Saturday, December 30, 2006

Gabriels Gully, Lawrence



Gabriel's Gully

In 1861 Gabriel Read discovered Gold not far from Lawrence. By September there were 6,000 minners camped at Gabriels Gully just out from Lawrence. In 1862 Lawrence had grown to a population of 11,472 - more than double that of Dunedin at that time. It has a really interesting history and is a really awesome little place! We settled in a very picturesque setting beside a small pond (at Gabriels Gully) to have lunch. Absolutely beautiful!

Nugget Point




NUGGET POINT (CATLINS)

We decided to take Natalie to nugget point and show her the amazing views! Hayley is not really fast enough at walking yet so I lugged her along in the backpack. Each time I go back to Nugget Point it still takes my breath away! The photo's say it all!

Friday, December 29, 2006

Taieri River Gray Boat Cruise


TAIERI RIVER

I have one of my really great friends Natalie staying with us at the moment and we decided to go down the Taieri River in our boat. This is the first time that we have been down the river ourselves and we all enjoyed it very much! We packed a picnic lunch and ate it while floating down the Taieri River. This is the second time since we have lived down the South Island that we have been out in our boat.

Friday, December 08, 2006



































Merry Christmas Everybody!

Well as another year comes to an end in a few weeks we would like to wish all of you an awesome Christmas and New Year. We have had a very busy year, with the shift to the South Island and settling into a new community. I can say that we are now settled here now. The children and I are both actively involved in kindy and playcentre. Caleb is doing really well and spends a lot of his time SINGING!! He walks around with a microphone and pretends to sing like this guy does in our church. I have a feeling that Caleb (later on in life) is going to be involved in music to some degree. Caleb is a very intellectual little fellow who always needs challenging. His favourite thing is playing outside in the sandpit. Hayley is a very easy going child who runs everywhere! (which involves a lot of falling over!). Hayley has a lot of initive beyond her years and is constantly suprising me with her intelligence. This year I was finding things a bit too busy and the quality of the office work was slipping as a result. We now have a lady called Liz coming in once a week on a Monday to look after Caleb and Hayley. That way I can have some time to myself and also get some uninterrupted work done!
Brendon has found this year to be one of the busiest of his life! Brendon is now starting to feel a bit more rested and enjoying being a bit less under constant pressure every day due to lazy employee's. We have 2 ok employees in our employment currently.
Brendon is really enjoying being the Tourist any time he has the chance for some time off! Makes awesome family time!

This week our playcentre went to a local business in Balclutha and all the children made their own decorations and hung them on the tree. After that we made our way up to the old peoples home in Balclutha and sang Christmas songs to the old ladies. As you can imagine all the children were quite a hit with the old people! I have include a few photos of this trip...

Clutha River Mouth



Gray Family
One windy gail force Saturday we decided to go on a family outing despite the weather and discover some more unchatered territory. We decided to go to the rivermouth of the Clutha River about 10 min drive from the house. I have included some photos of this trip. The walk was 20 minutes each way and well worth the walk as you can see by the photo's. While we were at the beach part in the photo where Brendon is standing we had on of the WORST sand storms that I have ever been in! The kids were screaming with pain as the sand was hitting there faces. We managed to find a sheltered place for a picnic. We actually had a really great outing that day despite all the reasons why we should not have enjoyed the day. After all it is about being in each others company that is the best part!