a visit from Justin's dad

Justins dad was able to come visit us in NZ for about 10 days over Christmas. We flew down to Wellington and spent the whole time driving back up to Paihia. The highlights are:

Te Papa Museum in Wellington

Hiking up Ruapehu Volcano on Christmas day: Hide was having so much fun sliding down the snow, and finding a christmas snowman Trout fishing on Lake Taupo: taupo is world famous for trout and fly fishing, our biggest catch was over 50cm, then our hotel cooked them up for us and we feasted! It was so good! Our boat hire also took us to these Maori rock carvings on the lake. We also went kayaking, but I forgot my camera... boo!
Rotorua- Hide grew up in a geothermal town in Japan, so the sulfur smell of rotten eggs soothed him. I on the other hand, with this superpowers sense of smell, spent the whole day trying not to vomit. Justin was the chief at the Maori show we watched, he did the hongi (no, hes not about to kiss the guy) which is a traditional way of saying hello by touching noses. Its their way of kissing cheeks. It litterally translates to "sharing of breath".

Going out to Bridal Veil falls and Raglan: no surf, again, so we didnt stay long...