My wife and I just returned from a couple of weeks on the North Island of New Zealand.
It was a budget holiday, we needed to get away and de-stress a bit, so the rainforests, rivers, and lakes of beautiful New Zealand were the destination this time.

We flew into the town of Hamilton for a night before hiring a car and driving south to the volcanic plateau region of Taupo where we stayed in a small unit in the town of Turangi.

What follows (as I add photos over the next few days, week or so) is the things we found of interest as we made our hiking boots earn their keep.

So ... after getting up at 2am this morning to catch the plane home, here's a small start to our holiday before I hit the sack and am rendered unconscious.

Our holiday began with a night in the home of a school friend of my wife's. Julie, her husband Wayne, and their two young kids Rose and Anthony were wonderful hosts and after our time in Turangi we would return here for a few days before heading home.

A quick walk took us through some bush until we found a lovely garden ... complete with big Bumble Bee's.





I'd never seen this type of pine cone before ...


The next morning we awoke to noises from the nearby school. Slowly but surely Skippy was taking shape. Rose and Anthony wanted to remember the occasion.