Cutie

We did the grocery shopping, Mum!

Day 5 ~ Friday ~ Driving Creak Railway

{Written by Monique; Used with her permission}

Today we did the washing and the dishes and got our stuff together, and we went to Driving Creak Railway, and had sandwiches there; and there were heaps of ants. And we dropped a piece of lettuce and so many ants came that we couldn't count them. And there was heaps of bird poo, but it was still heaps of fun.

After lunch, we pottered around a little bit while we waited for the train to come; looked around the shop a bit and bought our tickets. When the train arrived, we hopped on and found our seats and I was sitting with Maria and Bianca was facing me on the other side of the carriage. Jarrod was sitting next to Bianca.

Bianca took my camera and took photos of herself and anything else she could -- Maria, the grass, the bush, and everything else. When the train left everyone smiled because it was so exciting and at one stage we went over a bridge and it was kind of freaky because there was only track on wood and then there was also another train going underneath us. And there were walls [retaining walls] that were made of bottles and they were colour-coded (sorted into colours), they were bottle-retaining walls with dirt around them to the ends.

There were also tunnels and in some places there were tunnels with clay blocks making the walls on each side and pottery done into the walls, or put on shelves in the walls.

When we got to the Eyeful Tower, we went out onto a platform, in the train. It was kind of scary, and Mum said it was really freaky. The view was amazing and the tower was really cool. We stayed and looked around for five minutes and then went all the way back to the office/station. Then Mum bought an egg cup made by a potter, and then we went to the car, and had afternoon tea and left for home -- the tent.

: : New family photo! : :

When we got back it was quite late, so we got bacon and egg pie out of the freezer and put them in the microwaves that were at the campground. We also had coleslaw. Then we did the evening routine.

"I'm the queen of the table . . ."

Day 4 ~ Thursday ~ Hot Water Beach

On Thursday we left the campground later than planned, because Mum put a load of washing through the machine and hung it out to dry. {Good time to do school work I reckon!} When we did manage to leave, we headed for Hot Water Beach. From here in Whitianga, it’s quite a drive to get anywhere, so I’m getting lots of practice on open roads! Lol I should be able to pass the restricted test with no trouble when I get back!!

At the beach, we had to walk for ages to get to the ‘hot’ part, by a rock. Finally there, Mum and Dad started asking other people if they had hot or cold water in their holes. They finally dug a hole; then sat building sand walls in an attempt to protect themselves from the flow of HOT water!

After an hour or two there we made the trek to the cars again, got afternoon tea, and came back to the campground to make dinner. Mum made fried paprika chicken, with fried potatoes, and Dad cooked the fish Monique caught the night before. Over dinner, Mum told Monique she had to eat the rest of the chicken on here drumstick; she said she couldn’t get it off, so several of us pitched in with helpful advice on how to eat it. When told to pick it up, she commented that she wasn’t an animal. Bryce replied, “Monique, you said we’re not animals, but we’re kiwis!!” Hehe, gotta love five-year-old logic!