Stunning Saturday...

Awake early and all set for another adventure as I had north today…

First stop Owlcatraz!  I have always loved owl stories, legends, movies and sounds.  I love hearing the owls hoot in our garden but have never seen one, so when I heard about Owlcatraz it was a must visit.  Well, it certainly was everything I expected and much, much more…  I love the story of the starting of Owlcatraz and the recovery from the storm of 2008 when 600 trees were toppled.  It really is a taste of paradise and I am so delighted to have come face-to-face with owls.  The owl enclosure is AMAZING.  I cannot believe how cute they are…

Next stop Winchester School to meet my long time twitter friend @KiwiNomad08.  Thanks a million for a sensational tour of the school, scrumptious picnic lunch, lagoon visit to the coot’s nests, tour of Massey and hill jaunt.  

It was truly magic to meet you.  I can’t wait to check out your travel blog and follow your travels next year.  Thanks again for a magical Palmerston North time.

Next stop was the Plaza to meet my cousins.  It was amazing to meet Brad, who is over from Sydney for five days.  I really realise how privileged I am to have such a huge, close extended family. 

I finally arrived back in Taranaki tonight, in time for card games and watching the fireworks displays.  What a magical day.

Yet another quote....

"What you are is what you have been. What you'll be is what you do now." --Buddha

Another quote I like...

You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover is yourself. -- Alan Alda

Quote for today...

I have been travelling around gathering quotes and saving them up... I think I might just drop them in here occasionally...
I love this one from dailygood.org

Success is ultimately about connection, not perfection. -- Whitney Johnson

Friday in Raumati Beach

Pancake for breakfast at Wild Olive was a great way to start the day, followed by a magic morning greenscreening.  

We even managed a walk to the beach at lunchtime, the beach is that close.  

An afternoon of completing painting backdrops, and the class are poised for creation of their legends next week with alpha key, voice overs, and credits.  I can’t wait to see the finished projects.

After school and off we headed for an adventure in Wellywood.  First visit was Amesbury school, the new school in Churton Park where our dear friend Tara is teaching next year.  Despite a thorough search we couldn't find you anywhere Tara?  :)

Next up was a visit to the Fowler Centre,

 The wharewaka (the progress of which I have been watching over the past two years...)

 ...and Te Papa where I found enough luggage for my next journey...

 Good on ya...

 Followed by a wonderful Paella Tagine at my favourite Wellington restaurant Casablanca!

 ...and rounded the evening off with coffee at Ernesto in Cuba Mall.  Thanks for a great night in Wellington Jo and Liz!

 ...and as we headed back into Raumati Beach my little rental clocked over another thousand making it 2000kms on the road in 11 days...

Thursday - heading to Raumati Beach

Up early and away I go over well travelled land… all the way to Raumati Beach.  Much to my surprise, the 3 hour journey was only 35 minutes further south than I had been yesterday!  I arrived at Raumati Beach School in time for a game of corridor cricket.  After break we began a very exciting green screen session, shooting legends scripted by the learners in six groups.  Not only had they created the legends, they made the props and planned all the scenes.  Here I must share the story of the grasshoppers that I heard many years ago…  If you keep grasshoppers in a shoe box with the lid on for a period of time, when you eventually take the lid off, they will only jump as high as the lid, because they are conditioned to only do what is allowed or expected of them.  However, if you take the lid of and let the grasshoppers take risks, challenge themselves, leap and learn, they will forever reach outside the boundaries.  

I saw the evidence of learners used to challenging themselves and problem solving as they co-operated, collaborated and created.  Fun times indeed.  Thanks Jo and Room 12.  After school, Jo and I set off for a geocache session, a walk up the hill, and a walk through the Coastlands Mall. 

The day was completed with dinner out at Mediterranean Food Warehouse with Jo and her daughter Emma and Julie.  What exciting times ahead for the learning hub at Raumati Beach.

Wednesday in and around Taranaki....

Continuing the magic of family times.  Mum and Doug and I set off on an adventure to visit grand children and great grandchildren.  Does anyone know this magic park we stopped at along the way?  

Travelling 2 hours south for lunch with family, I decided to travel on a bit further to catch up with Regan Orr at Koputaroa School.  Just another hour south and what a magic visit.  Regan and I originally met in 2006 on an Apple Bus Tour in Christchurch and have been chatting on twitter together for ages.  

Canterbury Apple Bus Tour 2006 

It was magic to meet up again and have an amazing discussion about the leadership journey and leading with passion.  Thanks for sharing your exciting learning adventures Regan.  It was awesome to visit your school, and I look forward to keeping in touch…  

Two and a half hours later and I arrived back in Hawera for a great family dinner again…

Tuesday - a magical family celebration..

Up after a reasonable sleep and so begins another adventure.  Marie and I were heading off for a day touring garden with the Taranaki garden spectacular but we had the opportunity for a very special family reunion. This family reunion was celebrated around the table with more crayfish than I have ever seen and more whitebait than I have ever eaten...
What a magic day.  

How truly serendipitous to spend a day with very special family members.  Thanks Stephen for all the seafood treats...
At the end of the day Marie and I got to visit two gardens and back in time for the Melbourne cup.  What a magic day in Taranaki.

Monday - Twitter Tour heads of to Taranaki...

After a walk around the lake and a coffee at the church café off Mum and I headed.  

First stop Otoronhonga where we had the most amazing look around the Kiwiana display.  It was truly amazing.  

Next stop Te Kuiti where we had an awesome walk and checked out the amazing tribute to Pine Tree Meads and the shearing displays.

On the road again, next stop, on the coast at Mokau where we feasted on whitebait patties. 

We met the most amazing people in and around the café; a great group of gardeners from Tauranga, who had been on a four day garden tour around Taranaki and one of them grew up in Romahapa, not far from where Mum did; two men cycling from Cape Reinga to Wellington and a lovely man who showed us the track down to the beach.  We had an awesome paddle in the sea and got our feet burnt walking back up the black sand.  Then the same lovely local took us to the river mouth and showed us where the 350 whitebait stands are along the Mokau river.  

A few stops for photos later, a coffee in Waitara, we finally arrived at Hawera and went out for tea with family.  What a wonderful night reminiscing.