Westmere

Happy Easter! Hope you're all enjoying the bank holiday break. We had a little Easter Egg Hunt for Solana this morning, both in the apartment and garden - she loved it, especially being able to eat chocolate with breakfast. The star of the show was the Easter chocolate kiwi - don't think she'll be getting one of those again in a hurry! We then painted (technically drew on) some eggs - I drew a penguin (or at least attempted to) and Solana drew her Nanna (you're on the left in the photo Mam!).

We then went to Auckland Zoo for most of the day. It is walking distance from where we're staying, so very easy to get to. However, none of us really enjoyed it as much as we thought we might - maybe we were all just tired today, or maybe the zoo has lost its shine after having been lucky enough to see so many wild animals in their natural environments... The best bit was a section where you could see into the vets area "backstage" - there was nobody working today due to Easter but it would be fascinating to watch the animals being treated. Of all the exhibits in that area, Solana chose to ask about the picture of a hippo being castrated - try explaining that to a 4-year-old, in public!!!

We then spent this evening sorting our stuff and packing up, ready for our flight to Australia tomorrow. We have acquired an extra bag to check in since we arrived in NZ - it is mainly a coolbox (or "chilly bin" as they call them here), filled with wine that we haven't yet managed to drink, plus our cutlery, plastic plates, etc. Having that stuff has been great as it has meant we can prepare more of our own food and picnics - and I think we'll need it in Australia to help keep costs manageable too (especially given the cost of accommodation in Sydney!). I also did our final budget check for NZ today, which revealed that on average we've spent only about 30p over budget each day - made me happy!!!Read more