'Tikey' Family Reunion

We decided to leave early Friday morning to travel to our family reunion in Waipara. After hearing how busy the traffic was through the Lewis Pass now the Kaikoura route was closed, we hoped to avoid the rush.
We stopped at Maruia Falls to stretch our legs.

Despite the amount of rain most of New Zealand has had over the summer - it was a surprise to see how dry North Canterbury was.

Poor sheep don't have much to eat!

The reunion was held at The Boys Brigade in Waipara. Years ago, it was known as 'The God's Squad'. What a beautiful venue. There were so many activities for kids to do. Water slide, trampoline, confidence course, swimming in the swimming hole down at the river (which ran along the boundary). The venue was on about 5 acres of land on two levels. The accomodation was in two buildings - each building had several rooms with different amount of bunks in each room. 

The kitchen was well set up for large groups, with huge sinks and sterilising machines for dishes.

This was where the adults sat and chatted - under the shade.

The drive into the venue.

Time for a group photo. Tons of Tikeys!

There were plum trees everywhere. In fact there were so many, plums were lying uneaten underneath the tress - even the birds couldn't keep up with them.

The swimming hole was stunning. There were trees on one side providing shade and at the end of the hole was a rope swing and slide into the water.

In the evening, I took a walk along the riverbed. It's a popular spot for rabbits, with lots of holes dug in the sand and softer gravel areas.

Some photos of the area around Waipara.

A wise sheep taking time out in the shade.

We had fabulous weather over the weekend. Saturday was super hot. No wind and no clouds - we couldn't have asked for better. On Sunday we woke to a gentle, warm nor-west wind. After breakfast, we packed our bags, vacuumed the cabin and said our farewells.