Signs of Spring Vacation

Here are a few signs of Spring Vacation.  Boys hanging out on the porch midday!!  The cherry in bloom (and laundry on the line).  Flowering trees, the tiny NZ grass daisies, and of course dandelions.

boys drawing in the shade

blooms in yard

laundry & cherry blossoms

daisies in the grass

dandilions grow here too

chickens love their dust bath on a sunny day

Adrenalin Forest

learning how to use the ropes

Nickolai, Lucas & Eric ready to step out on the first ropes high course

Eric steps onto a high bridge

Ben balances

find Ben in the tree tops

flesh pile of boys with Helen

Ben on tippy poles

Eric on a flying fox

Eric & Nikolai are psyched!

A shout of thanks out to our friends the Dugan/St. Clairs for this recommendation! What a great way to spend an afternoon of spring break...swinging from the trees with friends.


Adrenaline Forest is tucked into a massive City Park next to the beach. There is beach access, picnicing, campgrounds, a terrific playground, mini-golf, mountain bike trails, hiking trails and sulky (horse beach training) trails. There's a tall pine forest near the beach for the high ropes course.


We have been so lucky meeting wonderful people here. Another mom with boy-ness, Helen, graciously drove our bunch of boys there. The high ropes were terrific. The boys swung, balanced & tipped happily in the trees. They still had energy for the playground, ice creams, mini golf, and wrestling. It was a day they didn't want to end.

The most picture perfect day yet

Amazingly the day was cloudless.  The sky a brilliant blue with high decorative clouds.  The NZ Alps were sharp & clear as we approached.  As we neared the strong brown foothills wiith snow capped, avalanche carved mountains behind them, we realized that we had forgotten the camera! 

Just a dawdling 1.75 hour drive away we were in serious altitude where spring was about 2-3 weeks behind what we are experiencing on the coastal plains.  We could tell because the lambs were smaller and the gorse bushes were just beginning to flower.  The scenery was magnificent!  Mountains upon mountains!  Clear blue sky/stunning brown & white peaks.  We passed several ski areas.  Some are closed because it is spring.  The really high ski areas still have about a week or two before the skiing becomes impossible.

Castle Hill & Flock Hill were a fantastic climb about places.  There limestone formations randomly sprout out of the grassy soil.  The glaciers, wind & rain have sculpted them into fantastic formations that Henry Moore or an ancient (gigantic) sculptor could have made.  They are also a protected area for in ancient times traveling Maori rested in the shelter of these rocks on their journey to either coast.  If you want to scramble around on the rocks, no problem!  If you want to do technical climbing you need a permit.

We also walked to an underground river cave...but the river was too fierce & running high from the spring rains....oh that rain!  This too is a sacred spot for the cave was an ancient burial area.

We saw lots of great wildlife: a small lizard, a rabbit, a pair of yellowhammers (birds), two rock wrens, a really amazing tiny bird (that I can’t identify) and several raptors.  The raptors were soaring in pairs...riding the breezes and wheeling through the mountain clefts.  And then there were a few raptors feasting upon road kill.  I think I might have seen a rare Black Kite.

Clear, sunny, crisp weather is definitely a treasure.

hiking with Michael

Sign of the Kiwi goodies on display

Quick ice creams at the Sign of the Kiwi and a quick hike atop the Port Hills.  On the way home we stopped at a playground near Michael's house to enjoy the flying fox.

view to Lyttleton Harbor(left) and Diamond Harbor (right)

fields and hills

the terrain

Ben, Eric & Michael along the hill top

local park's Flying Fox

Ben holds the rope for Eric's launch

Ben launches

Beyond Governor's Bay

Spring is here and the yellow gorse bushes are flowering on top of the Port Hills. We walked & enjoyed a picnic with terrific views down the bay...all the way to the Pacific.

beginning the walk

just before the bay views

Picnic spot with a great view of Governor's Bay

Eric & volcanic rock

Ben and the volcanic coastline

Gorse in bloom (very prickly stems)

Gorse flowers on the hillside

Travis Wetlands

Pukeko on dry land

 We had a clear day (hurrah!) on September 9th....so the boys & I visited the Travis Wetlands Preserve.  The beautiful bird viewing blinds were still closed pending post earthquake inspection but we were able to see the Pukeko...a purple wading bird.

wetland grasses

wetland paddock with boys & Port Hills in the distance

wading pukekos

submerged stump

wetland trees

The Polite Earthquake

Structural Engineer

  Here are some pictures of our "rubble tourism" one week after the quake.

standing in cracks near the epicenter

bracing a building's facade

how did the window remain intact?

the shifting river banks twisted this bridge

shop front collapse

twisted corner of house & broken stairs

playground separated from padding

We are all feeling incredibly lucky in Christchurch that the pudding like texture of the ground, time of day, and excellent structural planning & codes made this earthquake less devastating than ones of similar magnitudes in Haiti or Chile or California.  The neighborhoods built close to the rivers and ones built over unknown streams suffered the most.

Henri is having the opportunity of a life time.  He's been able to participate fully since the first day.  University engineering profs were put on building inspection teams & given nifty hard hats & vests.  People walked up to Henri wondering, "Pardon me, but are you a structural engineer?"  It was his moment of occupational celebrity.