Hey here are some photos from our Easter holidays up north to the Coromandel peninsula. We went on a kayak trip to Cathedral Cove (you can see from the photo with Karen in that it is a huge cave through a rock, and the cave is shaped like a cathedral). On the other side of the Cove is a beautiful beach with a huge rock just off the sand called 'the boot'. We also went treking up in the mountains behind (to a mountain hut called 'Pinnacles' hut so called because of the strange rock formations behind it). Remnants of a major Kauri logging industry were all over the hills - the woodsmen must have been pretty tough to survive out in the sticks here.
We also saw a Kauri tree (huge thick trees that once dominated the landscape here - unfortunately the British Empire found out about them and cut most of them down to make masts for the British navy). The wood does not need to be treated and is solid and doesnt expand/contract making it ideal for ship-building. Some older Kiwi houses are also made out of Kauri wood.
At the end of the holiday we drove back down to Wellington via Masterton where we stopped in at a hot air balloon event (you can see them firing up! They produced quite a bit of heat you could feel even standing back 20 yards or so!).
Great Easter hols!
