Catching Up

This weekend Glenn and I headed away with our good friends to Taupo. One of the couples, Kelly and Craig, were celebrating their tenth wedding anniversary so Craig had organised the whole weekend for us all without Kelly knowing any of the details, including that she had time off work.

We had an awesome weekend. The girls even had time to check out the shops in Taupo and we had some delicious meals out.

Craig had organised a rafting trip for us to go on Saturday afternoon and I have to say I was a tiny bit apprehensive about it. I had been rafting before, but well over twenty years ago on a school trip.

Well I had nothing to worry about as we all had a thrilling time, in fact, I didn't want it to end.  From the start to the finish of the trip, about 6 hours in total, we were so well looked after, and the rafting guides, so skilled in their job, ensured we all had a safe journey down the Tongariro River. This was a Grade 3 trip and now my friends are talking about going back sometime and trying the Grade 5 next time, umm, I think I will pass!

The river was so pristine and clear, all I wanted to do was drink it! The scenery along the way was beautiful and although we didn't see many trout as its not the time of the year for trout to be around, we spotted a fair bit of native bird life.

 About half way along the trip we pulled into the side of the river to walk up a stream where there was a waterfall to jump off, totally optional of course, so being the chicken I am this was totally not for me. I still got absolutely soaked as our guide made us float back to the rafts, in 4 degrees water, thank goodness for thermals and wet suits! Hot chocolate and snacks are also given out along the way, and I can tell you, that hot chocolate was some of best I've ever had, lol.

Action shots to come later in the week!


Recently the Bi Annual Wine Country Quilts Exhibition was held over three days.  I popped along with my stitching friends on the Friday afternoon. This year there were more quilts on display than ever before and some of these were amazing!

There were not as many merchandisers this time but we all still found some goodies to take home.
I also decided to sign up for a Block of the Month, more details to share another time.

I just have to share these dessert pics from last week - we went to a family dinner one night to catch up with family over from Australia and my Aunty had made two of my favourite desserts, which she always makes for our Christmas family get togethers, Chocolate Explosion Pavlova:

And Mint Bubbly Chocolate Cheesecake, yum!

Only four days to the Easter break, looking forward to have the time off work and a few days at home. We may have visitors staying one or two nights but I'm hoping to get lots of stitching done and get a new crochet blanket underway.