A Very Kiwi Christmas

From our family to yours…Merry Christmas! We hope this post finds you enjoying some relaxation and Christmas festivities!

We arrived safe and sound in New Zealand after a long 26 hours from travel from Seychelles. It’s Christmas Eve and we are currently on the Interislander Ferry heading from the North Island to the South Island.

Our time started in Auckland, where we picked up the camper van that we will call home until January 5th. After a bad case of jet leg and a head cold for some we have adapted to the 9 hour time change and the cooler temperatures of beautiful New Zealand.

Unfortunately time (and the aforementioned jet leg) didn’t allow for any time to visit Auckland itself. We spent our first 2 nights at a campground just outside of Auckland getting stocked up and rested up. In what would be a “it’s a small world” coincidence we bumped into a patient at the camp ground! Despite David assuring me not to worry about my “lack of hair dryer hair” because there’s “no way we will see anyone we know” we indeed did. She forgave me my bad hair and we enjoyed a bottle of wine (or maybe two) and conversation that evening.

The campgrounds (the Kiwis call them holiday parks) here are pretty amazing. The boys are loving the bouncy pillows/trampolines. One holiday park even had an amazing pool with swim up bar and an outdoor movie theatre screen. The camper is cozy, but efficient. We’re getting used to converting tables to beds and back again in the morning and David is excellent at manoeuvring the campervan on the narrow and winding New Zealand roads.

It’s been an action packed 9 days since we’ve acclimatized; Waterfalls, glow worms, sheep farms, hobbit houses, Maori Cultural experiences, movie sets, our first winery visit of the whole trip, and thermal pools.

Post Auckland our travels on the North Island took us first to Russell in the Bay of Islands. After a charming 5 minute ferry ride from Paihia we were there. I’d describe this as the more “subtropical” region of New Zealand with beautiful turquoise water and palm trees. We stayed at a holiday park with stunning views overlooking the bay. Russell is an important part of New Zealand’s history as it was the country’s first sea port and first European settlement. Many of its historic buildings, including New Zealand’s first licensed hotel and bar – the Duke of Marlborough is located on the waterfront.

While in the Bay of Islands we also took the boys for a bit of local history to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. It is here in 1840 that the first 43 Mãori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, considered the founding document of New Zealand, with the British Crown.

Next we traveled to Waitomo where we toured the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves. David and I were in New Zealand in 2003BC (before children) on a Contiki bus tour and had been to the caves. We wanted the kids to see them as well. While recent flooding depleted their numbers the worms (which we learned are actually a beetle larvae that glow due to bioluminescence) and their cave homes didn’t disappoint.

Our next stop was Rotorua, best known for its geothermal activity, geysers and hot mud pools. A visit to some of the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland was interesting but oh so very stinky! That rotten egg sulphur smell hung heavy in the air…P.U!!

While in Rotorua we also took in a Sheep Show and farm tour at the Agrodome. This was a fun and informative couple hours learning about the many sheep of New Zealand and gave us the chance to feed some hungry sheep.

Also in Rotorua, we enjoyed an evening out at the Tamaki Village Maori Cultural Experience. Here we learned more about the Mãori people and ate a delicious dinner cooked in a traditional hangi. This method involves cooking lamb, chicken, and root vegetables in a pit dug in the ground. The meal was very tasty indeed.

Any Lord of the Rings fans will be interested to learn about our tour of Hobbiton. Situated on a sprawling family farm, this site was transformed to a magical movie set for the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit films. Hobbiton was home the Hobbits including Bilbo and Frodo Baggins. Their village and tiny houses can be visited here.

Another related and equally interesting visit was to the The Weta Cave, a special effects and prop company famous for creating many of the props and costumes for the Lord of the Rings series and many, many other films. We also got a stage tour of the miniatures series “Thunderbirds Are Go”; very cool to see things from the behind the scenes.

Our final day was spent in Wellington and the Te Papa Museum. A great way to spend a windy, rainy day!

As you can see, New Zealand has been diverse and amazing so far and we’ve only just visited the North Island.

Many have asked what we will do for Christmas. It will be different for sure, away from family and our usual traditions and we will most definitely miss home. We’ve seen many pictures on Facebook of parties, concerts, decorations and celebrations back home and have found it strange to be missing out. At the same time, the lack of hustle bustle, pre Christmas preparations and craziness has been nice. Christmas definitely seems less obvious here. Very few Christmas lights to see or carols to be heard. And while the stores do have Christmas ads and merchandise it doesn’t seem quite as commercial.

We are having a gift free Christmas, given that this trip is the gift of a lifetime. The boys understand this and we think are in agreement. They are, however, hoping the big guy in red will make an appearance tonight, bringing them a few trinkets and treats. We made Christmas cookies, have a few decorations in the campervan and have bought a cooked chicken and will prepare a few of our families traditional Christmas dinner items in an attempt to create a bit of home away from home.

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday!

With Love,

The Travelling Babins

“Travel is the only gift you can buy that makes you richer” – Anonymous