A Kiwi Christmas!

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Trip Start Oct 24, 2010 Previous
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  Mount Maunganui, North Island, New Zealand
Sunday, December 26, 2010

Week number two at the Mount has come and gone. The weather has changed for the better. After some much needed rain here the sun has returned and the beaches are getting really busy!We have settled into our routine here in Mount Maunganui. Some morning golf three times a week (although I did play 6 rounds this week) and afternoons at the beach make for some pretty good days! We did have a little extra excitement on Thursday as the beach was closed in the afternoon because a guy snorkelling had a 6 foot shark come at him a couple of times. They say there are more sharks in the area this year because the water is warmer then usual. It will keep us a little closer to shore that is for sure!Christmas has come and gone and yes Santa did find us “Down Under”. We spent Christmas Day on the Woodcock’s family farm and had a great Xmas dinner which included lamb, ham, potatoes, veggies and salads as well as some tasty pavlova for desert. It was great to eat Christmas dinner outside in the warm sunshine with some great people! Everyone certainly made us feel right at home.Cathy has made some treks to the top of the Mount which is just over 500m above the town. I managed to make it up Christmas morning. There were lots of people up their with picnic baskets and enjoying their  Christmas breakfast.The Mount is set to become very busy over the next 2 weeks. Today their was a running race to the top of the Mount and back. There is a Pro Volleyball tournament this week for 2 days as well. Coke puts on a day of music and activities tomorrow and then their is music and fireworks on the beach New Years Eve. There certainly is lot more people here right now then when we first arrived. A beach soccer tournament, a half iron man, a rugby sevens tournament, cricket and Thunder Cat races (boat races) are also on the schedule. No shortage of entertainment for the next two weeks.Today we did a little Boxing Day shopping but there were so many good sales before Christmas that it didn’t seem that busy. We did make a couple of purchases but we are starting to wonder if we will get our suitcases closed, we still have 4 months left???We have been following the weather at home and hopefully everyone in PEI has not blown away and has dried out. Skype is allowing us to stay in touch with our families and friends on PEI and in Ontario and they are keeping us updated on all the latest.Of local interest,Christchurch continues to be rocked by after shocks from their big September earthquake, as they had some more damage their today after a 4.9 shake. I think the people there are getting tired of them. The West Coast of the South Island has seen storms drop 300-400ml of rain which isn’t that uncommon there. Gas has reached $1.99/liter here, so the $1.10 at home is not to bad. The summer fruit and veggies are out and we are enjoying all the fresh produce and we continue to test many of New Zealand’s fine wines.We hope everyone had a great Christmas and we wish you all the best in the New Year!We are looking forward to our friends from BC arriving in early January, I imagine they are counting the days!Cathy and Dave

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Dinner time	The junior kids table	The wee kids table	Our great hosts
The kids all got rides on the ATV	The twins turned two, on Dec.23	The Muir children   Comments!	Me and Neville
View out the back of house	View from Mauao and only half way up	View from the top of mauao   Comments!	View off back side from the top
The Top of Mauao

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