Here are some pics from our trip up to the North Island

Wellington from the Botanic Gardens at the Cable Car landing

The flat I lived in while studying at Victoria University back in 2000

"Do you like ice cream?"
"yes"
"Do you like chocolate?"
"oh, yes"
"Then you should order the Iced Chocolate"
I think mom made the right choice- this drink looked Yum!

Dad and Brian on the waterfront walkway in New Plymouth, we took off on a walk to the beach and ended up going on a 6 mile circuit along the beach, through the city and up through Pukekura Park, gorgeous way to spend the day.

Joy, mom and I

The wind wand in New Plymouth

Stone carvings on the waterfront

Dad's birthday Fish 'n Chips

and finally Mt Taranaki shows itself through the clouds

On the walk up to the ski field on Mt Taranaki

The path up to the ski field starts off as a nice wide path, then narrows to a goat track with railings and an avalanche path in the middle, this section is called the Manganui Gorge

Dad and I made it to the ski field, you can just barely see mom and Joy in this photo, they turned around when the path got snowy and are heading back to the parking lot

How many ski fields have such a warning on the walk from the car park to the lodge?

Sadly, the bottom lift (T-Bar) was lacking a bit of snow, the upper lift looked fantastic, we saw some skiers heading up the T-Bar, gliding over the grasses and dodging the rocks, the snowboarders we saw didn't have such an easy time

Some sweet runs further up the mountain

Some keen riders giving us the lowdown on the Ski Club, lifts, runs and the snowboarder run/hop up the hill

A coffee at the visitors centre after the mornings expedition

We checked out our New Plymouth relatives' farms

This photo was taken south of New Plymouth looking north at the Paratutu Rock and the two other remnant of volcanoes that were once as tall as Mt Taranaki

Dad and I, just before our hike up Paratutu Rock

While my folks were visiting, Zoe was well taken care of, Dad took her on heaps of walks around the neighbourhood

Fresh snow on the hills in southern Christchurch, it was sunny so we went up for a walk and a peek over the other side to the harbour

Zoe likes the snow!!!

The City from the Port Hills

And of course it wouldn't be New Zealand with out the sheep!

I had a fantastic time with my folks while they were here. Now they will know what the heck I am talking about when i call home. I hear they are still recovering from the Jet lag and 24 hours of traveling back home. Things have returned to normal around the house and I have returned to work. I think Zoe really misses them, I know I do.