fri, 12/31...day 365

The last day of 2010, and the last day of my Project 365 posts. I'll be doing another project of some sort to capture everyday memories in 2011 - probably a weekly or biweekly summary on my other blog. It's hard to believe I've been doing the daily photo thing for two whole years now! :-)

We spent a quiet day at the holiday park, catching up on laundry, resting, swimming, and taking it easy. The boys and I walked into town to do some shopping, and Joanna picked us and our groceries up to spare us carrying everything all the way back.

In the evening, we celebrated New Year's Eve by going to a real, sit-down restaurant, The Gothic, which used to be a church. Niall and I both ordered meals where you cook the meat at your table on a (very) hot stone. He thought that was the coolest thing! And the food was delicious.

Wonderful to ring in the new year here in New Zealand with our friends!

thu, 12/30...day 364

Today featured an incredible trip to the Abel Tasman coastline, taking a boat from Kaiteriteri Beach all the way up the coast, and then getting off at a beach partway back to hike through the bush to Tasman Bay where the boat picked us up again in the afternoon.

The beaches and bays are just gorgeous. The water is an incredible color of green, and clear, with beautiful craggy rocks and little islands sprinkled about. Stunning.

On the walk, we had to cross a long suspension bridge that would only support "five people maximum." It was quite an experience!

The walk was up and down, in places quite steep, so I was happy that Cory handled it pretty well, though he did keep asking if we were there yet. Two hours of hiking is a lot when you're not used to doing any at all and you really don't care much about the scenery. He had a great time playing at the beach when we got there, though, so not a total loss. :P

wed, 12/29...day 363

Today's outing was to Kina Beach, located between Motueka and Nelson, the town we went to yesterday.

It was very windy, so Joanna and I set up our towels in a sheltered spot on the grass just back of the driftwood line.

The boys found a driftwood fort and enjoyed adding onto it and playing sparring games.

We also found really big shells on this beach - mussels and other kinds. Adding to our collection...not sure how we'll get them home without breaking!

tue, 12/28...day 362

The Holiday Park where we're staying has great kid-friendly features, like this jumping pillow (wish we had them back in the States), giant chess board, playgrounds, and (our favorite) swimming pool.

Today was cool and a little drizzly, so we headed off to explore the town of Nelson, about 30 minutes from Motueka.

We started at the cathedral, above the main street of town, and then walked down to stroll around looking at the shops. Cory got a silver ring he loved from a street vendor, and Niall got a necklace with a carved bone pendant from the same place.

We stopped for tea at a sweets shop, and then headed back up the hill to the cathedral.