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New Zealand Adventure
  • Jodie Spooner-Ryan

New Zealand Adventure

A 27-day adventure by Jodie Read more
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    December 16, 2017
    Jodie Spooner-RyanNew Zealand AdventureTraveler

    Christchurch Central

    December 16, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Well, the Ryan's are off on another adventure so feel free to read along or delete the emails if you wish!
    After a very rushed last day of school, we headed to the airport and had a bit of time in the American Express lounge, eating up and having a glass of wine ready for our non-food and drink Jetstar flight! With a plane delay and a drunk passenger next to Michael, we finally arrived at Christchurch, climbed into bed in our airport motel at 2am! Woke the next morning and Michael headed off to get the motorhome, brought it back to our motel and then we were off to the Woolworths equivalent - "Countdown" had us all singing "the final countdown...doo-doo-doo-DOO" and we had a laugh for new words - "trundle" for trolley and the "judder bars" for speed humps and we certainly juddered with our tins and bottles clinking every time we turned a corner!
    After finding our caravan park and putting all our food away, we headed into the city centre and had a look at the earthquake devastation. Great to see all the art work around the city keeping the spirits of the city up during this time of rebuild. The Botanical Gardens were lovely, especially the rose garden (fitting for the English town along with the names Oxford and Durham etc) and we were treated to a free operatic treat as "Sole Mio" (a NZ trio of two tenors and a baritone) were performing in the Botanic Gardens so could hear the solo tenor arias and the orchestra performing as we wandered through the gardens. Headed back to the caravan park (it's RV city here!) for an early night. Lots of decisions as to who was going to sleep where, so a roster has been worked out and we're all set!    Read more

  • Jodie Spooner-RyanNew Zealand AdventureTraveler

    Christchurch Airport

    December 17, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Had a bit of a sleep in and woke to a beautiful summer’s day. Apparently they haven’t had this amount of hot weather for years and we enjoyed a balmy 26 degress! Until we arrived at the International Antarctic Centre! We experienced snow storms, wind storms, 4D experiences of an Antarctic expedition adventure with water spraying in our faces, wind blowing under our seats and fake snow falling! Hamish absolutely hated it – he was so scared – the 4D had him thinking it was real and he screamed throughout the whole film! Amayah and Celeste loved the penguin feeding and learning about all the injured penguins and their stories of how they were saved. Michael enjoyed the scientific research and reading EVERY bit of information he could and I enjoyed the film with aerial footage and composed music compiled by a film maker who has been 27 times. We spent most of the day and the highlight was the bumpy ride on the Huggland snow transportation machine over rough terrain simulating a ride in the Antarctic! After hours and hours of information about the coldest place on earth, we headed east to the coast and drove down to the “Spit” in New Brighton., walked along the pier and enjoyed the sunshine! We then headed back into the city and looked at the Transitional Cathedral. This Anglican cathedral took 11 months to build after the devastation of the 2011 earthquake and it is made almost entirely of cardboard! It was amazing. Back to our caravan park for a last jump on the trampoline, dinner and bed!Read more

  • Jodie Spooner-RyanNew Zealand AdventureTraveler

    Lake Takepo

    December 18, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    Woke up early and paced up our motorhome and headed southwest to Lake Takepo, via Fairlie. The drive was absolutely spectacular with the Mackenzie Country farms for so many kilometres and the mountains in the distance. As we headed closer to the mountains, the size and the grandeur became more obvious. There was snow on the peaks of the mountains and glaciers in the distance. We then turned a corner and the aqua-blue Lake Takepo was stunning. The colour of the water is just stunning and the different hues of greens and blues is like a painting. Taking photos as much as we could but they really don’t due the scenery justice. After checking into the Lake Takepo park, we walked up Mount John, it wasn’t a long walk but quite steep so there was a lot of bribing with lollies and treats along the way. At the top the lookout was stunning with the two lakes in view – Lake Takepo and Lake Alexandrina. The top of the mountain is the Mt John Observatory, one of the best locations to see the milky way in the world. Unfortunately, the sun isn’t setting until after 10pm at night so we decided not to book and the cloud cover is also very unpredictable. Headed back down the mountain and the kids and I treated ourselves to a swim in the Takepo Springs – several pools of various temperatures – 27, 35, 36 and 37 degrees! Our favourite was about 35 degrees but Hamish loved the aqua play pool the most. Michael was too hot for thermal springs so headed for the lake and dived in! After a couple of hours of swimming, we headed back to the motorhome, cooked up some dinner and watched the view of the lake while the kids jumped to their hearts content on the trampoline! Exhausted.Read more

  • Jodie Spooner-RyanNew Zealand AdventureTraveler

    Mount Cook

    December 19, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    Today we headed an hour and half further west to Aoraki/Mt Cook. Again, the mountains even closer and the range even bigger. Lake Pukaiki is huge so Lake Takepo just wet the apetite for this massive pool of water! We headed to our caravan park which is situated in Glentanner right on the lake so the view is incredible. It is quite cloudy today and the rain has set in so we headed into the Mt Cook visitor centre and spent an hour reading the history of the mountaineers, the first female climber in 1910 who made it to the summit (in her skirt and blouse) and all the failed expeditions. The rain began to ease so we decide to do one of the walks to see the Tasman Glacier. The blue Lake and the Tasman Lake. The Blue lake is actually green as it’s mostly rain water, whereas the Tasman Lake is a grey-blue colour due to the powder from the rocks. We did the long version of the walk and got to feel the icy water and Amayah and Celeste reached out to touch some ice from the shore! Headed back to Glentanner for a movie (yes there is a TV in the motorhome) and a quiet night.Read more

  • Jodie Spooner-RyanNew Zealand AdventureTraveler
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    Aoraki/Mount Cook

    December 20, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 4 °C

    Today we were energized and ready to set off on a 4 hour walk at Aoraki/Mount Cook to Hooker Valley which has three suspension bridges and a rocky pathway to see the most amazing view of the huge Mount Cook. It is named after one of 4 Maori brothers and as the kids spotted, the snow had fallen in such a way that the brother, Aoraki had an angry look on his face! As we walked the view became more spectacular, more snow, more waterfalls, more glaciers until we finally got to the end of Hooker Valley with the lake filled with icebergs. As we were sitting resting and looking at an iceberg in the lake, there was a huge explosion and one tipped upside down right before our eyes. A NZ couple behind us had been on the same walk 15 times and had never seen anything like it! There was lots of bribing of lollies along the way and Hamish’s steptracker got a work out and totalled a huge 22,000 steps for the walk! His poor little legs! After such a long walk, we decided to hit the road as the free camping at Mount Cook was merely a car park with loads of RV’s so we drove to a town between Twyzel (where a few scenes from Lord of the Rings was filmed) and Oamaru, called Kurow. We tried the free camping site, which was by the Belmore River (the biggest dam in the Southern hemisphere), Michael backed the motorhome down this steep driveway, parked right by the river with picnic seat and BBQ only to see the sign that said “No Camping” – so much for the free camping app! Anyway, the girls and I were much happier to go to the local caravan park where we were met by a lovely NZ couple who gave the kids free candy canes, paddle pops and me, an apricot cookie! The play area got a real workout before dinner and we headed for bed pretty early after a huge day of walking.Read more

  • Jodie Spooner-RyanNew Zealand AdventureTraveler

    Harington Point

    December 21, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    Slept in a little this morning and the kids decided to try the free kayaking at the Kurow Caravan park, so off we went on a little river adventure! It was hilarious. Michael was rowing the little tugboat followed by Amayah (who didn’t want to get wet in a kayak!), me in a pink kayak, Celeste in a red kayak and Hamish was a natural in his little “nippers” yellow kayak. We had a great time in a place where we didn’t plan on staying, met the lovely Theo and Diane, who were so nice to us (didn’t charge us for the kids), so Celeste wrote a thank you note to them which they thought was lovely and now hangs with pride on their noticeboard! We boarded the motorhome and we were off again. Drove through Oamaru, with a short stop-off for morning tea where we found the most amazing cupcakes and not a bad “trim flat white”! We headed south down the coast, stopping off at the famous Moreaki boulders. Had to pay a fee to go on the beach to see some rocks that were in the shape of large circular domes. I thought they were interesting but Michael wasn’t so impressed – he thought the name “boulder” was very exaggerated! It began to rain so we drove on. Had a short look at Fleur’s restaurant (meant to have the most amazing seafood) but we really wanted to get to Otago Peninsula before dark so unfortunately, we didn’t stop. We headed into Dunedin and drove along the winding road along the coast up to a little town on the peninsula called “Portobello”. We had a bite to eat for dinner, the kids patted the local horses and sheep, and then we headed up to the tip of the peninsula to the Royal Albatross Centre to see the little blue penguins head into shore at 9:45pm! It was very cold and very windy but well worth staying up for. The noise they make was hilarious and there were almost 250 coming into shore to nest for the night. Headed back to Portobello after a long day.Read more

  • Jodie Spooner-RyanNew Zealand AdventureTraveler
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    Dunedin

    December 22, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 14 °C

    Left the little town of Portobello and headed into the city centre to Dunedin, stopping on the way to Lanarch Caste – New Zealand’s only castle. Some rich banker bought the land and built a castle to impress his first wife. Sounded like his plan didn’t work, however, as he ended up with three wives and some very strange family relationships. The story has it that the second wife is a ghost that now roams the castle! Anyway, the grounds were very beautiful – lovely gardens with different themes in each section. A family bought run-down castle in the 1960’s and have restored it over many years. After gardens and ballrooms, we headed to the Cadbury Factory – the girls had been waiting for this for a few months! We went on the tour and leant how the chocolate is made and tasted lots of chocolate and came out with a whole bag of goodies with the famous NZ chocolate fish and Pinkie bars! Headed into the centre and saw the lovely churches and architecture and the famous Railway Station. The place was alive with the Scottish themes in lots of shop windows, the pubs were busy with whisky-drinking students and we enjoyed the sunshine and the beautiful city of Dunedin. Headed to a camping ground just 2kms from the city centre where the kids were happy to find a heated pool, a trampoline and a great play area!Read more

  • Jodie Spooner-RyanNew Zealand AdventureTraveler

    Milford Sound

    December 23, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Left Dunedin this morning for a long drive to Milford Sound. We stopped off along the way to our favourite “Countdown” which had us all singing once again! Stocked up on lots of food as we know there is not much in Milford Sound except for water, cliffs and nature! Got some yummy bakery treats and were off again, via Gore. Whilst it was a long drive, the scenery was spectacular from farmland, sheep, cows and more sheep, with distant mountains, small, sleepy, country towns along the way. The drive along Milford Road was amazing, but a bit scary with all the winding roads, steep hills and thin bridges. Michael drove very safely (for once!) – I think he was also very cautious! We had a 10 minute wait at the tunnel but a great chance to jump out and take some quick photos. Arrived at the Milford Lodge campground at around 5:30. It is so quiet, surrounded by nature, an amazing cliff face above a rapid waterfall and river covered with rocks. Hired a couple of movies from the front desk and cooked up some dinner ready for a big Christmas eve tomorrow!Read more

  • Jodie Spooner-RyanNew Zealand AdventureTraveler

    Fiordland National Park

    December 24, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌫 21 °C

    Woke up in the middle of nature – trees surrounding us, the sound of the river, the waterfalls and the wind. Headed south down to the overbridge and went on a short walk to The Chasm – a natural carve out of huge rocks with a gushing waterfall running through the holes in the rocks. Then headed down to the wharf area of Milford Sound ready for our cruise. The day is a little windy but there is no rain, which is pretty fortunate as it rains here nearly every second day. The yearly rainfall is 7 – 9 metres so we were not going to complain about a little wind. Headed out on the boat and past amazing cliffs, rock formations, waterfalls, seals lazing on the rocks, past the huge Mitre Peak, the largest mountain here in the Fiordland. The kids loved going under the large waterfalls and got completely drenched! Learnt all about the misnaming of Milford Sound – it is not actually a sound, but a fiord, as it is the glaciers which have carved out the river system, not the actual river! Apparently the Dutch explorer (not James Cook who actually sailed right by it twice!) who discovered this area called it a “sound” not a “fiord” but so much of the area was already named, they have kept the error. We stopped off at the Underwater viewing centre which was really interesting. A large tower (10metres tall) was shipped in and they deposited it in the water. It has a viewing area 10m under the water where you can see the unusual fish, black coral (which is actually white!) and other sea creatures. Boarded the boat back to the shore and walked back to our motorhome. Had a look at the all the planes taking off from the tiny airstrip and then headed back to the camping area. It is very festive here tonight with decorated vans, people very happy.Read more

  • Jodie Spooner-RyanNew Zealand AdventureTraveler

    Te Anau

    December 25, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Merry Christmas everyone! Woke up to rain, rain and more rain this morning. Santa was up very late last night in the rain organising three sacks of presents that were delivered this morning. He magically delivered a bike to our house and took a photo of it next to Hamish bed and Hamish opened the photo excitedly! Girls were very happy with their new headphones, clothes and other bits and pieces. Thought the rain was a bit of a downer for Christmas, until we began driving out of Milford Sound. It was amazing. There were literally thousands of waterfalls streaming down every mountain cliff, the rivers were gushing with water over massive rocks and we kept stoopping and taking photos in the rain. This weather is more like the normal weather in the fiordland and we have been fortunate to have both sunshine and this torrential rain! Arrived in Te Anau a couple of hours later to beautiful sunshine. The kids and I decided at the last minute to go and see the glow worms so got the last seats on the 2pm boat and off we went. It was spectacular – the boat ride over Lake Te Anau (the largest body of water in NZ), then the walk through the rainforest but the highlight was definitely the pitch black darkness of the caves, on a very slow moving boat, turning a corner then hundreds of twinkling little stars above! Hamish was a bit scared – it was very dark and the boat would hit the edge of the cave walls unexpectedly! It was truly magical! Arrived back to a napping Michael, enjoyed the trampoline for a while, then headed into the main street for some dinner. The café was absolutely packed as so many restaurants aren’t opened, so the staff were run off their feet. Anyway, were had water views, so the long wait wasn’t so bad. Walked back to the caravan park after another huge day. Hope your Christmas day was joyful too!Read more

  • Jodie Spooner-RyanNew Zealand AdventureTraveler

    Queenstown

    December 26, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Today was a day of excitement as we headed into the adventure town of Queenstown. We knew what our main adventure was as I had been given one ticket from Music Secretary as my KK present and so off to the Shotover jet-boating experience! We booked a family ticket plus our one present ticket and then sat and watched these boats absolute speed around corners, way too close to rocks with sharp edges and absolutely speeding down the river! At 2:30pm, it was our turn. Was so worried about Hamish – no seat belts and no other small children in sight! He LOVED it – I screamed everytime we headed towards a rock and every time he waved his finger in the air indicating a spin! The kids and Michael thought it was the BEST thing ever!!! After our adrenaline rush, we headed into town which was full of touists. Really wanted to go to Fergberger for the best burger in town but 1000 other people had the same idea and the line up was about 40 minutes wait. We gave it a miss and had an ice cream by the water and felt very civilized wandering around the shops. Headed out of town for some freedom camping (it is so booked up around Queenstown and Wanaka) and found this lovely camp site by Hayes Lake – very grassy and flat, right beside a lake with kayakers.Read more

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    Wanaka

    December 27, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Decided to push on to Wanaka up over the ski mountains and winding through roads so high up. The drive was unbelievable – so picturesque. Arrived in Wanaka mid morning and stocked up on some groceries and wandered through quaint little shops. Had some morning tea by the water watching the kayakers and swimmers in the lake. Again, it was so busy, after we thought we had seen enough (you could spend a week here when it isn’t so busy), we decided to head up to Haast through the Haast pass. This whole day was spent driving but it is so picturesque, we really don’t mind. The kids are looking out the window and there is so much to see along the way. Fantail falls was a lovely stop over with rocks stacked like pancakes. Hamish loved it! Stopped off at a nice holiday park with a great laundry (am really wanting clean clothes!), enjoyed a nice BBQ, potato bake (there is an oven in the kitchen!) and another glass of NZ wine. Looking forward to some wine tasting in the Malborough region as the wines so far are delicious!Read more

  • Jodie Spooner-RyanNew Zealand AdventureTraveler

    Franz Josef Glacier

    December 28, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Today was Glacier day with LOTS of walking. We left Haas and headed straight to Fox Glacier. We began our walk to the lookout admiring the mountains – the sheer height of them and all the rocks that had fallen below and then all of a sudden, this huge noise – deep, rumbling came from behind us and we turned around to witness a mini avalanche – one section of a mountain rumbled and feel down 100 metres right behind us!!! We are really seeing some amazing things. Unbelievable! Of course, our surveillance guide captured it all on video so can show some footage when we get back! But that’s how all the rocks got there. Headed up to the glacier and its incredible to see how far it has retreated in recent years. This was just a taster though as we headed half an hour north to the big brother Franz Josef glacier which was much bigger and more spectacular. On our way we stopped by Lake Matheson which is the famous mirror lake where a lot of NZ advertising has been based off. On a clear and less windy day, you can see a clear reflection of the mountains in the lake. Unfortunately, it was too windy, so the ripples in the lake prevented any reflection but the forest walk was nice (another 45 minutes). Arrived at Franz Josef and took the hour and a half walk up to the look out (lucky there are lots of rocks for Hamish to throw along the way!) and saw the amazing glacier. The Maori legend describes it as a girl who has lost her lover and her flood of tears have frozen into the glacier. After a huge day of walking, we headed to a small camping ground in Okatiro which has a spectacular view of the mountains from the beach. It is so amazing that these huge mountains and glaciers are so close to the ocean!Read more

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    Punakaiki

    December 29, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    Today we drove a lot!!!! Left Okatiro after a run and play on the beach this morning and travelled north through Hokitika and Greymouth, where we stopped to stock up on food and had some lunch by the river. Headed then further north to Punakaiki which is most famous for the strange rocks that look like stacks of pancakes! They are situated on Dolomite Point, where a layering-weathering process has carved the limestone and so the rocks look like stacks of pancakes. The tide was low when we arrived after lunch so unfortunately not much action at the blow hole today! Punakaiki is a pretty spot but again, so many tourists, so we drove further north and are staying tonight at a pretty little beach called Carter’s Beach. We have backed into our beachfront spot and are enjoying the water views! The smell and feel of the coast air is great – hoping for a swim first thing in the morning but the temperature is a little cooler here so we’ll see!Read more

  • Jodie Spooner-RyanNew Zealand AdventureTraveler
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    Nelson

    December 30, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    Went for a run along the grey sandy beach this morning – so weird the colour but understandably with all the mountains so close to the beach. Packed up and then headed east towards Nelson. The driving is just unbelievable. Most of the scenery can be seen just from driving around and the big windows in the motorhome really help! We headed straight for the city centre and went on the tourist walk around town stopping at the beautiful church at the very top of the hill. They had a Christmas tree decorating competition so we walked inside and had a look at all the different variations from local groups who had decorated the trees so differently and with contrasting themes. We then wandered around some lovely bookshops, craft shops and had a nice coffee. It was great to spend a day just wandering and relaxing. In the afternoon, we headed to the local beach – Tahunanui beach and Michael, Celeste and Hamish enjoyed a swim (too cold for Amayah and I) and we had fish and chips by the water. We tried out luck at Freedom camping again and ended up camping in a car park in the town (along with a bunch of other motorhomes!). We are trying to alternate a holiday park with freedom camping as we have everything we need in the motorhome and it is quite expensive to stay every night with a powered site. Anyway, it was an interesting experience, let’s just leave it at that!Read more

  • Jodie Spooner-RyanNew Zealand AdventureTraveler

    Picton

    December 31, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    Happy New Year! Today we headed over to Picton via the Malborough Wine region. Such a pretty area and so many vineyards. The whole South island is just so green – we have not had that much rain but it must rain a lot for this whole place to be so beautifully green. Picton was so busy with all the tourists arriving to the South island and many leaving on the ferry to the north. We headed for the shops and wandered around the lovely harbour watching all the boats coming and going (some very expensive boats here in the harbour). In the afternoon, we decided to just rest (well catch up on some much needed laundry!) and the kids played in the play area of the camping ground. In the night we relaxed with a bottle of NZ Pinot Gris, played Harry Potter trivia and then relaxed with a movie and a book! Waited up for the local midnight fireworks – not quite up to Sydney standard but fireworks nevertheless. Happy New Year! Off to the North island tomorrow.Read more

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    Wellington

    January 1, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Well it was a great first day of 2018 with a bit of a sleep in, pancakes for breakfast and then a lovely drive around the coast of Picton. Today was all about the ferry and there was much excitement as we boarded the ferry ready for the trip through Malborough Sounds, over the Cook Strait and then to Wellington. Far less busy than the Spirit of Tassie – boarded very quickly, headed up to the deck for the most glorious trip through all the little islands and out to the ocean. Weird to think we are travelling to the north island but really only going east! Never realised how close both the islands are – you can see the south still as the north comes into view. Kids loved the onboard free face painting, I loved the views and only 3 hours later we are in Wellington ready for the second half of our adventure! Bring on the volcanos, Hobbits and driving once again!Read more

  • Jodie Spooner-RyanNew Zealand AdventureTraveler

    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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    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

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    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

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    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

  • Jodie Spooner-RyanNew Zealand AdventureTraveler

    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

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    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

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    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

  • Jodie Spooner-RyanNew Zealand AdventureTraveler

    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

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