Week one:

We visited the zoo. This was a highlight for Piper since rhino's are her favorite animal at the moment, thanks to Justin Robert's song about the 'imaginary rhino'. Piper really got into reading the map and looking for all the animals she wanted to see. The giraffe/zebra enclosure was very cool, as well as the rhino and elephant habitats. The Auckland Zoo is really a lovely smaller zoo with great habitats for it's animals.

Too tired to finish chewing...talk about being worn out from playing at the beach!

Piper loved the water...she also enjoyed throwing sand...and experimented with tasting sand..which didnt go down well. We bought her a polka dot bikini which she wanted to wear every day! This was her first beach experience - ever! She is truly a kiwi kid at heart.

Week one:

We visited the west coast beach of Bethells, it's very wild and rugged and right next to the beach that was used in the film 'The Piano'. Piper's Nana Rosemary lives 10 minutes from Bethells in the Waitakere Ranges, which is where you will find a lot of natural rainforest. This beach is unusual because it has black volcanic sand...we only saw a few people on the beach, some sand surfers and some riders on horses. We played in the little salt water river...Piper had a blast. It's such a huge expanse of beach, and once you get past the dunes it is flat like the salt flats in Utah!

Okay, before we get down to the photos of New Zealand let me explain the importance of coffee on this trip. It's everywhere, and it's excellent. I'm talking Seattle on crack! There are more independant coffee shops and cafe's in New Zealand than anywhere we have ever seen!

Coffee is the new tea for kiwis! One particularly good cup is something called a 'flat white' almost a latte but the foam is very fine and creamy...and in this example, it bears the signature of a proud kiwi icon...the silver fern. Yummy and pretty to boot!

Do you believe in fairies? We certainly do! Piper was turned into one in New Zealand and we couldn't be happier. She has to be the prettiest fairy in the whole wide world!

Okay, we're back from New Zealand...Mike has all the photos on the camera ready to download. I have made a promise to unpack our suitcases before I go into the blogisphere...keep your eyes open...there are some pretty cool pics from our AMAZING holiday!