa Rewa bridge

This is my stick. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

Janelles mother, Teresa, kindly took upon herself to show us around the area so we drove to the beach for a leisure stroll along the coastal line. Jonte found a special piece of driftwood he liked and all rejoiced.

Black swans and white ducks – it’s an upside down world

After the promenade we headed on further on to Pukekura park with a nice lake in the middle and a fernery to Mona’s delight. We also saw a Black Swan (not the first in New Zealand actually) which I decided needed to get documented.

For once we had left the diaper bag in the car so of course we ended up needing it. I walked to get it, and on my way passed two parking spots before getting to the one with our cars –  where also the whole group was already assembled. It seems I didn’t take the closest route – but who has multiple parking spots for a park? Bah.

We went back for lunch in New Plymouth at the Chaos Café – where yours truly enjoyed their chaos curry but the perhaps biggest surprise was dad having a chocolate milkshake. Happily fed we drove out the local zoo, Brooklands Zoo. Before we entered the zoo there was a playground and after some persuation mothers joined in the fun.

No relatives were harmed – but don’t try this at home kids.

We were initially bit sceptic to the zoo concept (as usual) but it seemed like one of the nicer ones and we had a look at the various animals as they were fed. Juni was very interested in the pigs and we also looked at the meerkats.

Approximately 30 minutes old and moves way faster than Juni.

Back at the house the animal theme kept on since one of the sheep were giving birth – we  gave the sheep some privacy and later snapped a few shots of the newborn one.

After a quick nap we headed of to Quiz night at the local pub, a long standing tradition in the James household. The team consisted of the Swedish visitors, Janelle with family, and friends through Janelle’s sister Rosie. Janelle’s father Geoff took a dangerous gamble and together with another Geoff switched the agreed choice of bonus topic – which they had to reveal after we got 9 out of 10 in the expected bonus category. Luckily it paid off and we got full points on the misc category, but it was a close call. With the diversity of the team’s knowledge it of course led to a win (out of 10 teams) to our hosts delight.