Waimarama 30 December to 8 January
So just as much of our trip from Taupo to Waimarama was through the rain, it was indeed still raining when we arrived at the campground. Thankfully the crew were totally supportive and helpful in the initial set up... my parents were impressed!
Thankfully there were a few breaks in the rain - just a few.
Andrew had lent us the "Hotel" so he was called upon to help get it sorted... and sorted it was. Until morning when we realized it leaked overnight! Mom and Dad were safe and dry in our little Jackaroo... but we were a bit unsure what to do. Our quandary was over when Kate offered their tent because they were not going to stick it out in the rain. Bummer for them, good for us... or so it seemed!
Happy campers enjoying breakfast
Since most of the gang had already been dealing with ways to entertain the kids in the rain, someone had the brilliant idea to head to an indoor playground in Napier - so ALL of us went along. Boy, that place was not really prepared for the onslaught of customers, but they handled it alright... and the kids - well, the kids were "happy as Larry". As for the adults - well, of course my parents brought cribbage along and pretty much locked in on the Alabasters as their gaming buddies.
The coffee was so average (as per the other ladies) that we decided we'd wait. But it was a great outing on the day of New Year's Eve...
Hunter had asked so nicely to play air hockey with his buddy Will, that I just couldn't say no... so my treat for them was a round. (big spender, eh).
So of course, Helena needed to play as well... so she and Ruby got the next game... well, it was Ruby, et al.
After we'd exhausted the indoor playground's allure, a group of us headed into Napier to have lunch together. Hunter had been invited to ride in Will's car - which to an almost 5 year old is a total treat! But after one lonely trip in, Helena wanted a car buddy, so Elise came along with us. All I can say is two girls in the backseat make for a lot more conversation.
Helena and Elise - two little cuties!
We joined up with the Simkins, Camerons, and Alabasters for a healthy, family-friendly lunch at the Kiwi classic - Cobb & Co. I had personally never eaten here before, but all the Kiwi's could tell stories of at least one family meal out at a Cobb & Co. Hunter and Will were occupied by technology...
while the girls did old fashioned coloring, singing, and other word games as led by Lara and Eleanor.
After lunch, we all went over to the thermal pools! This was a lot of fun... and an adventure considering it was RAINING outside!!! Heck, what does rain matter when you're already wet?!? And warm!?! Except when it was my turn to look after the kids who decided they wanted to play in the cool pools!
The rest of the gang went back to camp and we headed over to find a few things from a hardware store. You know, you don't know what you need until you see other campers with mod cons you don't have. So we headed to a Mitre 10 and got a couple of lamps with eyes out for raincoats for the kids (why not stocked in summer, eh? it's NZ - it rains - even in summer!). It got so late,though, we decided to eat dinner out... but being small town New Zealand, on New Years Eve, there weren't very many options at 5.30pm... but we found one...
Ming and Sing Chinese Takeaways. Thankfully, they let us eat in... and eat we did!
Funnily enough, because it is a takeaway shop they didn't have bowls, plates or cups - but we managed to make it work...
The lemon chicken was a hit!!!
Now that we were fed, it was time to go back to camp and put the kids to bed! Safely asleep, we got to play games with our friends - uninterrupted. This is one of the best parts about camping - we (as in Tony and myself) get to play, hang out, laugh and just be around our friends in the evenings. No babysitters. No meetings. No agenda. Just Fun! And it really is a unique week.
Happy New Year!!!
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