Easter 2007, Neil, Jenny, Tilly and Ieuan visit from old blighty and we head off to do a three day Whanganui river trip. All kitted out with safety equipment and 'pods'to keep our kit dry should we be unfortunate enough to capsize the canoes!! Weather beautiful, river clear, campers happy so off we go. Provisions for the three days courtesy of Neil; 96 Weetbix, 108 muesli bars, 34,962 grains of rice, 864grams sugar.........he was the subject of much ribbing but no-one went hungry!!

All in all a great trip, though the long drop toilets were a little off-putting to some of the group members.

Playtime on the river.

Two little dogs go for a dip at lunch on day one!

Neil and Ieuan(under the hat)

The start of the last day, just managing to raise a smile prior to finding out we had a boat with a hole!! By the end of the day two boats would have tipped over in the rapids and four of the above people would be a little damp!!

Oliver commanding a vantage point to look down upon we lesser mortals.

A great spot to stop and enjoy the serenity of the NZ bush.

Alex does his mountain goat thing again, ankle still stopping him walking great distances and running but slowly improving. As long as it's OK for the start of teh soccer season he will be OK!!

Jax gets a wet foot and blames me! Can't argue really!!

Short tramp up on Ruapehu, cloud a little too low to see the top but worth the trip. Following days gave us classic views of 'our' mountain.

Neil and Jonny caught out!! Just chatting and catching up on all things Leicester, honest!

....she frightens me!!....

Ended up back at the hot spring running into the Waikato River. A great way to end a chilled day just mooching around Taupo.

The final farewell......after a week of fun and frolicks the Paines and Painters parted company at the Rangitikei Ski Hut. Neil and Co headed west towards Taranaki and then Auckland where they are due to fly out on Saturday. For us it was back down to Wangavegas back to the unfinished house, the approaching winter oh and the grindstone!!