I have just arrived back from my first weekend away in Taupo with Mum and Dad. It was organised by Dad’s work and we stayed at the Wairakei Resort for 2 nights. It was a bit strange being in the car for such a long time. On the way down on Friday morning, we left at around 9 am and I had a nice sleep before we made a short stop in Cambridge at a nice cafe which had some toys in a box and coffee table for me to walk around. I then had to go back in the car for another couple of hours and didn’t want to go to sleep again and was getting a bit bored. So Mum had to sing and play games with me over the car seat until we arrived (Dad was driving).

On Friday afternoon Dad went off to a work meeting, and Mum took me to the spa. Although it was cold outside it was fun being in the warm spa. That night a friendly lady from the hotel called Renee looked after me while Mum and Dad went to dinner with the other people from Dad’s work.

We had a very busy day sightseeing on Saturday. First we went to the Huka Falls. There was a lot of rushing water, just like when Dad fills up the bath at home, but even more splashy. We stopped at the Honey Hive for some honey icecream (for Mum and Dad) and a milkshake for me. I like milk.

Then we went and watched the Atiamuri dam for one of its daily openings and there was even more water. We also went for a walk through the forest to to a lookout which had a great view of the waters and Dad carried me which was fun.

After some yummy Japanese lunch in Taupo we then walked around the Craters of the Moon geothermal park. It was very interesting seeing all the smoke pouring out of the ground, a bit smelly too. I decided to have a nap as it had been such a busy day. And a good thing too because when we got back to the hotel we went for a swim in the heated thermal swimming pool. It was even more fun than the spa as there was lots of room to splash around.

Mum and Dad had another dinner on with a dress-up theme of “round the world” so they put on some of the Japanese clothes they have. I was quite tired so after playing with Renee for a while I went to sleep.

We managed to fit in one more swim before checking out on Sunday and walked around Lake Taupo before starting the drive back to Auckland. We stopped at the corrugated iron town, Tirau, for lunch. There was a Scottish festival on and we saw lots of bagpipe bands all dressed up in their kilts. The bagpipe music seemed to suit the dreich weather.

So it was quite a busy weekend indeed but lots of fun. I’m ready for my next holiday…