Eat, Sleep, Relax......

The perfect way to enjoy a weekend with no kids.
It was the most relaxing weekend away I have had in a very long time. Just what I needed after all that has been going on recently. 

My wonderful friend and I started the weekend how we intended on finishing it.....we stopped off at the Tamahere markets (just to buy the worlds best kettle corn...yes I know pop corn, but seriously it is the best and very addictive). We ate pop corn the entire way to Rotorua. Once we got there we stopped off for lunch at a cafe called "The fat dog" and had a very tasty panini. The next stop was a walk around the Rotorua gardens where we saw our first geothermic hot pool.  Around 2 we checked into our Hotel where we sat for a bit and took in the silence. It was nice to sit hear nothing.

Next stop was Rainbow Springs where we got to see lots of trout, birds, NZ native trees and kiwis.

 This was the best photo you could get of a Kiwi. Camera's were not aloud in Kiwi enclosures. 

 Trout. 

 This is the end of a Waka that we saw on the little river. It has so much detail for a hand crafted boat.

 I love this photo. NZ is so beautiful with the blue sky's and lovely tree's.

To make the weekend a little more fun we did all the tourist type photos (so excuse the cheesy photos, but hey why not try and blend into the scenery and act like tourists for a bit of fun). 

 The tasty natural spring water. We were given a bottle so we could fill it up with tasty water. 

After a soak in the Geothermal Mineral Pool at the Hotel we returned to Rainbow springs that night to experience the kiwis come out at night. It was amazing how close you can get to them.

Since we were child free and a girls night out we dressed up pretty and headed out to dinner at the hotel. It is lovely eating a meal you didn't have to cook :)

The next morning we had a late start waking at 8am, what a treat.....My little alarm clocks wake us up between 6 and 6.30 most mornings so 8 is wonderful. Breakfast in bed, relaxed showers with no kids interrupting, followed by a coffee at the cafe. We then headed out to Hell's gate for a walk around some amazing geothermic activity and a play in some silky mud that made our hands so soft.

We ended the day with a stone grill lunch a look around the town and a coffee and cake before we headed back home to our adorable kiddies and loving hubbies. It was nice to be greated by cuddly kids and by the end of our night away I was ready to be back home to my family.
The best part about the weekend was the vouchers we had. Everything was half price thanks to the vouchers we were given from an almost expired entertainment book........I'm looking forward to next years girls night away. But for now I am happy to be home with the kids and hubby again feeling refreshed, relaxed and ready to be mum for the whole day tomorrow :)