Journey Home

Auckland is dominated by a motorway system.
Although New Zealand has not quite learnt the correct way to handle a large mass of traffic but they are trying.
Having come from Europe myself, I have seen large systems in place and know how they should work!

Coming home we went past a huge amount of roadworks, now I know this was to be expected as it was almost midnight on a Sunday night, so they don't expect a lot of traffic and thus making it a prime time to fix roads.
However not long out of town we got dropped from 3 lanes down to 1, this was because they were preparing for the work they were going to do later. It caused a lot of traffic build up. In my eyes they could so easily have waited half an hour, let the majority of the concert traffic go past on the motorway and then set up their cones without too much disruption!
I know the concert didn't cause that much traffic but it definitely caused more than your usual amount at this time on a Sunday evening.

However the best was yet to come.
Just as we were getting to the main out of South Auckland suburd area we got warned that the motorway ahead was closed and therefore we were getting diverted off the motorway.
I quickly worked out where we were and reassured Steve that this was actually an easy detour because they could take us off at the junction, take us cross country and bring us back on 2 junctions south. It meant a little detour through Takanini and Papakura but would only add an extra 10 mins at most. I didn't however actually know how to do the route so we followed the detour signs like good people.
So we followed the detour through Takanini and into Papakura. At the main lights in town this convoy of traffic (about 30-40 odd cars) turned right and then left and then left again and then surprise surprise left again, suddenly we were going back down where we had come from!
Steve questioned this but this was exactly what the signs had said.
We then turned left again a little further down the road and we guessed that they had wanted to keep the traffic flowing so had you do this crazy loop around Papakura centre.
However then suddenly we were at a set of lights and back in the centre of town again.
I very quickly realised, as did all the other traffic that if we followed the signs we would happily spend midnight going in a loop around Papakura.

Now you have to remember that most of the people in this convoy were trying to go south out of Auckland and for most this area was somewhere they had never been before, so here we are at midnight stuck in the centre of a town that we don't know with no idea as to which way the motorway was.

So I did the next best thing, I got my mobile out and called *555 which takes you through to the transport police. I happily explained the situation and told them they had better get someone into Papakura PDQ as there was a convoy of very annoyed travellers just trying to get home.
He guessed someone had been playing with the signs and said they would get it looked at.
We told him where we were currently sitting and he happily directed us to the motorway on ramp, which was still 2ks away from where we were!
By the time we got to the motorway, we were actually the only car out there, so what happened to the other 30-40 I have no idea, probably still going round and round Papakura town centre.

Luckily for us from there it was a free drive home for the next hour with no more troubles or roadworks!

Long Trip

A few weekends ago we took the long trip up to Whangarei to see Steve's Dad and brother.

It is a 4 hour drive, so not something that gets done too often.

The boys had a great time up there. We stayed in a motel over night as they really didn't have space for the 4 of us to stay although this didn't bother the boys as they loved the idea of sleeping in a motel.

Their uncle Peter took them fishing on the Satuirday afternoon and they both managed to catch a small fish, but hey, it was a fish.

Generally the whole weekend was great and they had loads of fun.

However the trip up and back was long. On the way there we stopped often and they were so good in the car.

On the way back down things were not so good and they got restless very quickly!

Steve managed to find a small beach not far from the main road, so we took a small detour and had some time out on the beach. this was a great relief from the car for 30 minutes, however Alex had just woken up and was not in the greatest of moods!

Ben trying to skim a stone after being shown how by Daddy

I managed to snap this picture on the spur of the moment, Alex was in a fowl mood and had just snapped at me that he didn't want his picture taken! I think it is a great picture of him in a yucky mood!

We were also able to see some fun stuff on the journey. These mail boxes on the side of the street caught the boys attention.

And this bridge just seems a little not straight for my liking although it is quite stable!

The Snow

We couldn't have asked for a better day than the one we got when we went to the snow.

It had been raining when we left home in the morning and as we got closer it started to clear.

By the time we actually got up the mountain, it was as clear as could be and made our experience up there even more enjoyable.

Nothing like playing in the snow in the blazing hot sunshine and keeping warm.

Looking at all the little black dots on the above picture, then I think a lot of people realised that they were onto a good thing going up the mountain on this particular afternoon. It was gorgeous up there.

Now I have skied before, when I was 11 and 16 yrs old, so just a couple of years ago!

I wasn't in any hurry to get back skiing, although I did enjoy it, I was looking forward to spending sometime with the boys and their first experience of snow, but once I got up there and was surrounded by all the skiers and the snow, I just wanted to jump on the chair lift and ski away, but sadly that was not to happen, so have vowed that I will return one fine day to get back to 1 with the snow and some wooden planks to come down on!

The boys had a blast up at the snow. We rented some tobogans and spent a wonderful hour going up and down the little area set aside just for that purpose.

Alex getting ready to rumble down on his own!

As much as he liked going down.....

He just wasn't so happy to have to pull his toy back up again (that is him in the red and black discussing with me, in the grey and sunglasses, how we are going to get back up to the top!). We had many a moment when Alex decided he couldn't make it back up because he was cold and wet, although once back up at the top he was always eager to go back down again!

Ben on the other hand was happy to go up and down, although he found the coming back up a little slippy, but he had soon mastered how to take the bumps and dips in the slide down.

Even managed to get down whilst dodging the flying snowballs!

Sadly we were unable to take Barney to the snow, so he didn't get a shot up there, but we all did, thanks to our friends who we were with, although by this time Alex had cold wet trousers and was not a happy bunny. It was lovely and warm up there but cold wet trousers and undies really doesn't make for happy playing conditions although when asked if he had had enough he always said 'Yes' but when told we were going down one last time he was always eager to have another go!

Ben of course loved joining the bigger boys that were there and learn the art of snowball fighting.

We were only up there for just over an hour, but it was enough for them to have a blast.

I am sure we will be returning again some day, although as mentioned before, it is over 4 hours drive away and definitely something that needs to be planned.

Here Comes the Snow

After leaving the Sheep Shearer Statue we continued our road trip south to the snow.

The rain was clearing and we started to enter into a gorgeous sunny day.

Of course once you get to a certain point on the trip then the mountain comes into view.

I think the boys got more excited about actually seeing the mountain come into view than they did when they actually got to stand on the snow!

They constantly kept telling us which window the mountain was in the whole last hour of the journey to get there.

So we shot some pictures to show how clear it was coming into view.

Of course Barney was there to share in the excitment as we got closer to the snow.....

One thing about New Zealand snow, we don't get much of it in the north Island! Too warm, well it gets cold but not for long enough to get snow on low lying ground, so unfortunately for all concerned the snow usually only gets to a certain level up the mountain and if you want to play in it, then you have to go up to it!

That is why in the above pictures you can see the snow on the top of the mountain and then a lot of brown under it before the tree tops.

In the South Island it is a slightly different matter, they do get snow lower down and so for a truely winter wonderland in New Zealand then you have to travel to the South Island.

For us that would mean a 7 hour drive to the ferry, 3 hours on the ferry and then another 6 hour drive on land, so not a simple close trip at all.

Barney the Dinosaur

Back in 2001, Steve and I took a 6 week holiday to England. We had a little toy monkey with us called 'Boz' and he got his picture taken everywhere we went.

As we were driving to the snow, I realised that we had forgotten Boz and so decided to substitute him with Alex's Barney instead.

So we now have pictures of Barney from our road trip.

Barney at the Sheep Shearing Statue

Barney with fellow traveller Alex

Barney with fellow traveller Ben

More Barney travels to come.....