The Road Trip

It was all very exciting on the 1st of March.  We were up at 6.20am and it was still dark outside, but it's all good, we're going on a road trip - YAY.

But first we stopped at the Hardware Cafe in Titirangi for breakfast and coffee (Bib said it's the best coffee she's ever had - apparently Tom made it).  Then we were off.

We headed south and arrived at Matamata and this is where we went 

What a great place, lots of photos taken, but we won't put loads on here just a selected few, so here goes.

And then we went for second breakfast with Bilbo Baggins at his hobbit hole in the picture above.

After second breakfast it was time for a drink in the Green Dragon.

It was cider and very delicious it was too.  It is especially brewed for Hobbiton and you can't get it anywhere else.

That was the last of our visit to Hobbiton and so on we went.  The next stop was Rotorua to stretch our legs and then onto Lake Taupo to stay the night.

We found a hotel and restaurant right on the lake front and had a meal sitting right by the window, so we had this view.

And that was the end of the first day of our road trip.

Meeting the Locals

We settled in for a couple of days and then we were introduced to the locals. You remember the two dogs we live with, well we met Milo's real mum Belle, his sister Tahe and uncle JJ (he's not really an uncle).

JJ - he had a good sniff of both of us and then bit my long nose and tried to carry me off and Bibley had to rescue me.

Belle - she had a quick sniff and then ignored us both, but I don't blame her, she can't really be bothered - well she is 14 now.

Tahe - she had a good sniff of me and a quick sniff of Tulip and that was it, she let us have our photograph taken together.

And Bibley with Tahe.

We were made to feel very welcome, so thank you all.

Arriving in New Zealand

Bib thought it was about time we stared writing about our trip to New Zealand.  We had no idea what was going on, but Bib made me a pair of shorts and gave Tulip a lovely ribbon - she tied it around her neck, very pretty.  We had no idea where we were going but it took a long time and we flew.  All very exciting.

We arrived in New Zealand and found Erin very quickly at the airport, Bib as so pleased to see her - there were tears. 

We made our way out of Auckland and towards Piha, stopping at Waitakere Ranges, where we had Danish ice cream.  It was lovely to get some fresh air and warmth.  Then we went to Piha where we were staying and this is the view we had to put up with !!!  WOW

The next day we went into Auckland and had lunch with Mike (the first picture) and then spent the next few days relaxing in Piha meeting the locals and drinking coffee.

Next instalment soon.