Rosie's birthday

January 4 turned into a rather rainy day by the time we hit Turangi at 12:30. However we were all in the mood for a blobby day so after checking in at the Anglers' Paradise Motel we hung around in the motel's requisite pool and spa pool, watched telly and played scrabble. Rosie and Sophie cooked sausages for dinner which was followed by dessert from the dairy and more soaking in the spa pool for me while judging the girls' handstand competition in the pool. Then it was off to Taupo next day.

After checking in at a rather scuzzy motel (looked good in the book) I decided we needed better for the eve of Rosie's birthday. We moved to the fabulous Wairakei Resort just north of the town where for just a little more money we got a whole lot more luxury and fun. Taupo itself was very crowded and worth staying away from so it was good to be somewhere with plenty of comfort and entertainment. Even the toilets in the lobby were entertaining.

Two pools, a nice playground and our own comfortable "villa" kept us amused for the afternoon.

Later we dined at the less formal of the restaurants which was still very nice and had a late soak in the beautiful spa pool under a starry sky. There was much anticipation of January 6 and of 8:02 am, Rosie's exact time of birth.


At exactly 8:02 am Rosie began to - slowly and carefully - unwrap her birthday presents which included greenstone, photo frames, craft activities and baking paraphenalia. After this painstaking and deliberate ceremony (anyone who has watched Rosie put on her shoes when she was supposed to be out the door five minutes ago will understand) we went to the restaurant for the buffet brekky to fuel our day of adventure ahead. We checked out, stored the luggage and headed off.

The girls didn't know where we were headed (shades of Peter's birthday a few weeks earlier). First stop was the mighty Waikato River where we went for a wet amd wild jetboat ride.

Then it was on to the Taupo Adventure Park for lunch, a bewildering maze, laserwar, animal feeding, pogo sticks, quad bikes and mini-golf.

Late in the afternoon we returned to pick up our luggage, say goodbye to the lovely Wairakei Resort and board the trusty and seriously crammed Jeep for short trip to Rotorua.

After the obligatory swim at our next motel we hit downtown for a rather inferior Thai dinner (luckily the girls weren't so discerning) picked up a cake and went back home for the candle ceremony. Vicki had kindly sent a birthday card for Rosie to our motel so it was there waiting for her and helped to spin her birthday out over the entire day.

Rosie had her MRI this morning which went as they do but she was more interested in getting back to school quickly so she didn't miss her recess play-date with her "buddy". Each Grade 6 student is paired with a prep newcomer (they knew about them at the end of last year) to ease them into school life. Rosie's "buddy" is a girl called Charlie and she has already made Charlie a Christmas card and meets her at the beginning of some play and lunchtimes this week. She says Charlie's cute.