1. Daughter-Two was not impressed at having to take disgusting tasting antibiotics for a skin infection and her patience (usually impressive) is never at its best when she is sick. She was building up to a meltdown over having to take it until I said "OK, I'll pay you 50c for each dose". Immediately the tears stopped and she said "OK. Deal". It seems I have one child who is completely and utterly unmotived by money and other material things ... and one who definitely is.
2. I, in turn, was not impressed at the state of her legs. We are back to the three-times-a-day greasing ritual that we had to do when she was a baby and toddler. I took her to the doctor a few months back saying I thought her legs were infected but just got the "it's her allergies" brush off. They have been better at times since then, but never completely right. With them worse than ever last week I took her to see the part-time woman doctor instead (since the regular one is on holiday). She took one look and said "that's an infection". Thank you. Now I feel like the worst mother since she is SO much better in every way and I realise how under par she has been for months.
3. Our trip to Whitianga was tiring but worth it. The best thing was staying in a serviced motel instead of in a bach (private holiday home) as we have always done in the past. No more spending the last day sweeping up sand, vaccuming and cleaning fingermarks off windows.
We were congratulating ourselves heartily on the decision until we went to bed the first night in the tiny separate bedroom and realised how much we rely on our HRV ventilation system to cool down the house at night. Sleeping in the little motel room was like trying to sleep in an easy-bake oven. Fortunately the other nights were a bit cooler.
We went on a "cave coast" inflatable boat tour:
From inside that cave looking up:
One day we caught the five minute ferry across to Cooks Beach and saw what must be the smallest free-standing library in the world:
Before hiking to Lonely Bay:
It was a bit rough to swim there, so we walked to Cook's Beach and swam there instead before the heavens opened again. (Yes, half an hour after that photo above was taken, the skies were grey and it was pouring down).
On the way home, we drove via Coromandel and stopped at the Waiau waterworks which were pretty much like a mad inventor's playground:
4. Today Daughter-two and I went to Onehunga as she wanted to take a train trip. It was shaping up as one of those outings were everything goes wrong. The train was late, and when it finally did arrive it was not going to Onehunga but to the nearby stadium because it was a "Big Day Out Special". But it seems music festival fans are too cool for public transport as we were the only passengers on the whole "special" train. We had to swap at Ellerslie where we discovered the train we wanted was late because of a freight train crash further up the line. Fortunately it soon turned up, and we found our way to the outlet mall at Onehunga where I remembered that I dislike outlet malls, as they are full of stuff that nobody wanted to buy in the first place. If they were branded like that would they be as popular? Naturally the shoe shops had none of the school shoes we needed and Daughter-Two kept dragging me toward the $2 shops begging for the sort of gaudy, plastic tat I am despising more and more these days.
But things quickly turned around. On the main street we found some sturdy but comfy school shoes for a third of the price you pay in Newmarket. Then we passed an op-shop (aka thrift store) where, for 50c, I found a great book to take on our upcoming trip. Daughter-two was tempted by a dust-mite ridden toy duck until a Chinese man walked in with a big bag of toys he wanted to donate. The woman behind a counter pulled out an "interactive planetarium" toy (press buttons and it gives you a myriad of facts about the solar system). I thought Daughter-two was going to combust with desire and couldn't hand over her money fast enough when the woman said she could have it for $5. Obviously bought in Hong Kong or somewhere similar, it has a very authoritive man giving the facts, unlike similar English toys which usually have a Mary Poppins type woman with a sing-song voice saying 'press any button to continue", this one just shouts "Press a BUTTON". It had Daughter-One and I fits of giggles .. the first twenty or so times. A huge hit with Daughter-Two.
5. Two new templates and two element packs are coming to the store at Designer Digitals this weekend.
This layout is a sneak peek for the elements ....
Well there you go, great photos. I've been to Whitianga and I even know how to pronounce it!
Posted by: Carol | January 23, 2012 at 12:11 AM