Swimmin' hole

We took Dexter to the nearby swimming hole today. Once it's warmer we can swim too! Colin and Steve showed us the path to the river but it was very overgrown with thorns so we brought clippers to trim it back.

Improving the path

Ouch, prickly!

Swimming hole!

Dexter loves to swim :)

So pretty here!

Dexter stays off the road like a good puppy (and the road is not busy at all)

Christmas Day - Kiwi Style

It's Christmas! We had a very different celebration than we would have back home - went over to Colin and Steve's friends (Peter and Lisa) house for a BBQ. It didn't really feel like Christmas without family and winter, but it was still a fun day :) Felt like a long weekend BBQ picnic or something! There were 9 of us there and 5 dogs - FIVE! As we were eating dinner the dogs got shut in the pool area - I was worried about them jumping in the pool but apparently the dogs swim in the pool all the time! Haha. It was a bit of a madhouse once the ball started getting thrown. 

Dexter was scared of going in the pool (he couldn't really figure out how to get in and was scared to jump) but he warmed up to it eventually. Especially when we started swimming - but stay away from dogs in the water, ow! He still doesn's really like jumping in from the edge but he was brave :)

It was a great afternoon! We played croquet, swam in the pool and ate delicious food. We also have a little gift exchange, everybody brought a wrapped present. I got a nice picture frame (now have to print a picture for it!) and Scott got some pretty placemats with NZ scenery. Was great to meet some new friends too! We have only been in the area a few days but already have met lots of people! Colin and Steve have made an effort to introduce us to their friends and neighbours - partially so we have help if we run into trouble on the farm :)

Merry Christmas to everyone back home!!!! We miss you :)

Christmas on a patio, how nice!

5 dogs and a pool, yikes! Jyn and Milo (the big brown dog) liked the pool the best.

Dexter is hesitant to jump off the side

But he likes it once he's in!

Happy to cool down from the sun

Come back for more Dexter!

Too hot for a big turkey meal - Christmas BBQ instead!

Christmas lunch with new friends :)

The croquet begins... (you can see from our silly hats that we've opened Christmas crackers already)

The cracker hats didn't provide enough sun protection so Lisa brought out sun hats to share. Mandatory for croquet!

Dexter gets a hat too, hehe

As expected the dogs are constantly in the way...

I am horrible at croquet by the way

Added confusion to playing croquet in an avocado orchard...

There was a fair amount of cheating that went on, haha

Dexter and Jyn having a play fight

Don't worry, we're still friends!

And last of all, a fun gift exchange!

Moving Day

Today we said goodbye to Ruakaka and drove to our next home near Tauranga! As mentioned before we will be looking after a small farm for 2 kiwis while they are on vacation.

It wasn't too bad to pack up all our stuff, we managed to pack and clean in only a few hours. And everything even fit in the van! A bit crazy how much stuff we've accumulated - in addition to our original suitcases and Dexter's kennel, we now have our boxes including ski stuff, surf boards, boogie boards, my guitar and various other house items we've had to buy. Due to a full van Dexter got to cuddle in the front seat with us for the drive :) He was quite happy, as long as he got to sprawl out.

There's no room for me!

Yay I get to go in the front seat

Dexter loves the new house, especially since the owners also have a dog Jyn. Jyn will be leaving with them in a couple days, but until then Dexter and him have become best buds. Here's some pictures around the yard and garden at the new house. Lots more exciting stories and pictures to come :)

The house

View of part of the garden from the back deck

Garden! Lots of fruits and veggies

More garden

Dexter checking out his new yard

Greenhouse for seedlings etc

Lemon tree - one of the many fruit trees

There's also a vineyard - the owners are big into wine making

Chickens peak out from behind compost

One of the sheep fields (but the sheep are in the other one atm)

2 happy dogs

2 tired dogs

Scuba Diving at the Poor Knights Islands!

Super cool! Not really what I expected, and I wish I'd done it sooner than my last day in Northland, but alas! The islands were beautiful, the staff at Yukon Dive was super pro and helpful and nice, probably the best crew I've dove with ever. Small dive group, just 4 people and our Dive Master. Lots of people on our boat were going it on their own. Saw lots of cool things like below. Might have to do it again if a dive buddy comes and visits in time!

Mostly I thought it wouldn't be super cool because it's subtropical and not tropical, but I'd call it better than Hawaii, Maui at least.

First some pictures of the islands and then underwater awesomeness!

School of fish on the surface, pretty crazy, definitely didn't expect so many.

Apparently this is the largest sea cave in the world! Rikoriko Cave

Pretty arches on the island

More precious!

Some other customers and an archway we dove.

Grey Eel, pretty sure. Very cool, he was hiding in the seaweed.

I liked this picture. Two other divers on my trip.

Pretty sure this one was a Moray Eel, but I'm not certain. Zoologists?

Nudibranch!!! I was most excited to see these here so I'm glad I saw one. Maybe a couple more too but this pic is awesome.

Another Grey Eel popping his head out.

Pretty underwater adventure!

A sweet little blenny popping his head out of his little hidey-hole.

I think this was a sea sponge. Kind of blurry, but very colourful!