Otari-Wilton's Bush - Native Botanic Garden and Forest Reserve

We took the girls to this lovely nature reserve, about ten mins drive from our house, and we took the short 15 minute nature trail which actually took us around half an hour to walk! It was wonderful to have a bush walk and be surrounded by beautiful old trees (400 - 800 years old!) and to hear all the native birds.

This reserve is the only botanic garden in New Zealand dedicated solely to native plants and consists of 100 hectares of native forest and five hectares of plant collections. Originally, Maori used the forest for hunting hence the name 'Otari' which means 'Place of Snares'. Following European colonisation, some of the large trees were removed for timber and others were burnt off for farmland. One of the early landowners, Job Wilton, preserved seven hectares (17 acres) of the original forest and fenced it off. This became known as Wilton's Bush.

There are many different types of trails and tracks to take depending on your time limit and level of interest. I will definitely be returning without the kids to explore some more!

Nick and Molly on the Nature Trail

Peeking through the pseudo-trunk of the Northern Rata:

Originally an epiphyte, this tree began its life high up on the

branches of another tree and then sent roots down to the ground which then fused

to create a pseudo-trunk, killing off the host tree. The gap in the trunk is a reminder of where the host tree once grew!

New Zealand Tree Fern - Punga Tree

400-year-old Rimu with Rata (epiphyte)
You can see the Rata roots strangling its host and making their way
towards the ground.

The cheesiest grin with Forget-me-nots!

Puff the Magic Dragon...

Disco Diva and Trikes

I know, it's been a while since we last posted but hey we did move house and school and...

Finally found a few essential camera items and have managed to take a few snapshots over the last few days:

Molly had her first school disco on Friday night and the theme was 'Superheros' so Molly was of course - Super Molly - found some material to make an 'M' for her princess dress and her little nurses' cape was perfect for a Superhero. The disco ran from 6pm until 7.15pm when the older kids took over! Molly was so excited about the disco and I was a little worried that it might be too much for her so late in the day but no; she's definitely cut out for parties, a real disco diva, I wonder where she gets that from? Once she got over her fear of the loud music and all the people, she bopped away to YMCA and 'Move it' and others and clearly did not want the party to end. It was quite hard to get her to sleep when we got home as she kept singing the whole evening!

We took a drive the other day to a peaceful beach called 'Makara Beach', about 3o mins drive from here, tucked over the hills, hidden from Wellington. At least we thought it would be quiet but it seemed that other Wellingtonians had the same idea that day. Spot the local children going for the plunge!

This morning we took the girls and their trikes down to Oriental Parade, Wellington's posh waterfront, had coffee, chased the gulls and played in the park all the while trying to avoid any collisions with other pedestrians and cyclists! Molly has a new trike and Madeleine has Molly's old trike; Molly is still learning how to steer and pedal.

Monday, Tuesday at Pukerua Bay.

It is late but I wanted to post these photos. The NZ coast can be a beautiful place with sunnies on but make sure you bring a coat.....

Nick

Hail Storm front
The maw of the beast

Sunshine

The inviting coast

The photographer and the shy Kapiti Island (it is visible today)

Cross-country

Molly enters her first cross-country race at Pukerua Bay School and runs further than she has ever run in her whole life! Well done Molly!

Waiting for the cross-country race to start

The first leg and the last leg!

Go Molly!!!!

Keep going Molly!

Almost there!

High Fives with Mum

Exhausted Molly lies down under her jumper and hides from her friends

Chillin' to Shoormal on new MP3 player from Grandpa

Bunks, Bouncing and Slippers

So I wrote this a few weeks ago bit it seems a shame not to post it.



Bunks

We brought some bunks the other weekend as we thought we would try to maximise our available space in our wee house. Apart from that it gets Maddy out of her cot and gives Molly an adventure each night scaling up the ladder to the top bunk. She loves being able to touch the ceiling.

So we assembled the bunks in the room they were in to kick off. We only had one mattress so we got Molly into the swing of things on the bottom bunk. Teddy’s up top. This weekend the cot got taken down and a couple of new mattresses were purchased and the girls got set up in the office. Initial concerns about how Molly might cope with the ladder were misplaced when she clambered down in the dark three times on the first night to come and see us in the living room.

A snap of the wee mountaineers.


Bouncing

The winter has arrived. There was some serious hail in the city on Wednesday last week. I was heading to Christchurch for some training but our plane was struck by lightening when it landed to pick us up. I’m happy for them to give it a good once over when that happens rather than just jumping on board and taking our chances. Some free breakfast vouchers were great. A generous helping of scrabbled eggs and mojo coffee.

Winter has also meant some indoor time for us and the weans. We broke out an old mattress for the girls to jump on in the living room. We have some footage of the gymnasts leaping about to some happy tunes (can you identify them – answers on a postcard).

Note: Turn your PC sideways for this clip.



Slippers

Mothers Day was on Sunday this week. I brought it forward a day to Saturday as we had our office party (we turned 1) on Saturday night. Beth headed out for the day and me and the girls made cards (and a mess). The excitement was too much for Maddy and while standing on a chair in her socks she lunged for a crayon, slipped, fell, smacked her chin on the table on the way past and bit deep into her bottom lip. A moment of silence then a Banshee wail. There was no shortage of blood mixed in with dribble and sobs. We got some ice on it and put on some ‘Cinderella’. Job done. Maddy has the makings of a TV junkie. Anyway to stop the slipping we went and got Maddy some slippers (can anyone explain that oxymoron please – slippers / slipping).

She has some flashing slippers. When she stomps (and she can stomp) they flash. It is quite distracting for her when she is doing a wee. Stomping and wee-ing is a skill.
Nick

A few random shots from April 2009