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Parental Leave Trip
  • Matthew Chapman
  • Laura Chapman

Parental Leave Trip

A 187-day adventure by Matthew & Laura Read more
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  • Parental Leave Trip
    112

    Kakanui Beach Reserve

    April 11, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    Headed off to Timaru this morning as the guide book made it sound very quaint and pretty. Turned out to be a big town with lots of industrial areas and a big port! Had lunch on the beach nevertheless and at least we got out on the beach for a bit whilst the weather was ok.
    It's Matt's birthday so Rosie and I bought a few little gifts for him this morning. Rosie suggested flowers, coffee and hot choc choc which was very sweet. I explained the flowers might take up a bit too much space in the camper! But a lovely thought.
    Matt found a campsite right by the beach for tonight. We arrived just as the rain and wind picked up so not great for fishing. Instead Matt went for a run and I did some painting with Rosie whilst Poppy watched us intrigued. Once the rain cleared up Poppy and I went for a walk so she could have a sleep in the sling, whilst Rosie and Matt played with the campsite toys.
    Oh and Matt found the most amazing shell on the beach, looks like he bought it from a shop ! I don't have a photo to add yet but it's really cool. Loads of big mussel shells on the beach here too and huge bits of washed up seaweed.    Read more

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    Otago Peninsula

    April 12, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 8 °C

    Poppy was doing some great yoga on the bed this morning. It's amazing how strong and flexible they are at this age.
    Quite rainy again today so we carried on driving south. Visited the Otago Museum in Dunedin this morning. Had a delicious lunch in their cafe before exploring the Science Centre there. Rosie loved all the different interactive experiments. Think her favourites were the 'river' and the ball run. And of course the butterflies in the tropical room. So many different beautiful butterflies and some were huge! Great for Poppy too as she was enjoying watching them fly past.
    Then we drove up to the tip of the Otago Peninsula where the Albatross centre is. Saw several Albatross flying above the centre itself. They are massive! And made the seagulls look tiny.
    We booked to do the Penguin tour from the beach there last minute as it sounded good. Had dinner from the van in the car park beforehand as it was going to be nearly the girls' bedtime when we finished. Listened to the interesting talk first with the rest of the group then headed down to the viewing platform overlooking the beach. After about 15mins, 3 Little Blue Penguins swam onto the beach and waddled up towards us. Followed by another two groups later. They're so small they look like fish swimming to the shore. And they make a kind of quacking sound when talking to each other. Very cute ! Rosie and Poppy did great. Poppy had a good sleep and whilst we waited for penguins Rosie had some hot chocolate we took down.    Read more

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    Purakaunui Bay

    April 13, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    Had a quick run on the Otago peninsula this morning. Felt really good to do some exercise after lots of driving! Found a headland of grasses and gorse, looked very familiar!
    We drove to Purakaunui Bay Campsite today. One of the Department of Conservation campsites. Stopped off for lunch on the way and got Poppy a cute knitted hat - it's quite chilly here from time to time and we're expecting Tasmania to be colder.
    It was a long gravel road to the campsite, but totally worth it for the beautiful beach and dramatic cliffs. We arrived at 2pm so we had time to play on the beach which was lovely. Rosie is always so excited to have a big sandy beach to run around on. She was loving climbing over the rocks too. Poppy was awake so could face out in the sling and smile at all the silly running about!
    We walked through the river to get to the larger part of the beach and Matt came across a sealion! It was really cool to see a sealion somewhere so remote. We watched it walk down to the sea and swim off. I kept on expecting it to move like a seal, but being able to walk like a sealion seems much more sensible than how seals have to flop about! Found some huge kelp on the beach as well. One piece washed up must have been 12m long!
    Had dinner on the grass outside the camper watching the sunset. Rosie did such good eating - which was a relief as that's not always the case! Off further south to Curio bay tomorrow which looks like the furthest south we'll get!    Read more

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    Curio Bay and Fortrose

    April 15, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    We spent one night at Curio Bay which was a lovely place to stay and had so much to see and do. On one side of the campsite was a 160000000million year old forest, plus yellow eyed penguins, and on the other a lovely Bay with Hectors Dolphins. The dolphins always seemed to just be playing in the waves and jumping in the air. We saw them when we first arrived, so I put on my wetsuit and had an awesome 10minutes with them swimming and surfing around me in thigh deep water. The next day Rosie rode her bike around the woods, which she loved! We then drove to Fortrose where we did some fishing and watched an incredible sunset 😃Read more

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    Te Anau and Milford Sound

    April 16, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Te Anau is a pretty lake side town. We refueled and restocked here and Rosie enjoyed playing in the play parks. Poppy did too - there was a double swing, so she sat on the baby swing and Matt sat on the swing opposite her. I have never heard her giggle so much! And I think it's the first time either of us have heard her giggle without her being tickled!
    We left Te Anau early this morning to do the 2hr drive up to Milford Sound. The mountains surrounding us on the drive up were beautiful. And even more spectacular once you enter the national park. Homer Tunnel was also very impressive. A long rough edged tunnel, which headed downwards through a huge mountain. The road from there wound down the valley, with staggering mountains either side, and crossing bright rivers with boulders and crashing waterfalls.
    Milford Sound itself was the first part of the drive that felt busy. Lots of other campers there already and large boats lined up to take people out on the cruises. However once we were out on the water it felt like our boat was the only one there. Everything looks incredibly small next to the huge mountains surrounding Milford Sound (which we learnt is actually a fiord). People and even the odd helicopter we saw looked absolutely tiny!
    Poppy was charming everyone on the boat with her smiles. She did look very cute peeping out of Matt's coat.
    The boat took us through Milford Sound, right up to the Tasman Sea and back. We stopped to admire huge waterfalls on the way and even had some bottlenose dolphins join us for a while. It was awesome to watch them playing in the boat's wake, which made Rosie squeal with excitement.
    Our trip included a visit to the underwater observatory, which was really interesting. We descended 10m below water to view some of the marine life living in the sound. It was cool to see 'spotties' (a common NZ fish) swimming about and also the huge triangular horse mussels.
    Arriving back at shore we headed off to find a campsite for the night. As the girls woke up from their naps sooner than we expected, we stopped at Cascade Creek campsite. Luckily it's a beautiful campsite with mountain views, a red beech forest walk and a crystal clear river running alongside. I found being greeted by lots of sandflies very off-putting when we arrived but they soon disappeared.
    I took Poppy for a walk and nap, whilst Matt and Rosie made a fire. Rosie was so pleased to be able to get a fire going and was happily collecting wood and proudly telling me how to make a fire when I got back. Smoked salmon wraps for dinner, had to of course be followed by baked chocolate bananas on the fire.    Read more

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    Queenstown

    April 19, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    Stayed overnight at Kingston which is about 40mins from Queenstown. The campsite had great play areas for Rosie and kitchen and bbq facilities. It was nice to be able to cook and for Rosie to have a play nearby. Poppy loved going on the trampoline with Matt and Rosie and playing with a bunny teddy in the playroom. We even helped her go down the baby slide with Rosie.
    Met a nice family from Auckland with their two boys, so Rosie had some other kids to play with. She's still quite shy around other people but getting more confident each time.
    Matt went for a run when we arrived and I had a run the next morning. Beautiful lake views and the trees are stunning yellows, oranges and reds at the moment.
    Headed up to Queenstown in the morning to do the Gondola and the luge (more like a go kart) that Matt booked for us. Was really fun! Although Rosie thought my driving was slow and scary because of all my braking! Haha!
    We visited the Kiwi Experience next door afterwards. It was cool to see Kiwis running about in the nocturnal house. They're so much bigger than I remember and run in a very amusing way!
    Rosie spent the next half hour running after Matt shouting "You're a kiwi!". Hopefully no New Zealanders were listening...
    Stayed at a campsite just outside Queenstown. Again lots of cool stuff for the girls (and us) to play with like the huge bouncing pillow. And we used the kitchen to cook dinner and breakfast. It's much more sociable than cooking in the van and the girls are enjoying chatting to other people.    Read more

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    Mt Cook

    April 20, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    Someone we met told us about a walk and camp spot at Mt Cook which sounded amazing, so we spent the last two days doing them. We didn't have a carrier for Rosie, so we picked one up second hand on the way. The road from Queenstown to Mt Cook was incredibly scenic, and we found a lovely camp by lake Pukaki, which had great views of the Mt. The next day, we drove to the start of Hooker Valley trail, which is right up in the mountains, so we parked surrounded by snow-capped peaks. The walk took us up to a glacial lake at the foot of Mt Cook. It was 5km to get there and Rosie walked most of the way, with quite a few snack breaks! It's supposed to be the best walk in NZ and I can see why 😀 Where we parked is also a camp spot so we're spending the night here, great views but I think it'll get cold!Read more

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    Lake Tekapo, Fairlie and Rakaia

    April 23, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    We visited the cafe at Mt John Observatory for a (very expensive) sandwich and view over the lake and mountains. The land there was so brown - the region is in the midst of their longest drought in decades.
    The girls loved the hot pools at Lake Tekapo. There were several different pools with shady areas and waterfalls. Poppy was splashing us all on purpose and happily showing us her new skill! And Rosie managed to float on her back without being held for 10 seconds! Think she was most excited about getting an ice cream for doing so well.
    We drove on as there wasn't much at Lake Tekapo and everything looked so dry and brown. Stopped at Fairlie instead where they had a great play park next to the campsite. We put a wash on, ate dinner outside, borrowed a story to read to the girls and had a nice chat with the owner.
    In the morning we headed off to an Animal Park nearby. Rosie really enjoyed feeding the animals, but she fell in love with the three baby guinea pigs they let her hold. And I fell in love with a 5 day old lamb called Noodles who loved cuddles! Poppy was really happy to have cuddles with Noodles too.
    We're staying at a campsite in Rakaia tonight. The river here is meant to be one of the best salmon fishing rivers in New Zealand, but we've just missed the season for it sadly. Had a nice walk through the fairy trail in the woods and down to the river though. This afternoon Rosie painted a rock to add to the fairy trail and helped me make a bread and butter pudding. When Poppy woke up she joined us for dinner and was very excited to have sweetcorn, peppers and sweet potato!    Read more

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    Gore Bay & Kaikoura

    April 24, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    After a day in Christchurch, we stayed at a lovely camp in Gore Bay last night. Nice being back by the sea and the warm weather that brings 👌 We caught fish for dinner and a 7 Gill shark, which I couldn't bring myself to eat! The Bay was full of dolphins, which were surfing the waves right in front of the van. We then drove to Kaikoura, where we pulled over in a lay-by over looking the sea just as hump back whales jumped numerous times close to the shore! There were also fur seals and pups, plus more dolphins than you could cout. We ended up having lunch in the lay-by to watch the action. I didn't know so much marine life could exist in one place! We're now parked on the headland in Kaikoura and are staying here tonight. There's a jetty nearby where Rosie caught lots of fish with her pink fishing rod 😁Read more

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    Seals, Kekerengu and Marlborough Sound

    April 26, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    We visited the seal colony at Kaikoura Peninsula and saw hundreds of seals, including lots of pups playing about in the sea and growling (?) at each other. Rosie thought the seals were amazing and loved pointing out all the different ones she could see and what they were doing.
    We headed on to our next campsite, further up the coast. Spotted a crayfish cafe on the coast road so stopped there for some lunch. Had to try the crayfish of course! And some fish and chips. All delicious but I reckon our lobster at home is sweeter and even tastier!
    Just as we went to get back in the camper from the cafe, an old fashioned steam train went past. Rosie was very excited and waved at everyone in the carriages. She was so pleased when the driver tooted the horn.
    Kekerengu was a cool campsite, right next to the beach, with a nice cafe at the top of the hill. There were lots of driftwood dens on the beach. Matt set up his rod and him and Rosie played on the beach whilst Poppy and I went for a walk.
    Matt nearly missed dinner as he spent about half an hour reeling in a huge fish, which got off the line at the last minute. At the same beach he also caught a rig shark and an octopus! Luckily both were released and were fine.
    We had a chilled morning there on the beach, playing and doing some errands before heading off to Momorangi Bay Campsite - the first place we stayed when we arrived on the south island. Passed many vineyards on the way but didn't stop for tours or tastings. I think we were spoilt by the beautiful old vineyards in Lanzarote!
    Momorangi Bay and Marlborough Sound was as beautiful as we remembered. The bay is so sheltered and the water so calm there.
    Rosie rode her bike to the park (she's so fast on it now!) and tried to make friends with some older kids. It's interesting trying to teach a 3 year old how to start a conversation with strangers. Makes me realise that I find it hard too!
    That evening Matt did some more fishing and caught two skates, a starfish and a spiny dogfish! We're not having much luck catching dinner but it's interesting to see what's in the sea!    Read more

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    Back to the north

    April 28, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Got the Interislander ferry on Sunday morning back to Wellington. We're hoping to head up to Auckland relatively quickly so we can hang out in Northland for a bit before flying to Tasmania.
    Rosie and Poppy both did great on the ferry. Although as soon as Rosie saw the indoor play area she just wanted to be there. Whilst Matt and I wanted to see the stunning views of Marlborough Sounds on the way out of Picton. We let Rosie have some time on her tablet so we could enjoy the view.
    After lunch we played in the kids area, Rosie got her face painted as a butterfly and had a balloon baby made for her (both pink of course) and we chatted to the family we met at Momorangi Bay Campsite the day before. They were from Bristol funnily enough and had lived in NZ for 4 years (unexpectedly) and were traveling around NZ to decide where they wanted to buy a house.
    I get why people love the outdoor lifestyle here, but Matt and I love where we live so much. We're definitely not planning to move out here.
    We arrived in Wellington in really good time thanks to the calm conditions, and headed 30mins up the coast to a freedom camping spot for the night. A lovely spot right by the beach. It was near the town so we had a takeaway curry for dinner that was delicious! Very flavoursome and aromatic. Matt and Rosie were fishing whilst Poppy and I got the curry. Poppy was doing her usual smiling at strangers and making friends :)    Read more

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    Battery issues...

    April 29, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Woke up to feed Poppy around 4am and the leisure battery had gone flat which meant we had no lights and no heating. Luckily it wasn't too chilly. Same thing happened a few days ago and it was very cold in the morning!
    Very odd it happened as we'd charged up at a campsite the day before and had driven a bit as well, so the battery should have lasted fine. It lasted for 2 days previously without us having to plug in to charge it.
    Matt called thl who owns Maui and they said to go to an RV garage about 30mins away so they could see what the issue is. Bit annoying as we wanted to carry on heading up the coast and this was a detour, but if they manage to sort the battery it's worth it so we can camp in freedom camping spots, not just powered sites.
    We went to a cafe whilst the garage looked at the battery for us. They decided to replace it so fingers crossed it will be ok tonight!
    We're at a campsite in Whanganui now. Was a bit of a long drive but the girls did great and enjoyed playing on the black sand beach when we arrived. Poppy was digging in the sand and Rosie spent ages collecting what looked like walnuts to decorate our sandcastles. We chatted to a local family with 3 kids under 4yrs old who were really friendly. Matt got given a kawahi when he was fishing on the pier so we smoked that at the campsite for dinner. Bit of a late one for the girls as we only left the beach just after 5pm.
    Poppy has eaten loads at lunch and dinner today! Think she might be having a growth spurt!    Read more

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    Mt Taranaki

    May 1, 2024 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    We camped at a cool campsite above a river and black sand beach at Kaupokonui Beach last night. Arrived with time for walks on the beach and some fishing. Caught three kawahi but released one as they're pretty big!
    Rosie helped Matt to wash the fish in the river.
    Borrowed some books from the campsite library which Rosie enjoyed reading to Poppy.
    This morning we headed off to Mt Taranaki, the volcano at the centre of Egmont National Park, for a walk in the 'goblin forest' to see Dawson Falls. We visited a tiny old hydro power station at the start of the walk. Then headed down the road into the forest. The forest was beautiful, trees were absolutely covered in so many kinds of moss and ferns. And we found some mushrooms in the forest too. We had a snack sat by Dawson Falls before heading back to the van.
    We're camped at Three Sisters Freedom Camping tonight. The weather turned this afternoon so Rosie did some painting in the van. Poppy was very happy having a walk with me in the rain though!
    Matt bumped into a penguin on the rocks after dinner and we can hear them outside the van now calling to each other.    Read more

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    Raglan 🌊

    May 2, 2024 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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    Auckland

    May 5, 2024 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

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    Bay of Islands

    May 7, 2024 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

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    Tokerau Beach and Gumdiggers

    May 9, 2024 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

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    Cape Reinga and 90 Mile Beach

    May 10, 2024 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

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    Ahipara and Koutu Point

    May 13, 2024 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

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    Kauri Museum and Wenderholm

    May 15, 2024 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

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    Swimming and Auckland Aquarium

    May 16, 2024 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

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    Made it!

    May 18, 2024 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
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    Port Arthur

    May 21, 2024 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
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    Trip up to Swansea

    May 23, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Had time for Rosie to do another few laps of the pump track at the campsite before we left. She said she wanted to do it again and again and again! Shes getting so much more confident on her bike now 😊
    Ended up having to change our route up to Swansea from Port Arthur as the road didn't look suitable. Then still ended up on an unsealed road! Luckily it was fine to drive on, just got the campervan very muddy!
    Had a delicious lunch in Dunalley - crayfish and a seafood platter. The girls both loved it and ate very well. Rosie especially enjoyed the prawns and Poppy loved the calamari which was so tender. Had a play in the park nearby before we left. Stocked up on food in Orford. There aren't any big supermarkets around here but the shop had all we needed. Poppy had her first go at sitting in a trolley 💜
    It was late afternoon when we arrived in the campsite at Swansea so we just hung out in the lounge and then made some dinner in the campsite kitchen.    Read more

  • Parental Leave Trip

    Coles Bay and Wineglass Bay

    May 24, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Spent a couple of days at the campsite at Coles Bay. Really enjoyed it there. The granite rocks speckled in red lichens were so pretty, especially in the morning sunlight.
    About 1km from our campsite was a jetty, so Matt went to see if he could catch any fish one afternoon. We had a message from him to say there were whales in the Bay so I tried to get the girls ready to head down as quick as I could. What made Rosie hurry up was that he told us he'd caught a shark! She was off on her bike saying Daddy needs my help! She was so fast I could hardly keep up.
    The shark had gone by the time we got there though, and no sign of any more whales. There was a beautiful blue fish in the water though with delicate yellow 'wings'.
    We'd heard that the people on the Wineglass Bay cruise that departs from the jetty had seen lots of humpback whales, so booked on for the next day. We had the most beautiful, calm weather and the water was so clear and glassy. Hardly a breath of wind. Rosie wasn't too keen to be inside and as Matt gets seasick, Rosie and I hung out inside and went onto the deck to see the seals. Spotted one small humpback (we think) on the way out, but no other whales sadly. Had a lovely lunch on the boat overlooking Wineglass Bay though, and they showed us some caves and an eagle nest and told us about the whaling history of the area.
    Poppy got a bit seasick when we headed out in the swell after lunch, and spent the rest of the boat trip asleep, poor little thing. She was much better after a feed when we were back on land.
    Matt was keen to try catching squid after chatting to one of the crew about it, so he brought the van to the jetty and we had dinner by the sea.
    This campervan has a BBQ that comes out of the side which is great for cooking whilst enjoying the sunset.    Read more

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