Whiti Farm etc

So boxing day (day after christmas for those non-kiwis) we headed up to Cooks Beach.  My parents have bought a section there, with long term plans of building on it, but for now we are tenting it.  I was a little nervous about being in a tent for a week with our boys, you just never know how they'll take to sleeping there.  But they were so good! Both took good naps, went to sleep early as (due to a day full of moving).  Granted they woke up with the sun at 6.30am, but all in all it was really nice. Malachi went out fishing with Grandad and caught us some dinner, caught an eel too. Most of my siblings were there, along with my parents so we got to hang out.





Poor Grandma the slave.




We caught the ferry over to town for the day.


Mmmmm Jellytips. Wouldn't be summer without them.




I have a thing for fobby signs. This was at our fav fish and chip shop.






Vili is clearly over his dog phobia.










Part of the reason of going up this time was to help Dad with some manual labor.  There's a little utility there, Tui helped to build a shed, we all helped level ground, and the boys did some cobble stone laying.  For Tui it was more a working holiday then anything else.



Malachi loved playing in the gravel watching the men work






But of course we managed to get to the beach.








One day we happened upon this starfish breeding ground. It was insane. In all my years going to the beach, I have never EVER seen that many starfish in one place. Malachi collected 39.






And we went to the Whiti Farm, which is like a huge petting/feeding zoo.   It was totally worth the money, and we will go back for sure.  The boys loved it, and I was surprised at how brave they were feeding all the animals.





Malachi fell in love with this sheep.












There were a ton of tractors around the place, which made Vili one happy camper.


So just before this picture, Tui decided to ignore the "Dont' feed the ostrich" sign, and almost got his hand bitten off by this giant bird. He screamed so loud I almost wet my pants. Hence why he won't stay any closer to it.Lol





Unfortunately our holiday was cut short by the greatest rainfall in that area in 30 years (go figure).  But it was good while it lasted.  Granted, it was no Tongan paradise, but it was nice.