Rail to Trail and more…

We started Luca off early in his exposure to biking.

First we had a chariot carrier when he was a baby. I used to tow it behind the bike for his afternoon nap.

It was also great in winter as could replace the wheels with skis….

Then we got a bike that hooked onto the back of Rich’s…

and progressed to a bike with trainer wheels….

However as I have said before, he never really learned how to ride until we arrived in NZ and he has really now caught the bike bug. A couple of weekends ago we drove to Roxbrough, (a couple of hours away), and biked to Roxbrough Gorge Trail. This was the first really challenging ride Luca has attempted…..

It was an awesome day!!! The scenery was stunning….

At the beginning of the ride is the Roxbourgh Dam,

the Trail follows the waterside up through the gorge.

It was a challenge for us all but so much fun!

A wonderful day weather wise for it too.

Yes, that is snow on those hills….

If you look closely below you can see the trail winding around the middle of that far hill…

Stopping for a cooling break 🙂

At the end is a little shack where if you want you can book a water taxi to take you up to Alexander. We made the most of the facilities…

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and ate the delicious picnic Rich had made for us.

Then it was time to hit the trail again…

The trail goes through a lot of privately owned farm land which means cows and sheep wander through it. These cows were very curious and followed along for a bit much to Luca’s delight.

Breaks among the wild thyme was a soft, sweet place to lie 🙂

This was the last push for home, (that is Rich and Luca in the distance), we were exhausted but happy by the end and so, so proud of Luca! Both Rich and I a little nervous we had pushed him a bit hard and put him off biking but seems not, he even thanked us for taking him! 🙂

It has been a busy time at school and in the community. The elections took place and I volunteered for a PTA fundraiser doing a sausage sizzle at the school voting booth. We did well there was a really good voting turn out and it is always good for the school to have a visibility at these community events.

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It was also the school dance this past week and this time Rich helped with the sausage sizzle, (they are a staple of any Kiwi fundraiser!) . I got there later after work and helped in the concession stand. The kids ate so much we had to send for more supplies three times! Luca and Olivia went together this year. The theme, “Spring Fling” , Luca of course went as a Dementor!!!! 😉

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Note the little posy on Liv’s left shoulder, Luca picked them for her. Forget Me Not’s he has always loved, and blue is Olivia’s favorite color – so sweet!

These are a bit blurry but the kids danced all night, they all had so much fun!

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Before the little kids went home the older kids and their book buddies danced. Here are Luca and Mica, Mica’s Dad described them as Beauty and the Beast 🙂 She is such a sweetie and Luca enjoys his time reading with her.

The annual West Harbour Sports Day was also held last week. It had been rained out last year, so this was Luca’s first real kiwi sports day experience, hundreds of kids attend ages 5 to 13. They are just like how they used to be when I was a kid ! Turns out Luca is quite the sportsman, who knew?!

Rich volunteered and supervised the Tug-of-War. The little kids especially love this one!!!! 🙂 Such a lovely day for it, everyone had a good time and Port Chalmers won the trophy which the kids were very happy about!

We have been having some really nice days recently and as Rich’s neck coming right we are getting on with projects and gardening…

On our “working” days at home like this, Luca had taken to biking down to Sushi Johny’s in the village for chicken rice balls for our lunch- delicious and one of his favorite meals.

The new outdoor table a success….

This weekend is Labour weekend and on Saturday we headed off to Central Otago to do some more of the Rail to Trail (if you recall we did some over winter). Liv had stayed Friday night with us so came too. Before we left Rich cooked up bacon and eggs for breakfast, a hearty start to the day!

We started off our biking at Rock and Pillar and headed to Middlemarch …

Then headed off again….

Arriving in Middlemarch for a late lunch at a sweet little place known as The Kissing Gate Cafe, so cute…

Lunch was delicious in its lovely backyard setting…

Then it was off to where we had begun to get the car…

with a small break on the way, the kids did great, no complaining just chatting and peddling 🙂

We then drove to a hike we had heard about. You walk into Sutton Salt Lake, the only salt lake in NZ. The kids were up for it so off we went….

Some of The Hobbit was filmed in this area. As you can see by the landscape it is pretty perfect for it, spectacular and ancient looking!!!

The kids even found a skink, both thrilled by that! They had a hold and let him go all without him losing his tail thankfully 🙂

We were all feeling very hot and sticky after biking and hiking. I had promised the kids a swim, so once we got back to the car, we headed off to Outram ,(about an hour from home) . It was early evening by the time we got there but still plenty warm enough….

After jumping in a few times, Rich and the kids floated down the river a few hundred metres, the current was fast but not too scary. I drove the car down and picked them up at the other end under the old bridge, such a cool end to the day!

We did not get home until around 9pm, exhausted but happy 🙂

Today has been raining, in between showers we got our walk in much to Pica’s delight, she had missed out on the trip to Central. On the way Luca found an intact egg that had fallen out of its nest. He got out his bird book and thinks it is either blackbird or quail egg.

Of course he wants to try to hatch it. It has been explained that the chances of it being viable is very low, but he made up an adorable little nest and heating it with a lamp so time will tell… 🙂

Next weekend is Halloween, Luca’s favorite celebration, his group have already made plans to meet up and do the village together . It is well done here, there is Facebook group with a map of houses that are participating, this means no one is disturbed that is not into it. Halloween is not a NZ custom, (not even heard of in my day), it is not huge here like in North America.

I found this recently of a previous Halloween, how cute are my boys!!!!!!