Target practice at "The Farm"

Today was a beautiful day after a violent storm yesterday. We got a call from Ethan asking when we were going to come and see him at his house. So off we went. Had a lovely afternoon tea of fresh piklets with jam and cream on the deck.

The newest aquisition for the farmer family is a rifle for target practice and possibly the occasional hare! Dudley has replaced the original scope on his rifle with a slightly easier one, and has also got Dee Dee to save a few tin cans which he and Ethan have filled with stones and placed about 50 metres away from the deck (facing a bank with scrub behind so very safe). We all had a ball and even Mumbles managed to hit a couple of the tins! Dee Dee looks a real pro, and got the can on her first shot! She wanted to stop then while she was ahead but was convinced to have another go and got her second target with almost as much speed.
Pops did really well and hit several cans in a row! Ethan was a very keen observer.

Ethan was a wee bit unsure about the whole pulling the trigger thing, but, with Dad keeping a very close eye on the proceedings, had his turn and will be a better shot than all of us in no time I'm sure! Especially if he maintains his superman status.

Pauatahanui Golf Course - Carly and Mum

Well, on Labour Monday Russell went fishing, the Harris family had a bit of a sleep in and Carly and Mumbles went out for 9 holes at the Pauatahanui Golf Course.Unfortunately for Carly, Mumbles had the camera so all the shots are of Carly....

But I thought the travellers might like to see big sis in Action. Golf was the winner on the day. We got very good value for money and had lots of golf for our green fees.
We really enjoyed the walk and will definitely do it again.....

And now for a birthday party!

Well it all looks very nice and neat and tidy to start with. The theme is Lightening McQueen, a special favourite of Ethans. Mum and Aunty Carly have been busy preparing food most of the day and Ethan has had a quick visit to Nan and Gargs to help cope with the excitement!

With about 12 children and 14 adults there was plenty of action, and luckily plenty of food as well. Children's favourites of cheerios, chips, lollies, fairy bread and sausages rolls kept the children happy. The adults got rather more grown up food - though that didn't stop us having a bit of party food as well! This is Ethan and Big Josh digging in....

Mikayla (and Leonie), and Matt on the far side, with Hannah, Ethan and big Josh again.

And wouldn't you know it..... A Lightening McQueen cake, and one happy birthday boy.

It's a wee bit embarrassing to have all the attention, but kinda nice to have everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to me! Do you like my 4 YEARS OLD badge?
Just taking the candles out ... with a little help from my friends!

And then it's time to cut the cake and share it all out. Mum and Dad are on hand to help.

Now for Pass the Parcel. Dad did the music and everyone managed to get a turn to unwrap the parcel and get a prize. Mikayla scored the final prize and everyone was happy.

Little Josh loved my Superman outfit so much that he needed to get one as well so today you get two Super Heros for the price of one. Kinda cute aren't we?

Home in time for a special boys birthday!!!

Sunday 19 October and Ethan James Harris is finally 4 YEARS OLD! Luckily the superman outfit arrived in time for the birthday and is now the favourite attire. Because Aunty Carly and Russell are coming to Wellington for Labour weekend Ethan has agreed to postpone his party for a week, but every boy needs a cake and a happy birthday song on his birthday and Nan and Garg got home from Rarotonga just in time to share the fun.
Mum, Garg, Superman Ethan and Nan all smile for the camera.

And of course blowing out the candles is a very important job.

Now with the birthday stuff done, time for superman to try out the new slide. It is eventually going to go on a fort along with the barrell swing that Nan and Garg got but for now a hillside does just as well.

Nan even cut some steps out of the hill to enable an easier climb for the super hero!

Is it a bird? Is it a Plane? NO! It's SUPERMAN. Isn't he just the cutest wee man? We all think so anyway.

The last day ... AND a SUNSET!

Well it's our last day and so we had to do a bit of scooting... First stop the Fire station and Police Station, Les couldn't resist a photo in front of the the FIRE station!
Then it was off to the botanical gardens... Brent didn't venture to the gardens so it was up to me to hold the camera up and take my own photo. Love the hibiscus!

Just had to get a shot of "The Needle" from the distance to show how HIGH it is.

Finally we were in the right place at the right time to see the sunset and we were very well rewarded. Our last night was spent in the beach restaurant at the Edgewater resort.
Having a wee drink and enjoying the ambience.

What a fantastic sight. The typical island sunset scene of beautiful sky, a few palm trees and glorious red/orange colours....

Jane and Nanna popped in to say good-bye, stayed for a drink and then joined us for dinner, at last we got to be hosts and provide them with a meal... not as sumptuous as the one they gave us but at least it was a start.

Well that's rarotonga, time to go home. What a fantastic holiday, rest and relaxation on a tropical island sure is the way to go.

Dining Out in Raro

Wednesday Night.....After our hike over the mountains it was time for s scrub up and off out to Flametree in Muri Beach. The Flametree is owned by the son and partner of a couple at the Johnsonville Club so we thought we better check it out. Lovely surroundings and beautiful food .... similar prices to NZ so not an economic night out but very nice.

Thursday lunch and it was back to the Game Fishing Club for another fantastic fish 'n' chip meal right on the beach Mmmmmmmmmmm!
Now we're talking. Thursday was the reason for the holiday! The 50th birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MRS KIM The chosen restaurant was Vai'mas on the western side of the island to take advantage of the beautiful sunsets that Rarotonga is famous for. Unfortunately when it is P-E-R-S-I-S-T-I-N-G down with rain you don't get much of a sunset, but the meal was fantastic and the company even better! A wonderful night was had by all. Brent chose the fish curry which came with a pawpaw salsa and rice. Yum!

Coast to Coast past the Needle - Wed 15th

Today 4 of the most intrepid of our group decided to cross the Island, a 3 - 4 hour trek that is deemed difficult and requiring a guide. We decided that it couldn't be too hard and what goes up simply must come back down again so off we go..... Brent, Les, Kim and Jocelyn.
There is a fairly well trodden track for the first 3/4 hours or so... hmmmm a bit of off road trekking and we think we are back on the main track, but not 100% sure. We just kept the "Needle" in our sights and we can't go too far wrong.
It is fairly steep in parts but we were in no hurry so just kept going up and enjoyed the scenery. What surprised us was the complete lack of bird life. The only living things we saw was a multitude of native lizards or skinks as we call them. And even then you had to be in the front to see them skuttling away.
We made it to the base of the Needle in good time and stopped for about 1/2 an hour and had a bit of lunch (leftovers from the feast last night!).

Then off we go for the downhill climb. Hmmmmm ... again! We think we followed the main track for a while and then, while there was a track we think it wasn't the main track!

A bit of 5 point contact with the ground required (butts being the fifth point!). We were not the first ones to use this particular track, but we are sure that the guided tour would not require visitors to slide down a skree/dirt slope for about 200 metres!

Never mind, we got to the waterfall at the bottom which is the correct exit point, so while we had muddy pants to prove our journey, we did manage to exit to the carpark where we were very pleased to see Fred drive up in the wee sports car to save us a walk to the bus stop, and maybe some serious explaining to the bus driver to let us sit on the bus!

The whole trip took us about 4 and 1/2 hours, but with about 45 minutes to an hour of rest breaks we felt that we didn't do too bad, and the effort was well worth it, the views and the satisfaction were spectacular.