Back to reality

We're back and the temperature is above zero. We're wearing all our clothes all of the time, the heating is humming, and the kids are refusing to go outside. Carys wants to know where Bristol beach is, answers on a postcard please.

Fortunately the sun has been shinning all week, otherwise I may have felt glum. Where can beat the UK in the sunshine?

Bay of Islands

For our last few days we decided on a restful time at the beach. I was in charge of route planning the journey up to the Bay of Islands, and read in the weekend paper about this area rated by National Geographic as one of the best coastal areas in the world. I got quite excited looking at a map and realising it was almost on the way. I negotiated a 50 minute detour with my co-pilot, which given the already long trip and the fractious children took some persuading.

It was one of those great moments in life when we arrived at this "amazing" coast only to find a sign warning us not to go in the water due to toxic things. The view was pretty, but it wasn't quite what we were expecting.



















Its funny how you can go out of your way to see something you are told is beautiful and find it uninspiring, and then go round a random corner only to have your breath taken away. Somehow its much more satisfying when you find these beauty spots yourself without the help of the hyped up travel guide. I'm quite proud of my blue bottle jellyfish photo, but I'm not sure what it was doing in New Zealand. I thought horrible things like this were supposed to stay around Australia!

As pretty as it was in thee Northland, the beaches weren't a patch on Aussie ones or the ones on Mull (admittedly you normally need full waterproofs for Mull). We did manage to go and find ourselves a few deserted spots and enjoy the gorgeous weather.

It was lovely pottering around in our hire-car, painting our faces and generally just hanging out. We had a mad dash back to the airport, possible because the bunny mobile was low on carrot juice, or was it just that NZ is huge.

Auckland- City of Sails

There are definitely cites that impress, and for us Auckland was one of them. From the small but managable centre, to the beautiful harbour, and the funny little volcanic hills emerging from the streets like huge mole hills. Presumably only undeveloped because they are too steep.

Somehow it felt like you would really be able to live the dream here.

Could this count as Family Faulkner's first sucessful city break? We crammed it all in shooting up the tower for the views, rolling down a volcanic cone, checking out the beach where they had a restaurant with a wendy house, and running through a museum at full pelt.



The museum of Auckland, where I'm told that there are some great Maori artefacts.






Carys has entered a new phase of development with some fantastic associated soundbites:
"Yuk, disgusting." which should be used at any opportunity and my personal favouite,
"You are actually poopy."
When in a good mood she might be heard to say:
"You can come to my party."

Kia Ora

We not folks for taking the easy path, so after packing up everything and disposing of the pram (end of an era), we set off to check out New Zealand's North island.

One thing about NZ that was immediately striking (and in contrast with Oz) was the friendliness of the locals. Illustrated here by their willingness to let Carys and Evan drive their vehicles.


First stop Rotorua; home of geothermal activity, bad smells and Maori domestic violence (!). We had one of those rare experiences of staying in a fantastic place that was a crossover between a self-catering apartment, farm stay and a b&b. Tumbledown Hill B&B was comfortable, clean, hospitable, odourless, good value accommodation with toys, and the option of delicious evening meal. Howard and I took turns to test out the his and hers mountain bikes, and enjoy the peaceful setting while the kids played with the train set. I can't recommend it enough, especially after the fairly disappointing accommodation we'd stayed at in Australia.

http://www.tumbledownhill.co.nz/









The geothermal wonderland at Wai-0-Tapu was out of this world. We started up trying to explain plate-tectonics to Carys (just 4), and after a while gave up. It was easier for her to think that there were witches making potions. Wandering around in the noxious warm clouds of sulphurous gas was quite surreal, with bubbling pools of mud and huge geysers spraying up 20 meters. I'm not sure I'd like to live there permanently, I don't know if you would get used to the smell of rotten eggs, or the uncertainty of being on the thinnest part of the earth's crust.

We didn't manage to cook our lunch in the hot springs, but did manage to visit a few spas without cooking the kids.

We had a wander around some of the surrounding countryside, to check out the view. Carys and Howard bravely set off up this hill, but the cows weren't sure about sharing the viewpoint. They started crowding around, and as Howard reached for a big stick, Evan was howling hysterically at the gate.

We wanted to have a taste of the Maori culture so set off to Te Puia. We participated in a little ceremony where the guys learnt the Haka, and the ladies did a little dance with pom pom balls (called Poi). Carys set up house in a Maori hut, and Evan loved the fluffy little kiwi bird.













On our way back up to Auckland we stopped at a kiwi farm theme park. Where else could you go, ride in a kiwi shaped car, while eating kiwi fruit, see a kiwi fruit farm, and climb up inside a giant kiwi fruit? Now I know that kiwi's are a super-fruit, and can be kept in cold storage for up to 6 months, I have a new found respect for them.

Goodbye Sydney

Packing up and moving is never fun, but we have to say a big thank you to Tristan and Charlotte. I met Charlotte once at a conference, discovered that we were both moving to Sydney for consecutive years, and she offered to buy our life. A year later there was a lot of money in our bank account, just like that. Without them leaving would have been a lot more stressful.

We also have to thank Oli for spending some of her precious holiday time packing up and cleaning our house, and to Marc for swapping his workout for lugging boxes. Its funny how the boring stuff like that occupies so much time. Even after we lef,t Angela and Karen had to run around after us sorting out the final bits and pieces.


Our final sunset picnic in the park with Karen, Marc, Holly and Sammy. The sun was not visible at any point!

We had great plans for our last day: Dropping off the car in Manly, ferry rides around the harbour, a walk across the harbour bridge, a trip to Luna park and dinner at Ripples. We hadn't planned on cold drizzle, but nevertheless, got on with it all. Luna park was a bit disappointing and we couldn't get off the ferris wheel quick enough.


We camped out in our empty house for the last night on airbeds, and our final goodbye was to a large but harmless spider in the bin. There are some things we won't miss.