Dam Dropping on Christmas Eve

Here is Carl with two of his nephews dam dropping near Normanby in Taranaki. Awesome fun!!!

Christmas Cycling Holiday - Finally Posted our Photos!

Well I've finally got around to putting the pics from our Christmas cycling trip up on our picasa album! Here we are setting out from Christchurch on our first day - in the rain! This was a 12 day trip that headed South from Christchurch along the coast to Palmerston. From there we headed in land to Middlemarch to meet up with the Central Otago Rail Trail as far as Alexandra. We then back-tracked to Naseby and over Dansey's Pass to Kurow. From there we headed back out to the coast and North as far as Winchester from where we headed inland and along the face of the Alps to the Rakaia Gorge, then on to Christchurch. For our photos check out the new Picasa map view here>> (once this page opens click on the first photo in the left hand sidebar to start a tour)

Fiji - to help Michelle celebrate her birthday

This last week we had a great time in Fiji! Michelle, Wendy, Ross, Sandy and Carl went over to celebrate Michelle's birthday. The first 3 days we took a cruise with Captain Cook Cruises from Denarau Marina, Nadi to the Southern Yasawa Islands where we stayed at Barefoot Lodge. We had an awesome time - great snorkeling (swimming with a Manta Ray), singing, eating and lazing around. The next 3 days were sent at Crusoe's Retreat on the coral coast. Here we met up with Andy & Lynn and did similar things. Plus Andy did some rugby coaching of the local village team, Wendy & Carl went diving (with some sharks and a Black & White banded Sea Snake), and we met lots of nice people... for photos click here>>

Greg's 40th Birthday

It was Greg's 40th on Saturday and the Holst's got together to Celebrate... check out the photos>>

The Karapoti Classic

The Karapoti is definitely the ultimate mountain bike event in New Zealand - this year the conditions were great! Check out the photos by clicking here>>

Rosie's 50th Birthday

On Sunday 11th Feb is had a fantastic 'Hooper' family gathering to celebrate Rosie's 50th Birthday. We had a picnic at the old Waihou School - it was a beautiful day, we enjoyed the shade of the trees while the kids enjoyed the space for running around. Lots of good craic! Click here for more photos>>

Spinning Out in Rotorua

We have been in Rotorua the last couple of days with Karl & Sharon - camping, mountain biking and enjoying some adventure activities. Here we are trying the sprint cars at Off Road NZ, near Rotorua.


Check out our photos from RotoVegas

And also a Video of Karl and Sharon in the sprint car.