The school holidays had rolled around, and our son Alex had two business trips to both Wellington and New York so it was down to Fiona and I to entertain the two boys. Ayden 14, and Liam 11.
Click on any image to enlarge
Our oldest son Drew and his partner Jenna and their 10 month old son Archie were going to meet us in Rotorua later and were staying in a boutique Hotel in Rotorua town.
Our first thought was to stay at the Speedway track which is somewhere I’ve never stayed before or Ngongotaha NZMCA park. Fiona had the idea that she would follow us down in the car so we could run around down there more easily.
We were off. Ayden sat in the copilots’ seat and Liam came down with Fiona a wee bit behind.
We arrived in Rotorua early in the afternoon with passing showers so after checking out the Speedway which looked amazing, I decided against staying there only due to the power being 3 pin plug. Our 10 amp adapter is not weatherproof and the only spare 16 amp weather protected plug meant crossing some fairly boggy ground, so it was off to Ngongotaha.
I was pleasantly surprised that there were plenty of powered sites still free given it was school holidays and the park was quite busy. We plugged in and settled down until Fiona and Liam arrived in the car an hour or so later.
It didn’t take long for the boys to check out the park and they quickly found the hopscotch right next to the powered parks. Later that day we headed into town to the park by the waterfront for the boys to run around.
Click on the Gallery below for enlarged images at the Waterfront
Andrew and Jenna texted so it was off to see them at their hotel and then we walked to the Lone Star for a meal. I haven’t been here for a while, so it was a quick reminder on how big the meals are there 🙂
The next day after some more Hopscotch, we caught up again with Drew, Jenna and Archie.
After a nice lunch at Fiona’s favourite French cafe, we drove up to the Paradise Valley Animal Park for the boys, all three of them!
They really enjoyed it and saw the Lions being fed which was amazing. The slabs of meat get thrown over about a 30 metre high French surrounding the enclosure 🙂
Click on the Gallery below for enlarged images of the Animal Park
There was a fair / amusement arcade setup on the fields behind the waterfront park, so we took the boys there. Ayden had broken his thumb playing rugby and was in cast so that reduced the Funtime activities for him which was a shame. Liam had a go at the dodgems and Ayden settled for some candy floss.
The next morning, we were meeting Drew, Jenna and Archie at the Gondolas so that Liam could have a go on the Luge. He had a great time while we waited for him with cups of coffee in the Cafe.
Both boys came back with me in Rafe and we caught up with Fiona at Tirau.
It was a fun few days and they really enjoyed it and it was a nice change for us too. Here is a look at a previous trip to Rotorua with the boys.
Bugger It, we are off - www.buggeritweareoff.com 
Great joy to see and spend some quality time with the family🤗🍀
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