Mark was working this weekend, but made sure to call Sherry from work to remind her to watch the All Blacks vs France live from Marseille (it was on at 8:45am), as if he could watch it vicariously through her. She gave him a patronizing "okay, honey" and went back to checking her e-mail. With Cerine's time here running short, Sherry was at a loss for what to do with her. They wanted to go Blokarting, but there wasn't enough wind, so she showed Cerine the Te Puna Quarry Park that Norma & Carver had liked so much.
Ro really wishes this old steam shovel still worked
The quarry was still very much in bloom, and Ro did pretty well with all the hiking. The only time he complained all day was when he was walking up a steep hill and plopped down in the middle of the trail, pleading with Sherry, "carry me!" At that moment, an old man with a cane happened by and challenged him to a race. Ro lept to his feet and charged up the trail. Cerine laughingly called him a "faker," so to prove her wrong he lay right back down again.
It's almost Summer, but Spring is still full on
Cerine's favorite parts of the quarry were the butterfly garden, the fuchsias, the roses, and the dragon sculpture. We also got to see the elusive bonsai garden that we've somehow missed on our two previous visits. While we were all perched on the wooden train, Ro (the engineer) imagined we were, "riding into the rainforest to see the bats, the big vampire bats...and the biggest bat of all - the wombat!"
Ro was fascinated by the butterfly garden
Even with caving, luging, and rafting, Cerine has thus far managed to escape NZ without a scratch...until she and Ro decided to do a little rock climbing at the quarry. Her shin met the business end of some nasty brambles, but Ro was quick to point out that his scratch was bigger (it wasn't, and it was also two weeks old). We noticed a guy at the top of the cliff getting ready to abseil down, so we sat and had a snack by the pond and waited for him to hop over the edge. And waited...and waited some more. "Look at the guy not abseiling!" He finally chickened out altogether.
Bouldering on the quarry wall
Dance like nobody's watching!
In a good mood
Making music, sort of
Cerine enjoying a balmy last full day in NZ
No outing is seemingly complete without Ro losing his clothes
On the way home, we took a little side trip to Otumoetai, so Cerine could snap some pics of Mauao across the bay and Ro could have a play on the climbing frame. Cerine managed to nail her injured shin while trying out the flying fox. She had discovered more room in her suitcases than she anticipated, requiring a quick run to the store for more TimTams! We wound down the evening watching the final episode of Flight of the Conchords.
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