Another great library

Brighton Beach in winter (August 7) A bad day for shorts!

the pier (library is hiding)

Here's another great library we explored on a cold & rainy winter day.  The Brighton Beach Library is located on the shore at the base of the pier.  It has two stories (a restaurant on the 2nd story & a cafe on the lower story).  There are chairs lined up all along the windows where one can just watch the sea & listen to stories on tape or read.  ahhhhh. We warmed up in the cafe & came home with books & CDs and the cozy warm feeling of a good small adventure.

getting warm at the library cafe

Thank You

Our Inspirational Travelers: Sol & Judy

For us to begin a great adventure we need to thank so many of you!  Without our friends and family this would be an impossible endeavor.  Thank you for the: inspiration, wisdom, practical tips, lodging, journey stops, child amusement, play dates, coffee, pool time, lake time, meals, tea, snacks, treats, well wishes, notes of encouragement, phone calls, car borrowing, setting us up in style, travel tips, great books, mental breakdown space, and more!  Thank you!!

Victoria Park, The Port Hills: August 6

The NZ Alps on the horizon...can see them from the slide

kids love the slide!

 The city parks are wonderful....hiking, scenic views, great trail maintenance.

It’s hard to believe that these amazing wildernesses (with occasional trails through sheep pastures) are part of one of NZ’s largest city & not national parks.  Wow.
Here’s a park...I think this slide has one of the best views of the NZ Southern Alps.  The boys like how fast the slide was!

volcanic rock formations

boys on a stile to cross pasture land

trail through pasture land

mountain bike ramp

mountain bike ramp that moves! (up position)

moutain bike ramp (down postition)

water fountain for dogs & humans

Boys chasing sheep above the city of Christchurch

Here is our first exploring hike of Victoria Park & the Port Hills trails.  The boys had a blast running on some of the shared mountain bike trails (ramps, moguls, teeter totter ramp).  We saw several riders go over the teeter totter ramp (kids & adults)---it was a creative way to get over the pasture fence! There were also fields of sheep grazing in different parts of the park.  Here we encountered our first sheep of NZ.

New Zealand Vocabulary

We are having fun with the new words, spellings and usage.  As a native explained to us, "When you kicked the British out of your country you kicked out some letters as well."  Many of these are NZ specific.  Enjoy!

Kia Ora = hello, welcome

cheers = thanks, hi

jandals = flip flops

wee = little, tiny, small  ("just use a wee bit of salt", "It's a wee hike to the view."), used by everyone.  I think it is the Scottish settlers' linguistic influence.)

ice block = popsicle

flying fox = zip line

maths (You do the maths.) = math

sport (She plays lots of sport.) = sports

twink = white out/correction fluid/liquid paper (Michael's twink pen exploded on my fingers.)

 to queue =  to line up

trundler or trolley = shopping cart

mild cheese = regular cheddar cheese

tasty cheese = very sharp cheddar cheese

vintage cheese = "fully mature cheddar cheese with a rich extra sharp flavour and crumbly texture"

trim milk = skim milk

the bench = the kitchen counter

tea (at school) = snack break

skivvie = turtleneck shirt

jumper = sweater

rubbish mix = trail mix

slice = bar cookie

flat white = a coffee with lots of steamed milk but not lots of foam

fluffy = steamed milk with lots of foam, chocolate sprinkles & marshmallows

thermals = long underwear

walk = ranges from very short to all afternoon walking

tramp = back packing expedition

rubbish = trash

bin = waste basket, trash can, etc

Riccarton Bush Preserve

Amazing root structure

ferns abound

Today the boys & I took a walk in the Riccarton Bush Kiwi preserve to see the pre-settlers landscape.  We didn’t see any kiwi birds as they are nocturnal (and B&E were busy inventing tribal war dances, and wrestling and so forth).  I was fascinated with the roots of these magnificent trees.  It's a wet land & rainforest....the british terminology of "bush" doesn't describe the wonder of this type of forest.  This preserve is in the middle of the city---half a block from New Zealand's biggest indoor mall (!!!) and half a mile from where we are living.

mighty giants (about 30 meters tall)

Signs of Spring

Jessie's camillias

first flowers at the school playground

lenten roses for Kim

Robin's Short Walk

awesome water & clouds

I took a short driving adventure.  I drove over the Port Hills to Governor’s Bay.  Here are some views from the town jetty.

panorama view from Governor's Bay jetty

And here’s a view of the bay above from the Port Hills on the Coronation Hill trail (nice & muddy).

looking down from the trail