The Extended Weekend

On Saturday, we got to meet up with Cheryl's cousins and relatives. The morning started with Cheryl's cousin Graham, 2nd Cousin William, and friend Pete coming over to "trim" some trees. Graham likes his chainsaw and as a result the trimming left about 3 feet of trunk on each tree. Austin and I helped out and we were rewarded with some cold frosty beverages. At lunch, we were treated to several NZ specialities... spaghetti on pizza, cheerios (a small red sausage), and bangers (a larger sausage.) Cheryl's cousins Nigel and Vivian and their families came over later. Austin found a friend in Trent (also 5) and they partied until 11 at night.

We had to wake Austin on Sunday morning so that we could meet up with Cheryl's childhood friend Annette. They live in a newer house and it did not show up on our GPS. Consequently, we had to use a prehistoric method to find their abode... stop at a gas station and ask directions. We headed to Mission Bay and had lunch and played on the beach. We later toured a supermarket (my idea) and had some coffee. Sunday night, Vivian and family came over for dinner. As many of you know, Cheryl was concerned that the Kiwi's would not appreciate my sense of humor. Unfortunately for her, I am fitting in quite well. In fact, much to everyone's shagrin, Vivian's husband Dave and I created a splendid atmosphere for dinner.

On Monday, we woke and decided to go to Rangitoto island, a Volcanic island that has not erupted for 400 years. After a very rough docking (the skipper thought it would be a good idea to ram a pilon at the dock to slow the vessel down), Cheryl thought it would be a spendid idea to hike to the summit of the Volcano. The trek started off well enough. The volcanic rock and solidified magma was quite amazing. However, about three quarters of the way up we figured out that Cheryl's eyes were bigger than her desire to surmount the summit. The trek became much rougher. Finally we reached the summit. As we paused to take in the view, Cheryl noticed rain approaching. Keep in mind, we just hiked for over an hour, straight up, to reach this point. Now, we were going to have to descend quickly to beat the rain. Cheryl took the lead and after sometime I realized I didn't recognize the path we were taking. I brought this to her attention and she paused and started to question the path herself. We asked a passerby and sure enough, we were on the wrong path. *** We now had to climb back up and go down the mountain. Keep in mind we only had an hour and a half until the last ferry was leaving the island. We had atleast an hour journey with rain approaching if we did not make anymore wrong turns. *** Luckily, we made it in time. The kids decided to vote Mom off the island and not let her plan any more treks up the side of a Volcano.

I am not receiving messages on my phone again. We hope to upload more photos tomorrow.