Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Ladies Who Lunch...

Obviously Michael is out at work all day and so you may be wondering what I do with my time. Its not all lunch and vino you know!

We do have a few structured events like swimming lessons and Kindergarten, but in between that we try to get out nearly everyday.

Finding something to do in Wellington isn't hard, there are a mass of activities, places to visit and sights to see. One of Bethany's favourite places is the Zoo, as you know from previous posts we have been before but we still try to go at least once a month. We are now members and so get to hear of all the new animals that arrive. Here are some pics from the other day:

One of our other favourite places to go is Te Papa, which is the museum, hey, this is no ordinary museum, this is the best museum ever! There is so much to see from the Maori heritage to the Global warming issues, including a simulation earthquake house.

They also have a brilliant 'Discovery' room where kids can go and draw, do jigsaws and read about the earth and how things used to be. Bethany loves it in there and we often go to draw pictures and read books on Dinosaurs.

At Te Papa they have a very special place called Story Place, its where kids under 5 can go and listen to stories based on that months theme and then play in the magical land that appears from behind curtains. We went for the first time on Saturday and it was brilliant, Bethany loved it...as you can see from the pictures!

Its currently the kids Easter holidays here and so we all got together and took the kids to Staglands. I went with Jenny in between Christmas and New Year and the weather was so hot, this time it was a bit colder but seeing the difference in the trees and flowers was fantastic.

Anyway, there were 8 kids and they had a brilliant time seeing and petting the animals and exploring the land.

Bethany has made some amazing little friends, along with Eddie and Vicky she has made friends with all their friends and is so happy.

I have also managed to make another good friend called Sarah. She is another Brit who has been here 11 years. Sarah and her husband Dan have two little kiddies called Charlotte and Sophie, Charlotte is 3 and Sophie is a cute little 1 year old.

Here is there own NZ blog if you want to check out who we hang around with! http://www.nzcuties.com/

Bethany has grown very close to Charlotte and loves spending time with her. We have had some brilliant times out, we have been swimming, play dates at each others houses and today we took a trip to The Botanical Gardens. We had a brilliant walk round, the weather was gorgeous, definitely something we will do again.


Another little gem is The Karori Wildlife Sanctuary, we are also a member there as its just gorgeous. It is literally a Sanctuary for some of the most amazing birds, wildlife, plants, trees and flowers. Oh and they have a lovely area filled with Weta (its best not to know what these are!).

Bethany and I love to go for walks here and a few days ago we packed a picnic and headed off. We arrived at the Sanctuary in the blazing sunshine and were lucky enough to get the electric boat to the picnic area, we then enjoyed a long walk experiencing the lush greenery.

Wellington is an amazing place, cant even begin to imagine what the rest of NZ is like as this place is brilliant. Bethany's memories are going to be the best.

Hey and if you get bored of all that, there are always 'entertainers' on the wharf to keep you interested!
Marrisa :-)