A little bit about Taupo

On the way to Taupo, we stopped off at Gravity Canyon where Jody and Terence did the Flying Fox (travelling at 160 km/h).

Bianca, Caitlyn and I waited for them and Bianca discovered a ladybug.

The Taupo break was great! It's been a long while since Terence and I had a real holiday and so it felt really weird not having to do anything.

We stayed at the Sunshine Lodge - the CCF Holiday Home that was generously sponsored by The Professionals. It was well set-up with everything we needed so that was great. It had a big lawn area with a really nice playground for the kids and when we arrived, Bianca couldn't wait to get out of the car to try out the trampoline.

Bianca discovered a big toy dog and she "adopted" him for the week. She would carry him with her around the house and every so often she would say "good boy!"
We did a few things during our week there:

Terence, Bianca and Jody went on the Huka Falls jet boats. Bianca loved it.

Caitlyn and I waited for them to finish and just then a group of Japanese tourists walked past and were so fascinated by Caitlyn, they all wanted photos taken with her. So my little 16 month old is a little celebrity...

We also went to the Prawn Farm and I was the first to catch a prawn. Terence insisted on going back and finally caught one too.

Puzzleworld was nice too. It mostly has puzzles, but there are a few other activities which we enjoyed. Bianca loved doing the remote control boats and especially loved crashing into Terence's boat.

Jody and I went to Wairakei Terraces where we had a Maori Cultural Experience. It was really fascinating and great fun.

Jody and I visited a glass factory where we could watch as the guy made a platter.

The whole week I felt a bit worried that Bianca would develop a cold or something. Just before we moved from Wellington, I picked up a cold, which Terence caught and then shortly after that Caitlyn had some cold symptoms. So when the end of the week came and Bianca was still fine, I was so so glad. I guess it all counted in her favour - the IVIG she got at her last hospital treatment as well as her good counts at the moment.

For me the best part of this break was that for a short little bit we could "escape" reality to some extent and just "forget" that Bianca is still sick. She was having so much fun and just being a normal 5 year old. But of course there is the constant little reminders like the fact that Bianca's medicine schedule still needed to be followed, but for most of it, it felt like we were just like any other family having a holiday. Thank you so much to the Child Cancer Foundation and The Professionals for making this possible for us.