New Zealand Adventure: A Long Over Due Post from Rotorua

I am once again having to start a post with having to apologize with not posting in forever. I'm always shocked at how the time gets away from me.
I am going to start by going way back to July 7th. The kids were on school holidays. For my American friends the school year is a bit different here. They have four eight to ten week terms. At the end of every term they have a two week break. Their summer break is about six weeks. It is actually a brilliant system because they get more shorter breaks so they don't lose as much over them. My thoughts on the school system aside. The first day of break we went to an ice slide. You sit on an inner tube and they push you down an ice slope then you go flying down a straight bit before coming to a grinding halt by hitting some carpet. It was loads of fun. I did end up carrying the inner tubes a lot. The ice slide was 35 meters (115 feet) and I carried four inner tubes (one for each kid) the length of the slide five times. Needless to say I counted it as a massive arm workout. The place with the ice slide also had an ice skating rink. The kids informed me that they had never been ice skating before. I loved ice skating growing up and felt that I had to teach the kids. What happened in my head that made me think teaching four kids under eight how to ice skate at the same time by myself was a good idea I'm not sure but it worked out. Jack was a natural. He watched for a bit then got on the ice and flew. Tally was ok as long as she had a walker. Kaiya struggled for a bit but found her feet. Indie didn't really get the hang of it. She spent a good deal of time sitting on the ice but she was by far the most stubborn and refused to give up.

Jack, Indigo, Kaiya and Tally in the Hamilton Gardens

On July 9th (Wednesday) we drove to Rotorua. It is a three hour drive. I had the kids alone in the car being as Tanya had to go two thirds of the way earlier in the day and there was no point in her back tracking. I thought that a road trip with four kids and no tv would have been painful but they were actually really good. We listened to music, played car games, listened to a book on tape and stopped often. My favorite stop was at the Hamilton Gardens. It was the perfect place for the kids to run around and be silly. There were all sorts of gardens from Japanese, Maori, American, Indian etc. It was super cool. Once we got to Rotorua we had a lazy night. http://www.hamiltongardens.co.nz/
Our second day in Rotorua we went to a big play ground on the lake. We walked past an ice skating place on the way there so after lunch we went ice skating again. I was amazed at how much each kid improved! They were all awesome. That evening Tanya took the kids swimming and I went to the spa to use a voucher I'd gotten for my birthday. I got a massage that was under hot water. It was awesome. I absolutely love standing in the shower and I love massages so putting them together was amazing! It was definitely one of the top ten things I have done in New Zealand.
The next day we went to Paradise Valley (http://www.paradisev.co.nz/). The kids got to pet lion cubs which was pretty cool. They were on the adult side of cub though; defiantly bigger than I am. Then we went through the walking path and fed some animals. At the end we got to see them feeding lions. The kids were pretty disgusted.

Patting a lion cub

The next day we went to see some bubbling mud. It was cool but not as interesting as Yellowstone. Tally (3) asked if there was a hippo farting under the mud. It was super adorable. Then we went swimming. The pool had an awesome out door play area but it was cold and rainy so we mostly stayed in side.

Indigo feeding a deer

On our last morning in Rotorua we went on the Luge (http://www.skyline.co.nz/rotorua/ssr_luge/). You take a gondola up the side of the mountain where there are cement pathways down the mountain. They have these little black carts that you sit on and stere. I did one ride with Indigo (5) and one ride with Tally(3). Oh my goodness they are speed demons; as is Jack (7). The Sharps are going to have a heck of a time teaching those three how to drive. When Tally and I were following Jack he was going so fast I could hardly keep up with him. It was loads of fun. After the Luge Tanya headed home with the kids and I went Zorbing (http://zorb.com/world/rotorua/). A Zorb is a big ball that has a smaller ball inside of it. The two balls are attached with stretchy stringy things. You crawl into the inner ball and then they push you down a hill. It was so much fun! I loved it. I was laughing so hard. Zorbing is one of the things I really wanted to do in New Zealand. I remember reading about it in Newsweek magazine when I was late middle or early high school and being absolutely enthralled with the idea. I am so so so glad that I got to do it.

One of the lions from Paradise Valley

The rest of the school holidays were generally uneventful. We watched a dino show at the museum, saw a mermaid swim at the aquarium, went to clip and climb and went ice skating (again!). All of the kids have really gotten into ice skating. Jack (7) more so than the others. It is pretty cool to see them loving something that I taught them .