22 - 30 June

We had a pretty speedy trip from Hanmer to Picton. We stopped in Kaikoura for some fun on the beach and to see some gorgeous seal pups frollicking in a waterfall.




We spent the night at a great wee seaside spot at Paparoa Point which we shared with a colony sealions.



We have visited so many libraries on this holiday but this one is our favourite...



Mirror Mirror on the wall...



Then we headed up to Picton and boarded our ferry – see how nicely “B” (yes that is the boats name – our kids have fabulous imaginations!) fits on top.



The ferry was great as it had a big playground area and Jack and Lucy spent a couple of hours climbing up and sliding down.



We then spent a long weekend in Wellington with Steve and Roshanna (thanks again guys) where, apart from a visit to Te Papa, we just chilled out.



Then we had another pretty speedy trip up to Ohakune via Palmerston North to visit the museum and Ashhurst to pick up a sled! We had a fun few hours at the sledding slope at Turoa and then the next day a couple of more hours doing the same at Whakapapa. Jack loved the sledding (and hiking back up the slope has kickstarted Mike’s get fit programme!). Lucy had a few turns on the sled but was happy to make snowmen, snow castles and, of course, eat the snow.




Four months after leaving on this fabulous adventure, we have arrived back in Taupo. We’re enjoying having space to do nothing in and a full kitchen to cook in – pity there is no cook though...

10-21 June

After a night in Fairlie where the highlights were the chooks and geese (and the lowlight was our coldest morning temperature of -6 º); a night in Geraldine where the highlights were Tui the dog…




…and the local playground; a couple of nights in Ashburton where the highlights were the swimming pool, the library and the hairy coos; and a beautiful sunny day in Akaroa where the highlight was the playground, we finally arrived in Christchurch. The first afternoon was spent at the International Antarctic Centre. In the “cold” room we donned jackets and foot covers and braved temps of -16º. The blue penguins were very cute…especially those in their little blue booties (worn to prevent sore feet for those penguins not keen on swimming) but the kids preferred the informative pretend penguins with interactive flaps and buttons. But the big hit of the day was a ride in the Hagglund – an amphibious as-used-in-Antarctica all terrain vehicle.




Next we headed to our Christchurch base – Michelle and Gerard’s driveway! We had a great week with the Grant family, including trips to Wildlife Park, Science Alive, and walks around the Botanical Gardens and Sumner. But best of all was simply hanging out. Lucy loved playing with Bella, having baths with Bella and sleeping in Bella’s bed with seal – even duckling was relegated to the pillow! Jack loved playing with Connor and Lachlan and introducing them to the world of trains (sorry boys!!). And I loved playing with little Fraser. Oh and course Mike and I both enjoyed your company, Michelle and Gerard! The adult conversation and “heated discussions” in the evenings were much better with 4 rather than 2! Thanks so much for having us all and know we now how easy it is to invade your family we’ll hopefully do it more often!!










From Christchurch we drove to Waipara and Jack, Lucy and I enjoyed a steam train ride through Weka Pass to Waikari, while Mike took the road option. It was a gorgeous day and we rode most of the way in the open carriage, particularly entertaining as the railway was alongside the road for most of the trip and the kids loved seeing “D” and Mike driving alongside the train.




"Now if this was my railway, I'd..."


Watching the men work the turntable


From Waikari we headed to Hanmer Springs where we spent most of the day bathing in the therapeutic thermal waters – most relaxing after such a stressful few months!!

1 - 9 June

Twizel has a library, playground and supermarket, and so we spent a couple of days there while we waited for the weather at Mt Cook to clear. We did a river walk - spotting trout along the way (unfortunately the season was closed) - and a trip along the canals to Lake Ohau.





The kids had a rest one afternoon and wanted a cave to rest in…



As we drove up to Mt Cook, the wait turned out to be well worth it as the skies turned blue and the sun came out. Of course, our first task was to build a snowman…



We stayed a couple of nights and our gas heater struggled to cope with the cold -3 nights – I was very happy that changing the gas bottle in the middle of the night was a blue job! We did a couple of walks, up the Hooker Valley and to Kea lookout which had a beautiful view of Mt Cook.





Do you like the snow Jack?


Lucy found walking in the snow quite tiring...


On our way back down from Mt Cook we did a side trip to the Blue Lakes and the Tasman Glacier. I had read somewhere that the lakes should really be called the “green puddles” and that would certainly be more apt. The bonus for us was that the lake was iced over and the kids had great fun trying to walk on the lake and also “skimming" ice over the lake.




After the lakes we climbed up 160 odd steps and lots of rocks to the lookout over the Tasman Glacier and lake.





Our next stop was beside the Mt Cook Salmon Farm where the trout enjoy feeding on the salmon food – one of the workers told me a man had caught a 22 pound rainbow the day before. Mike had a morning of fishing without any luck and Jack and Lucy and I had fun watching the salmon being fed. Then as the snow started to lightly fall we headed to Lake Alexandrina, a pretty little spot near Lake Tekapo. Mike had hoped to get the boat out but the next morning we woke to a very thick layer of snow all around us! It was simply beautiful and we had a fun morning making snowmen, sledding and mucking around in the snow. The snow was so thick that we were trapped for a day and a half whilst we waited for the grader and a bit of a melt.





Not surprisingly we were the only ones in the little campground..


We stopped at Lake Tekapo for some more snow fun...




... and then headed over Burkes Pass to Fairlee where we enjoyed a night with electricity to help keep D cosy while the temps dropped dropped dropped outside. This morning is very cold but beautiful. Jack and Lucy are outside feeding the wax eyes at the moment but we’ll head off shortly and aim to do a walk before heading on the our next stop, Geraldine.

Lucy usually snuggles down into the bottom of her bed to stay warm but occasionally slips back into old habits...