Wedding at the Chateau, Ruapehu

Our friend Andrew married sweetheart Julia this weekend at the Chateau. Pip was bestman. It was such fun being back at the Chateau and a treat to find their service and food was pretty spectacular these days. 

January is Gone roll on Summer!

Well that was the weirdest January, the weather was autumnal at best but finally we are hotting up in the city and summer seems to be here.

Auckland Anniversary Weekend was spent revisiting old water skiing haunts on the Waikato River down Reparoa way.  Staying in a very nice house at Broadlands just north of Taupo, right on the river, with friends Nicki and John and their three sproglets, we spent our days on the River and nights eating far too well.

 Pip testing the glassy waters on Saturday morning. A little later John dusted off his barefoot skills and tumbled up a few times much to his kids delight.

 At fifty something....OMG....I still managed to heave myself out of the lovely warm water  on Saturday morning to enjoy that fabulous sensation of skiing on glass. A little tentative at first but by Monday I was starting to find my feet again.

Family fun on the river, the kids aged 5 to 11 all took to the water on skis or donut. Pip managed to find a jet ski and rode the wakes as Nicki skied elegantly down the river.

 Highlights were a trip to Paradise, a natural hotwater inlet, were skiers and wave humpers (that's wake boarders) get together at the end of the day for cocktails floating in the hot water. Three families had their dogs floating on lilos or donuts, all had their own methods of storing beverages on the water. Our kneeboard was a floating bar, dispensing Moscow Mules, Corona's and Nachos.

Local livestock holding up the traffic, offroading in the bush, the green green grasslands at Reparoa.