Worth It

Normally at the weekend Michael and I take turns at having a lie in. Saturday's are my mornings and Michael has Sunday. However the days are so much shorter when we do this, so for once we have gone sleep deprived and we have given up our lie-ins (well till next weekend anyway!).

So we got up with Bethany which is always around 6.30am (or when it gets light), and we had a cuppa we headed off to the Aquatic Centre at Porirua. Whilst the two fish had a splash around, I sat on the side and watched whilst catching up with the celebrity gossip from a trashy magazine.

After some fun we went and had some breakfast at Peppermill, a gorgeous little coffee shop and delicatessen. We ordered toast for Bethany and the bread slices were big enough to hold open a door!

At 11am the temperature reached 19 degrees, it felt like summer and it was simply amazing. We loved the drive back from Porirua (which is about 30 mins) in the beautiful sunshine and seeing everyone else enjoying it too.

On the afternoon we decided to go down to Oriental Parade, it's always a stunning place with so much going on. Today we passed running teams, power walkers, people in crocodile bikes and even people learning to stilt walk!

We walked along the front and spent some time in Te Papa, Bethany wanted to show Daddy the latest exhibition that he hadn't seen yet - The Poisoners. We went a little while back and Bethany loved to see it all again and show Daddy, running from one side to the other and back!

We then spent some time in another new exhibition called 'The Scots in New Zealand'. The Scots in New Zealand celebrates one of this country's most widespread migrant groups and how the Scottish have influenced New Zealand. It was very interesting and nice to hear some Scottish voices!

The above says: "My first impression of New Zealand was Lambton Quay on a Sunday afternoon. It was deserted. You could have shot a rifle down the street and wouldn't have hit anybody" - Catherine Graham, a migrant from Britain.

By the time we came out the wind had grown and there was a gale warning issued, it's certainly been the first time I have walked through the city and nearly been blown off my feet!! It isn't called Windy Welly for nothing!

We stopped off at The Fisherman's Table and had something to eat. It's a lovely location by the ocean with the views towards the city, the food was good and Bethany certainly enjoyed her ice-cream. We agreed that the amazing amount if time we had together was worth missing out on a few extra hours in bed.

It was then a mad dash home to rescue the washing from the line before our undies ended up all over Owhiro Bay!!!