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Jodie Spooner-RyanJodie Spooner-Ryan
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Joined Dec 14, 2017 Read more
  • TravelerNew Zealand Adventure
    Day 27

    Ruakaka

    January 11, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    We were contemplating staying another day in beautiful Paihai, but decided to go again and head back halfway to Auckland. So we drove down to Waipo Cove – another little town by the beach with the most wonderful beach with, wait for it…waves!!!! We were super excited and spent hours enjoying the lovely weather, the clean sand and a wonderful steel drumming band playing in the park by the beach. Headed over to Ruakaka for another freedom camping night by the beach. Our holiday is slowly coming to an end, but it has been so great to relax a little these last couple of days.Read more

  • TravelerNew Zealand Adventure
    Day 26

    Paihia

    January 10, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    Woke up this morning and went for a walk, or should I say, climb through the caves. It was very dark and the ceiling was quite low at ties forcing us to really crouch down but the little sparkly lava worms were glowing like crazy so it was worth trapsing through the mud and listening to Amayah whine most of the time about how disgusting the mud was in between her feet and how she couldn’t’ see anything in the dark except for the glow worms (which was really the point of the exercise!) Anyway, after our little adventure in the caves, we set off again and drove all the way to Paihia – a beautiful little town in the Bay of Islands. The weather is terrific today and we enjoyed a swim in the river and a walk into town to the quaint little shops and then a swim at the beach. There were so many yachts, boats, kayak and islands everywhere. We checked into a powered site at Wangia, a couple of kms north of Paihia. The drive was really worth it (as everyone had told us) and we spent the afternoon relaxing and enjoying the most perfect weather in the Northland. Dinner outside by the river.Read more

  • TravelerNew Zealand Adventure
    Day 25

    Waipu

    January 9, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    Today we had to do a bit of maintenance. The door into the main cabin somehow stopped working and so we had to drive to Britz in Auckland. Luckily, Michael had called ahead a few days ago and the part had arrived and all was organised for us and in was done in about half an hour. The door was fixed and off we went again north. We drove a fair bit today and sopped off for lunch at a wharf where the kids had a quick swim after lunch and joined some of the locals in some wharf jumping. Some of those big Maori boys could really make a splash! After more driving, we ended up in Waipu where we stopped at some glow worm caves and had another night of Freedom camping.Read more

  • TravelerNew Zealand Adventure
    Day 24

    Hobbiton

    January 8, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    Today was a fantastic day! We headed west inland to Makamaka for the long awaited Hobbiton Movie Set tour in the afternoon with a stop off on the way to a beautiful lookout at the top of Minden. Today, the rain has stopped and the day is perfect. The views over the Bay of Plenty are spectacular and you can see many of the islands in the distance (which is not always the case on an overcast day). Stopped on the way for a morning tea break at Omokoroa, a sleeping little town with absolutely beautiful water views and crystal clear waters. We then headed to the north islands highest waterfall, Wairere Falls with a 153m drop! Again, it was an hour and a half trek with steep rocks and stairs, but we are getting good at this type of climbing now and were determined! Time was ticking away and I was not going to be late for the amazing Hobbiton experience, so we headed off for Makamaka and the girls and I (Michael and Hamish not so interested in Hobbits!) boarded the bus for the Lord of the Rings experience! It was fantastic. Peter Jackson, the director, had location scots find this farm in the middle of nowhere with rolling hills and approached the lucky farmer, Alexander, and soon a business deal was struck. For the Lord of the Rings films, all the sets were temporary, but when Jackson asked if The Hobbits could be filmed there again years later, this smart Alexander farmer said yes, but only if the sets were permanent and now he is reaping the benefits of tours every 15 mins every day of the year, paying through the roof, to see little hobbit holes on his farm!!! It was fantastic though and we had a great time!Read more

  • TravelerNew Zealand Adventure
    Day 23

    Mount Maunganui

    January 7, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    Woke up this morning to more rain. We were intending to visit Te Puia to see more geothermal action with geysers and a cultural show, but the rain has turned us off so we decided to just go and explore the city centre – Lake Rotarua and a free thermal park in the middle of the town called Kuirau which is a free park filled with crater lakes, pools of boiling mud and a thermal foot spa???. The rain was so heavy here, a huge tree split into two and unfortunately killed a lady in her car parked under the tree! Many parts of the north island are flooding and the rain is still teaming. The kids have constantly complained about the smell, so we decided again to push on and headed for some fresh sea air. Drove north east to Mount Maunganui, an absolutely beautiful spot, with a lovely Main beach, where we swam and enjoyed rinsing our stinky swimmers from the thermal springs in the ocean and breathing in the fresh air! In the afternoon, we decided to brave the steep climb up to Mount Maunganui and it was worth it! The views over the Bay of Plenty were spectacular! The legs are really feeling all this walking though now! Headed to a freedom camping spot along the waterfront again in Taurangi with a huge playground so the kids were entertained while I cooked dinner and we enjoyed the views in a free camping spot!!! Unbelievable!Read more

  • TravelerNew Zealand Adventure
    Day 22

    Huka Falls

    January 6, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    Well the rain has stopped so we headed up to Huka Falls, where NZ’s longest river, the Waikato, slams into a natural chasm with a 10m drop. There were a lot of tourists around and the jet boats were doing spins every time you blinked so it was very spectacular. We then headed north to the Aratiatia Dam where the gates are opened several times a day to stop the dam from flooding. It was amazing to see the water gushing through the dam (enough to fill Olympic sized swimming pools every minute!). In the afternoon we visited Craters of the Moon, a geothermal park with lots of mud pools, steaming lakes and bubbling craters. We had warned the kids of the smell, but it really did get to them so we knew Rotarua was going to be interesting. Anyway, Craters of the Moon was so interesting and the view from the top of the hill looked out over Lake Taupo and beyond. Again, another climb a very steep one this time, giving the fitbits a real workout but totally worth it when you get to the top. We decided to push on to Rotarua and found a very expensive holiday park, which was smelly, with thermal pools (which were very warm and smelt very bad), with steam coming out of the vents. The kids have decided to name it “rotten egg city” and can’t believe people would actually live here! The rain is still teaming down so we had steaming thermal experience in the rain!Read more

  • TravelerNew Zealand Adventure
    Day 21

    Lake Taupo

    January 5, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    Well its pouring rain and most people would stay indoors but we decide to go whitewater rafting and boy was it fun!!! We left Whakapapa Village and headed for the Tongariro River rapids and guess what? We weren’t the only crazy family out on the water! Another family from England were in the second boat. We were fitted out in all the gear to keep us warm – wetsuits, booties, fleece jackets, beanies, helmets and life jackets and into the bus for a short journey to the top of the river. We lugged the boat into the river and we were off! The river was high, due to the large amount of rain the night before so there was a lot of opportunities to get wet with waves and Amayah screamed every time the water came in the boat. Hamish did really well padding away and Celeste took to it like a duck to water, loving every minute of it. It was cold but about half way through the trip, our guide gave us hot chocolate and some chocolate fish (choc covered marshmallow). There was an opportunity to jump in the river and even though it was freezing cold, we all plunged in!!! Our feet were wet and cold but we soon warmed up and headed to Lake Taupo in the afternoon. The rain continued but we drove around the lake, stopped for groceries, filled up the water in the tank and found another nice freedom camping spot right on the lake.Read more

  • TravelerNew Zealand Adventure
    Day 20

    Tongariro National Park

    January 4, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 7 °C

    Woke up to an overcast and day of rain forecast so we headed straight to Tongaririo National park ready for our walk. We decided to do the Taranaki Falls walk which was a 2 hour walk through forest and Lava landscapes to this most amazing waterfall. It was nice and cool and the walk was totally worth the views and the amazing falls in the middle. The rainforest and views were magnificent, even though the mountains (Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe) were covered in clouds, it was still very spectacular. After our walk, the rain came down and we checked into our accommodation at Whakapapa Village (pronounced with an “f”!!!). Most people come to Tongariro to do the famous 19km Tongariro crossing but even in today’s weather, it is closed due to the bad weather. We decided to have a bit of a rest afternoon and put on a movie, with some hot chocolate and relax in the rainforest (in a motorhome!!!)Read more

  • TravelerNew Zealand Adventure
    Day 19

    Ohakune

    January 3, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Today we drove four hours north to Ohakune which is just south of Tongariro National park. It is famous for carrots from early Chinese settlers. It’s a lovely little ski town (in winter) with lots of amazing views of Mount Ruapehu covered in snow. It is a little cloudy and rainy today but the kids were happy getting drenched in the playground after four hours of driving! After a wander into town, we headed to our next freedom campsite, which was another great one – right by a river where we could build a camp fire. Michael, Celeste and Hamish braved the cold water for a swim. Ready for some hiking tomorrow!Read more

  • TravelerNew Zealand Adventure
    Day 18

    Wellington

    January 2, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Had a lovely day today catching up with Laurel (Music Secretary) and her husband. Met for brunch at a great little café with good coffee (that was a real highlight!). Then we headed to Te Papa – rated one of the best museums In NZ and it was FREE! Was really fantastic and allowed the children to learn much more about Maori culture as the South Island has been more about nature. Spent a few hours at the museum and said goodbye to Laurel and headed along the waterfront and over to the historical cable car. Here were so many young children jumping off wooden diving platforms into the harbour and was fun to watch them. Some nice pop up markets in shipping containers along the way as well. Went up the very steep hill in the cable car and wandered around the Cable Car museum at the top of the hill and then through the Botanical Gardens. Wandered further through the city enjoying some shopping time and an ice cream. Our supposed camping ground last night was basically a car park at the back of a motel so we thought we would try freedom camping again and this time found a lovely spot by the river north of Wellington. It was so beautiful watching the sunset as the kids had a cold swim and looking at all the boats going by. A great way to end the day.Read more

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