We have been in NZ for 12 days now. The first couple of days were spent de-jet lagging. Brother Paul and Sister Sue arrived on Saturday and we did a walk over to Cathedral Cove. It’s a pleasant 30-minute walk to a gorgeous beach with chocolate box scenery. We all did the posey thing for photos.

We hunted around for a geocache, which we found easily.

On the walk back we stopped for a few more posey photos.

Next stop was Hot Water beach. This is a fun beach where you dig in the sand in search for hot water, then jump around screaming cos you got scolded. We took our spade to dig a big Jacuzzi, but every time we got a decent hole happening, the surf would come in and flood it. It was loads of fun until a blue bottle jellyfish stung Sue. We were a bit reluctant to go back in the water after this.

On Sunday we went bush to Puketui, an old gold mine, just a short drive from Mum and Dads. We visited an old jail in a cave, that has some interesting remains.

We went into dark caves and did some weta spotting. Wetas are big ugly spider type things that live in caves. We also spotted some glowworms.

In the afternoon we went to Sailors Grave for some boogie boarding. Paul showed us how to catch penny doctors. These are ugly little bugs that live in the dirt.