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  • Parental Leave Trip
    1111
    Day 104

    Port Arthur

    May 21 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    We've spent a few days in Port Arthur now and are really enjoying everything about Tasmania so far. The wildlife is incredible, although we have no idea what most of the animals are! We saw a giant ant, which Rosie was playing with. It was only later we found out they're extremely dangerous! The birds and animals are so tame, Rosie has hand fed various types of cockatoo and hundreds of pademelons. We've also seen sea eagles and kookaburra. There's a nice walk from the campsite to Port Arthur where the old prison is, the history around the convicts being exported around the world to be used as forced labor is interesting but sad. I can't believe they sentenced 7 year olds to be sent around the world for minor crimes. It is so nice to be able to have fires again, due to the fire ban we only had one fire during our whole time in New Zealand. It's also great to see some forest again and really highlights the extent of the deforestation in New Zealand. 1.2m hectares of ancient Kauri forest and 97% of wetlands have been lost there. We've also walked to Shipsterns bluff, which was beautiful, not a wave id want to surf though! This is our last night here before we start heading North.Read more

  • Parental Leave Trip
    11
    Day 101

    Made it!

    May 18 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Finally made it to Tasmania after our plane from Auckland to Melbourne was declared 'unusable' by engineers! 😬 They put on a smaller airplane instead.
    We arrived at Auckland airport around 7am to check in but didn't leave until about 3pm in the end! The girls were pretty tired by the time we arrived in Melbourne 4hrs later, but they both did really well. We missed our connecting flight to Hobart because of the delay, so Trailfinders arranged for us to stay in the airport Holiday Inn and rebooked our flight to Hobart for lunchtime today. We all woke up around 4am because Melbourne is 2hrs behind NZ. Spent the morning hanging out at the airport hotel. Poppy charmed the staff as usual and Rosie had a meltdown because she was tired and hungry!
    It was only a short flight to Hobart. We picked up the campervan after lunch and headed down to Port Arthur for the night.
    Found a cool campsite here, looking forward to exploring in the morning when we can see it in daylight! It gets dark around 5.30pm here and is definitely much cooler. When we pulled up at reception to check in there was a Wallaby casually hopping about by the bins.    Read more

  • Parental Leave Trip
    Day 99

    Swimming and Auckland Aquarium

    May 16 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌬 17 °C

    Took the girls to a swimming pool which was on the way to Auckland. The pool was great for kids, with a water slide, jets and lots to play with!
    Rosie and Poppy had such a nice time playing together in the pool. Rosie pushed Poppy around in her float for a bit, and when Poppy was being held she loved splashing her hands in the water! Rosie did so well on the water slide too as she wouldn't go down it at first, but then went with Matt and I and finally went on her own! The ice cream bribery definitely helped though...
    Afterwards we drove into Auckland and went to the aquarium. So cool to see the penguins walking about and swimming in the aquarium's chilly water.
    And we also got very lucky and saw the divers hand feeding the sharks which only happens twice a week. The sting rays definitely ate a lot more than the sharks and were not shy about getting the fish at all! One photo is of a sting ray on top of the diver.
    They also had a bit where you could touch a starfish which Rosie enjoyed. And a soft play area by the cafe. Matt put Poppy in the soft play and she loved playing in there, moving a big soft spiky ball around.    Read more

  • Parental Leave Trip
    Day 98

    Kauri Museum and Wenderholm

    May 15 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌬 19 °C

    In the morning I have Poppy a bath in the campsite's baby bath (aka large sink). She absolutely loved it and kept trying to roll back in to the sink when I'd got her out! It was a rainy morning so we visited the Kauri Museum after we left our campsite. It was really interesting and much bigger than I expected! They had lots of different sawmill machinery on display and some huge pieces of Kauri wood. Also some interesting displays of how people lived at the time including a whole Boarding House which Rosie really enjoyed looking around. And they had loads of Kauri Gum (like amber) at the end with pieces that had been donated - several even had beetles and spiders trapped inside.
    After the museum we drove to the campsite at Wenderholm Regional Park. It was a really pretty spot amongst trees with beach running around the little peninsula. Rosie found a necklace on the beach which the fairies left for her. She was very excited they left her a present! But kept trying to find them to say thank you...
    Poppy has been a bit snuffly with a cold the last couple of days but still manages to be lovely and smiley and hardly cries at all.    Read more

  • Parental Leave Trip
    1211
    Day 96

    Ahipara and Koutu Point

    May 13 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    In the morning we took Rosie on a (led) horse ride on 90 mile beach. Her horse was 7 year old Dobbie. He was very calm and gentle. The lady who ran the Horse Treks said he's her horse and he used to be a pet. Rosie did so well, she seemed a bit nervous at first but soon relaxed. And she couldn't stop smiling when we got onto the beach.
    We drove to our next campsite at Koutu Point. Had a bumpy gravel road on the way which wasn't much fun, but the campsite was worth it. Beautiful views all sides of our spot in the field on the headland. Had a nice walk on the beach looking for bait for Matt (to use on the fishing rod he found at Greymouth pier). He caught a big spotty over dinner, but nothing big enough to eat. Tried to see if the Southern lights were visible once the girls were in bed, as people had seen them in Ahipara, but no luck. Beautiful sunrise and beach walk in the morning. Poppy had a good sleep in the sling whilst Rosie searched for crabs. Met a guy pulling his fishing net in and he had a variety of fish including black snapper and mullet.
    Drove on to Tane Mahuta (largest living Kauri Tree in NZ, believed to be 2000 yrs old) and then a walk in the Kauri forest where the second largest Kauri tree is.
    Arrived at our campsite around 2pm so had time to do the nature trail with the girls. Saw lots of eels in the river and some fellow campers were feeding them. Poppy was happily sitting up on the mat outside our campervan.
    Cooked dinner in the campsite's kitchen and Rosie wanted to help with as much as she could which was lovely. The girls had lots of giggles before bed, with lots of raspberries and tickles.    Read more

  • Parental Leave Trip
    312
    Day 93

    Cape Reinga and 90 Mile Beach

    May 10 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌬 16 °C

    Drove up to the top of the north island, Cape Reinga, and walked up to the iconic lighthouse. Saw a shark in the waters below where you can also see the Tasman Sea meet the Pacific ocean.
    Saw the giant sand dunes quickly on our way back south, but both the girls were asleep so headed on to our campsite at Rarawa Beach. Another Department of Conservation site, right next to the river. Lovely to see lots of kingfishers, pied cormorants (?) in the trees and white faced herons doing some fishing. We took the girls down to the beach when we arrived and found it was a 'squeaky beach'! The sand was so white and fine, it felt almost like cornflour. Rosie ran about happily squeaking the sand under her feet. Poppy sat up on the beach for a few minutes all by herself - definitely the longest I've seen her sit on her own! She's also been doing some lovely giggles recently, blowing raspberries at us to get our attention and I think she tried to wave at some people at Cape Reinga. She's learning to do so much at the moment!
    Drove to 90 mile beach this morning. Went to the playpark and pump track first. Rosie really enjoyed helping Poppy to go on different things.
    Met a nice family at the beach nearby where we had lunch. They were from the Philippines and in NZ on a working visa.
    Took the girls to 90 mile beach in the afternoon. Rosie thought the quad bikes doing wheelies on the beach were hilarious and tried to do her own!    Read more

  • Parental Leave Trip
    21
    Day 92

    Tokerau Beach and Gumdiggers

    May 9 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Visited Waitangi Treaty Grounds in the morning. Although nearly didn't as Rosie had a meltdown getting out the campervan, so we had to wait that out first. Was worth the wait though, beautiful views from the grounds over the Bay. Interesting to learn more about the war canoes, Russell and the treaty. The girls seems captivated by the cultural performance at the end too, which took place in a replica Maori meeting house.
    Camped at Tokerau Beach, near Coca Cola lake (which looks as it sounds). Campsite was down a unsealed road amongst the sand dunes but luckily it was all fine for the camper to drive on. Stunning long sandy beach. Matt made dinner (gurnard which he'd caught the day before) whilst the girls and I played on the beach. That evening Matt caught a big snapper, and then later his rod snapped! Maybe a sign that he's done enough fishing?!
    We drove over to the Gummdiggers Fields for a walk in the morning. Never knew about people collecting 'gum' (like amber) from the base of Kauri trees and digging huge holes in the ground to find preserved gum in the swamps.
    Staying at Houhora Heads campsite tonight. Lovely cafe here and enjoyed our snapper for dinner on their BBQ. Went back to the cafe to watch the karaoke competition in the evening but no one turned up! Luckily they didn't make us sing!    Read more

  • Parental Leave Trip
    1
    Day 90

    Bay of Islands

    May 7 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Went on a walk to Whangarei Falls, via the Kauri Canopy Walkway. Was really cool to be in amongst some huge Kauri trees. Rosie walked (and ran!) a lot of the way! When we got to the falls there was an empty picnic bench at the bottom, felt like it was waiting for us and our picnic :) Poppy enjoyed the picnic too, happily eating the cucumber and hummus.
    Played Grandmother's footsteps (aka statues) with Rosie on the way back to get her back to the van. She loved it! Especially when she got to be Grandmother and turn around quickly to check if we were moving. Poppy loved the walk back too and was happily facing out in her sling and playing along.
    We drove to Paihia after to stay at the Top10 there. Some beautiful golden beaches on the way. I went for a run along the coast in the afternoon then took Rosie into their heated (but still quite cold!) outdoor pool for a bit before dinner.
    Next day we walked to Paihia (about 1.5km along the coast) and got the ferry to Russell, previously a bustling and raucous port but now a pretty village.    Read more

  • Parental Leave Trip
    Day 88

    Auckland

    May 5 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Spent the morning at Hamilton Gardens on our way to Auckland from Raglan. Rosie really enjoyed walking through the doorways into different styles of garden. The Indian Garden was her favourite she said, because she liked all the bright flowers - see photo :)
    Then on to Auckland to meet Mariam - Matt's friend from preschool! We camped at Cox's Park Reserve so had a nice view over the water. Although the van was on quite a slope! Mariam picked us up and took us to the park for Rosie to have a play, then to a really nice food hall in Ponsbury where we had delicious Bento Boxes at a Japanese restaurant. Poppy took a shine to Mariam and they had a nice cuddle before we said goodbye.
    The next day we visited Mt Eden in Auckland on Mariam's recommendation. Really enjoyed the views of the volcano's crater and over the city. Rosie did great and walked the whole way round. Stayed at Uretiti (one of yeh Department of Conservation campsites). Such a beautiful sandy beach with loads of shells including lots of big scallop shells!    Read more

  • Parental Leave Trip
    1211
    Day 85

    Raglan 🌊

    May 2 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Had a great visit to Waitomo Glowworm Caves. The limestone caves were carved out by an underground river. There were some cool stalactites and stalagmites, and a large chamber room called the Cathedral. The tour guide was very funny, so when he said the acoustics in the Cathedral were perfect for performances, and he was going to sing to demonstrate we thought he was joking. But he wasn't. Luckily he had a great voice and his rendition of the national anthem in Maori was very calming.
    The boat trip along the cave's river in the dark with glowworms dotted across the ceiling like a sky full of stars, was beautiful. Rosie and Poppy did well to stay quiet during that bit as (we'd all been asked to be silent and it did make the experience very special).
    We then made our way to Raglan, and decided to spend 3 nights here as there is plenty to do. The campsite is cool as it's by the beach, an awesome skate park, pump track and play park and next to the town which has loads of nice cafes and restaurants.
    Matt hired a longboard so he could go for a surf (Raglan is a famous surf spot if you're a non surfer like me and didn't know!). Rosie, Poppy and I played on the grass overlooking the wave and having some lunch. Rosie loved shouting "go daddy go" and "put your neck into it!".
    I went for a run one morning along the beach which was really nice. And we went for dinner at a fab japanese restaurant which felt more like a Jamaican restaurant in vibe! Rosie made friends with the little girl on the table next to us and she even gave Rosie one of her mochi which was very sweet.
    Matt tried another surf this morning but it was very busy (it's a Saturday). Rosie, Poppy and I had a lovely time hanging out. Rosie showed me how she can ride around the pump track. She's getting so good on her bike! And Poppy was very happy having a snack whilst we had a coffee.
    We all went to a different local beach in the afternoon to do some fishing. No luck there but the girls had a nice time playing on the beach. I picked some shells for Rosie from my walk with Poppy on the beach and she took each one and announced "beautiful!".
    Pizza on the beach for dinner this evening whilst watching the sunset.
    All in all we've had a really nice time in Raglan :)
    On to Auckland tomorrow via Hamilton gardens.    Read more

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