Summer hello!

Since we were so organized, we were relatively early at the ferry. When we wanted to check in, they couldn't find our booking because the first ferry was still in the port. Spontaneously, we were asked if we wanted to board that one. We gladly accepted the offer. The weather was very nice, so there were hardly any waves. We played cards on board and after three hours, we could disembark in Wellington. Our luggage was the first on the conveyor belt and after a short wait, we could also pick up our new rental car. We drove to our accommodation in Johnsonville and immediately climbed the hill to Melissa - a friend from high school. Her son was celebrating his birthday. Unfortunately, we missed the water fight, but the game of hide and seek was also great. There was BBQ and ice cream to finish! On Sunday, we drove to Wellington to visit the Te Papa National Museum. 6 floors of different exhibitions awaited us. We stayed for a whole 4 hours and didn't see everything. The earthquake house was particularly great, where we could experience how it shakes... And we learned a lot of new things about the animal world too. We wanted to have a coffee in the city, but that turned out to be very difficult. Everything was closed between 3 pm and 5 pm! So we returned to Johnsonville and the men and women went out separately! On Monday, we drove to the southernmost point of the North Island. On the way, we stopped at the Putangirua Pinnacles. We walked through a riverbed and suddenly found ourselves in the middle of stone pillars. Very impressive! On the way back, we went to the lookout point and walked back to the car via the ridge. It wasn't far to Cape Palliser Lighthouse where we saw a lot of seals! We stayed overnight in Masterton, where a small pool was waiting for us. It is significantly warmer on the North Island (except in Wellington) and we all enjoyed the cool down! On Tuesday, we drove pretty much directly to Napier, the Art Deco city. There were incredibly powerful waves there and the town was very inviting for shopping. However, only Alex got to do it! We went to Te Mata Peak, from where we could look over the East Coast. Then we went to Kathy. She is my guest cousin and I haven't seen her in 7 years. We were warmly welcomed by her dog 'Shoelace', her two cats Polly & Molly, her husband, and herself! She works as a primary school teacher and we never ran out of things to talk about! We also went to her school and the kids got to swim and kayak in the school pool all by themselves! That was of course the absolute highlight. But the playground was also great - a half Ninja Warrior parkour and there was also a school-owned pumptrack! Noor would have loved to stay... For dinner, we had delicious Mexican food and then it was time to say goodbye again. We drove to Hamilton via Taupo, where we met almost my entire host family for fish and chips by the lake! The kids immediately started playing rugby and tag in the parkour field. Now we're in Raglan, at the house where I lived for a year in 1997. It's beautiful and we enjoy the beach, the sea, the new friends of the kids, and the carefreeness of New Zealand!