New Zealand - Part 1

I spent last week visiting my granny in New Zealand. Dad, Kylie and I were fortunate to have second cousin Liz and her French husband, Nico, as our hosts in Auckland after we landed. They took us up some of the local volcanoes (yes, volcanoes!) in Auckland. The volcanoes are lush with vegetation and grass and there are even sheep and cows grazing on them! Not to mention a ton of rabbits... felt like Uvic all over again :)

This was the view from the top of One Tree Hill... which is now more like One Obelisk Hill.

Kylie viewing the Obelisk at the top of One Tree Hill.

 

Nico, Dad, Kylie, Liz and Baboosh. Nico is going to give me some contacts of his family in France for our trip in October. Meeting up with locals is the best way to see a country for sure!

A volcano crater in the centre of Auckland. It's deeper than it looks! Of course, I thought about Cam and how he'd love to play around here....

After a brief visit in Auckland, we drove the crazy winding roads north to Whangarei, where most of the immediate family is living.

Dad had booked us this cute little cottage for the week (two weeks for him and Kylie).

Dad and me at the wharf in Whangarei.

And of course we visited Granny... it was her birthday on Tuesday so we brought her some fleurs, though flowers seemed to be overtaking the estate she's living at!

Whangarei falls was just a short walk from our cottage and the estate where Granny lives.

Birthday drinks at a local pub with the whole fam-dam. I loved the NZ beer...

She hasn't changed much over the years! Still gorgeous.

Cousin Bridget, myself, cousin Amy, Kylie.

A candid group shot...

This photo is just for Mum... Kylie and I were shocked how much like Lance looks like Dad when Dad was his age! This was a photo taken before Dad left on his epic Europe & Africa travels.

Granny and her father were very close.

New Zealand - Part 2 will cover our three-day sailing adventure! Sailing is a big part of this side of the family.