School Term Start

Here in New Zealand the schools close later in December than we’re used to & hence only start early February. Although we already started school straight after New Year because we still prefer to take short breaks more regularly in the year, we have to wait for the school term to start for homeschool activities to commence.

  

 

This year our first activity was stopping by the annual Auckland Home Educators picnic today. The boys met some new people there, but unfortunately none that live close by so they can see them more often.

Jesse tried his hand on some programming at The MindLab. However most of their classes are aimed at 16 & under so he got rather bored so will stick out the term & then we’ll have to find him something else to do.

Whilst waiting for Jesse, Misha & I joined another Kiwi mom & her 2 younger kids for a walk through the area & ended up doing some geocahing. Misha got to navigate on the phone whilst moms just followed along. They did find 2 caches & got very close to a third one but due to not having a special tool we weren’t able to retrieve it. We figured we’d bring some tools next time we’re in the area for that one.

Navy Warship HMNZS OTAGO Tour

HMNZS Otago was open to visitors as part of the Ports of Auckland Seeport Open Day, celebrating Auckland Anniversary Weekend and the 175th anniversary of Auckland City.

The OPVs enable the RNZN to conduct long range maritime patrol, surveillance, and operational activity around New Zealand, the Southern Ocean and into the Pacific. They are versatile vessels capable of multi-agency operations in support of regional security tasks.

Members of the public were invited to come visit one of the Navy's two Offshore Patrol Vessels. The crew of Otago were ready to welcome us onboard as part of wider festivities, so why not make the most of this chance to see New Zealand's Navy in action!

There was also be a Navy Seasprite helicopter on site. RHIB demonstrations were done in the harbour, and Defence Careers staff were on site to answer questions of those keen to join the Defence Force.

Having 3 boys in the house I figured this would be a great opportunity for them to get to see this Navy Warship from inside. Although we did this one as a family on the weekend, it still counts as an awesome field trip.

 

Honey Centre New Zealand

We made a  quick stop at the honey centre on our way to the Bay of Islands for our African Safari Experience. They have an awesome display about bees & this is about as close as Jesse could safely get to the bees due to his allergy.

 

Now who said learning should be restricted to school terms? The thing I love most about home educating is that we can learn anywhere, anytime.

Sea Shepherd Tour

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is a non-profit, marine conservation organization based in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, Washington, in the United States. It uses direct action tactics to protect marine life. One of their vessels was on public display in our harbour this weekend.

  

Green & Blue Lake Lookout

 

Blue and Green Lakes Rotorua - Māori names are Lake Tikitapu and Lake Rotokakahi. These two lakes in Rotorua sit side by side and yes, one is blue and the other is green.

There is a point in between where it is high enough to view both and on a good day the difference is quite marked.

 

Lake Tikitapu (Green Lake) to the left & Lake Rotokakahi (Blue Lake) to the right

Green Lake

Lake Rotokakahi or Green Lake, is one of four small lakes lying between Lake Rotorua and Lake Tarawera in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. Rotokakahi means the lake of the shellfish "kakahi". Rotokakahi is sacred to Maori and Motutawa island in the middle of the lake is the burial ground of many Maori ancestors. The lake is privately owned by local iwi (tribes) and no swimming, fishing or boating is permitted.

The Green Lake is 21m (69ft) below the level of the Blue Lake. It has an outlet by way of Lake Tarawera (further along Tarawera Rd) which is then 98m (322ft) lower again than the Green Lake.

Blue Lake

Lake Tikitapu, the Blue Lake, is the closest to Rotorua and its clear, clean crystal blue water is popular with boaties, swimmers and water skiers. There is an easy walking track which encircles the lake with incredible views towards Rotokakahi, the Green Lake. A perfectly lovely spot for a picnic, there are delightful sandy beaches and grassed areas with barbeques and rubbish bins provided. is one of our more popular lakes that caters for swimming, water skiing, jet skiing, walking, running, biking, barbecues and all sorts of local events. It is one of our more popular lakes that caters for swimming, water skiing, jet skiing, walking, running, biking, barbecues and all sorts of local events.

As a collapsed volcanic crater, it is shallow as lakes go with the deepest section being about 27m. If you're looking at it from above, in certain lights it looks quite blue/aqua/turquoise in colour. This is due to it having a pumice and rhyolite bottom which the sun reflects up. It's roundish (about 5km) and takes about an hour to get around if walking at a brisk pace.