26 March, 2017

Road trip - home time

 The view from the hotel room.

 We stopped at Levin on the drive home. It's a great playgound.

 The urchins spent ages at the Hamster wheel.
 The flying fox was awesome.  Tighe climbed up the slides, and then had to jump off.
 The last stop for the day as Lake Taupo.
Tighe and Lake Taupo

25 March, 2017

Road Trip - Just chillin'

 All the sight seeing and shopping worked up an appetite, so it was Mexican for dinner.
 While waiting for Deadpool to start, the urchins created this creature.

Bugs at Te Papa

 The bug exhibition at Te Papa was fantastic.  The orchid praying mantis was scary beautiful.
 There were lots of info stands, and interesting bugs to look at up close and magnified.

 The delicate dragonfly model was my favourite.
 I didn't realise that there were so many different shapes in a dragonfly's wing. Helps with flex and control.
 The dragonfly enclosure was spectacular.
 The silver ball opens up with the stobe light, and the frog jumps into the pond, and the dragonflies, fly around.
 The detail on the giant leaves and reeds was exquisite.
 The next enclosure was the wasp and the zombie.  The colours were amazing but I did feel sorry for the cockroach.
 Lots of informative and hands on things for the urchins to try.  Tighe managed to get his paper bug to soar in the wind tube.
 The bee section was interesting.  The bees use their wings to heat up the air around the hornet, to kill off the hornet.
 The urchins and I had to rub a section of the exhibit, so that our heat could kill off the hornet.
 These exhibits were larger than us, and the detail on the insects was incredible.
We all had a go at making the paint change colour with the heat of rubbing our hands on the paint.
 Once outside the Bug exhibit, we looked at the Giant Squid (again), and Tighe likes to explore the bush section of Te Papa.  The ball came along as well.
 New Zealand dinosaurs.


 There were even flying dinosaurs in New Zealand.

Wellington Road Trip - buildings, bags, and Rotorua Artists

 The urchins hadn't seen the Beehive before, so we visited New Zealand's parliament buildings.
Quinn and Tighe climbing flagpoles.
 Te Papa Muesum didn't open until a little later, so the urchins got in a bit of retail therapy.

 There is a padlock fence along the waterfront in Wellington. I like the rusted look with the colourful padlocks.

 The urchins couldn't resist climbing and running along the art installations at the front of Te Papa.

 The art work by Rotorua artist Kereama Tapae was their favourite.

24 March, 2017

Road Trip

 Tighe, Quinn, and I went on a Road Trip to Wellington.  We escaped Rotorua late in the Friday afternoon, so I could have rest stops from driving along the way.
 Somehow, at each rest stop, "something" needed to be climbed. A boot, a billboard, a tree.
That Billboard is high, Tighe.

 
 Perhaps this tree in Bulls, is higher than Taihape's billboard.

Got into Wellington just after 9pm.