Summer Holiday 2008: Part 1-Havelock North

On Monday the 7^th of January my family and I set off on our yearly summer holiday (after several days of intense packing!). We got up at 7am (ewww!)-it was cloudy-perfect for long distance travel in the car!After dropping Lola off at Linda’s friend’s house the drive to Havelock North took approximately 4 hours (with a coffee/ice cream stop on the way).
When we arrived the weather in Havelock North it was extremely warm and sunny!

We were to stay at our friends-the Quiggs beach house for 5 days.Its location- surrounded by grassy paddocks......Linda went to visit the horses...

...and Arataki honey factory next door!! When we arrived we set up our tent in the back yard under a palm tree (!!)...... and then Mary and Maggie took Linda and me across the paddock to the honey factory! So interesting, there was so much to learn about bees!

And the sweet smell of honey!!! I could live there!
We got back and went to the beach with the Quiggs-Margaret, David, Mary and Maggie.
It took a 20 minute drive to get to the beach- which turned out to be spectacular!
It reminded me of the beaches I read about and seen in American novels/movies set in places such as California, with white sandy beaches, beautiful waves, red/yellow flags and even life guards!The water was great and we spent about an hour in the sea!
It was a wonderful feeling, especially after the long drive!
We got back from the beach and had a delicious BBQ made by Mary...
...for dinner, and spent time talking and catching up. Margaret and Mum Me and David started a game of chess...

...but didn't finish it till the night before we left!

The next day was another warm sunny day. In the morning we all drove to Napier to do some shopping! When we arrived we broke up into two group- Mary, Maggie, Linda and I went to the Aquarium, while the adults went shopping.Although I had already been to the Aquarium in Napier, it was still exciting to go again and see all the sea creatures!

Pretty Fish...

...an alligator...

I loved the sea turtles and sea horses!!!

Especially since I took that marine bio paper at university and loved it.

Sharks and stingrays

As I was walking around I remembered the last time I was there- a vivid memory! In summer 2005 we went on holiday to Napier, and visited the aquarium. As I was walking around looking at the creatures I received a text message from Christina, saying our NCEA results have arrived!! Aghhh!! After that all I could think about was my results and couldn’t wait to get back home! Luckily we only had 2 days till we went back or I would have gone nuts!! (I was already going nuts but still…)

So now whenever I think or go to the aquarium in Napier I always associate my visit with that memory.

Unfortunately, the girls didn’t want to spend much time at the aquarium (I could have spend hours and hours there) so we ended up leaving after about half an hour.

We then met up with the adults and went shopping with David while my parents and Margaret went off to do their own shopping. Mum got me a dress which I loved!

...at a caffee

I saw several books that I liked but couldn’t decide which one to get so ended up buying nothing. Maggie bought the Game of Life so we played it when we got back. (It’s like a board game version of life. You go to university, get a job, get married, have kids etc.) When we played I ended up getting married and had 3 boys!

Once again we spent the second half of the afternoon at the beach. :)

...Mary... or is it??

...aghhh it's a sea monster!!!

Random photography... a shadow on the tide...

On the third day it was cloudy, gloomy but warm. We spent the morning having breakfast, eating fruit and mucking around.

mmm fruit for breakfast every day...

After lunch, despite the weather we were determined to go swimming at the beach. So there we were at the beach (while the adults stayed in the car) in the sea (not as warm) catching waves with the sky above us gloomy with grey clouds and drizzling rain! Felt so dramatic! We were the only people on the beach! (apart from the lifeguards- I wonder what they thought of us!) When we returned to the car, Mum, Dad and Margaret decided to go for a walk along the beach. David took us wet people back in his car and we spent the rest of the evening mucking around in the house.

On the fourth day we woke up to a cloudy sky accompanied by a cold breeze and periods of drizzle- not beach weather, to my great disappointment. Mary, Maggie and Linda decided that we should all go to Laser Force! But we had to wait till the adults got back from the shops so I went off across the paddocks (the Quiggs owned the paddocks around the house so we could go anywhere we liked!) to the honey factory and spent about two hours there!

There was so much to read and so many honey products to look at!

Before I left I bought some honey in a comb, then went to the paddock behind the house and lay there on the grass eating honey and looking up at the sky! Such a wonderful feeling…

...until Linda, Mary and Maggie sneaked up on me!

After lunch when the adults returned we all went to Laser Force in Napier! I remembered the last time we went to laser force with Jasmine, Selene, Anita and some other friends from school, before the Ting family moved away.

The Laser force in Napier was pretty much the same as the one in Wellington and it was so much fun! (Even though our team lost)

Afterwards we split up again and went shopping around Napier. This time I went with the other group (Mum, Dad and Margaret) and it was awesome because we went to all these antique shops with interesting things and you could also try stuff on!

I even saw college text books from 1960’s on biology and the physical sciences and it was so different to the ESA guides we have today!

Trying on wigs and hats was amusing!

...so what would I look like if I decided to dye my hair red...

By the time we got home it was dinner time. Not much else happened that day except that I got to check my e-mail because I was waiting for a reply from a lecturer about my 2008 courses, and found that he approved my course combination -yea!! It meant that I could take the marine bio paper that I wanted! Yesss!! Now I just have to finish filling out my enrolment form and send it in… We also finally finished our game of chess that David won...

But the 11^th of January came around too soon and it was time to continue our way up the north island towards Auckland. I felt sad leaving Havelock North. When we finished packing the house looked so empty...

Having so many people around the house felt like I was on camp! I decided that I really like country farm life- surrounded by grassy fields, sandy roads and green mountains...

I knew I would miss all the company, the beautiful beach and the feeling of freedom of being able to go out to grassy paddocks.

However, our holiday continued...