Our accommodation for the weekend was a smal cabin called the Love Shack, situated at Okere Falls on the shore of Lake Rotoiti, about 20kms east of Rotorua.
The view from the cabin was rather nice, and we could have used the rowing boat or kayaks if we had felt energetic...
The view across the lake. A lovely spot for a relaxing weekend of doing not a lot.
For the long weekend we had a short break down near Rotorua. Saturday morning was spent exploring the town, there was a fair bit going on. Firstly a Mini car club meeting - this was the best car with its purpose built music trailer.
There was also an American muscle car meeting going on as well.
Plus a zombie walk, raising money for brain injury charities. This was the winner of "most authentic zombie".
We then treated ourselves to a private hot pool at the Polynesian Spa overlooking the lake. The natural sulphur hot water was a perfect relaxing opportunity.
We have planted some catnip for Charlie...it seems to be working as we often find him trying to climb into the pot, or licking his lips after a munch.
After much searching we have now moved into our new home in a new subdivision called Millwater, north of Auckland. The housing market in Auckland is buoyant so we took advantage to sell our house and buy a brand new house.
The subdivision is growing every day with new houses being built and a new retail park opened just up the road. Millwater is now the fastest growth area in NZ. This is a view back to the estate from the estuary walk to Orewa.
This is the view from our family room/dining room over the deck to the marshland and hills in the distance.
Then looking from the deck back into the house with the kitchen and the separate lounge area. We have settled into our new home very quickly and love the area and the nearby beaches which we hope to make the most of during the summer months.
Today we went for a long drive around the Derbyshire countryside with Charlotte and her parents.
We drove past Chatsworth House, and around parts of Derbyshire we didn't even know existed.
We visited the Derwent resevoir, which was used in the second world war to test the bouncing bombs, which were made famous in the Dam Busters movie.
For lunch we stopped at a beautiful old English country pub, the food was excellent as was the company.
Jet lag not being enough of a hardship, we decided to torture ourselves with 90 minutes at the City Ground watching Nottingham Forest lose to Doncaster Rovers. Apart from the match it was great to catch up with Steve, Sharon and Dan again after nearly 7 years.
For Caroline's Mum's birthday we visited Calke Abbey in the village of Ticknall in Derbyshire. This was not too far from home, so was very much appreciated in our still jet lagged state.
It was a beautiful building, and very different from anything we're now used to in New Zealand. The weather was fantastic considering the time of year.
