Summiting a volcano

...albeit a dormant volcano, but Kien has been talking about giant craters and volcanoes for quite some time. We've been promising him a trip to Rangitoto, and on Sunday we delivered. It didn't take us too long to sail there, although we did have to throw in numerous tacks in the process.

Once we anchored in McKenzie Bay we kayaked to the island and made our way up.





Kien was so excited seeing all this new stuff he walked practically the entire way on his own two feet! (as opposed to getting a lift with me and then I've got an extra 15kg to carry).





Made it!



We stopped for some lunch and took in the gorgeous views.







Then the long trek back down to the shore.







Day trip done. One hour left before the tide was completely out and we were cutting it close as we left the bay, almost running aground. The depth alarm went off at 1.9 meters - phew, we didn't get stuck.

Tales from our garden

We moved into our house at the beginning of winter. The garden was stark; remnants of sad looking plants left by the ex-occupants as well as overgrown prospering weeds. Here are some photos of the back garden I took back at the end of April last year when we inspected the property before we went unconditional.

April 2014

Then in October when it started to heat up we went to the garden centre and got a bunch of seedlings. It was a long and slow process while the weather in Auckland tried to sort itself out, and the garden continued to look sad. Mid December came and the garden started to erupt with life.

Mid December 2014













The beans also went in at this time.



Then over xmas and the new year break we saw some more growth happening.

Last week





Kien was able to eat a few strawberries that have been ripening in the sun.



This weekend

Now here we are. This weekend has been a productive one. We've extended the square patch outside the french doors.



The beans are taking off.



We've got lots of tomatoes on the vines slowly changing colour.



The corns are now ready to be pollinated - and I've manually done just that with the two little cobs with their silks sticking out.






Ah yes, I've been enjoying having a proper vegetable garden again. As for the front courtyard...that's another story.