A Kiwi Christmas

'The Farm' was where we were greeted, pretty worn out from the long drive, by Tony and Irene Gibb. Their large farmhouse was overlooked by sheep and cow scattered hills. Irene's farmhouse meal of mutton, three kinds of potato, carrots and peas went down very well by all. Then after the boys let off a bit of steam we had a good night's sleep in beds not in Dougie for the first time in weeks. Tony very kindly showed us all aspects of farm life by letting us watch him draughting sheep (separating), moving cattle and sheep between fields and sheep shearing. It was tiring watching. A rather earlier night after the boys had a bath (!) then Jonny and I got to wrapping a few bits we'd picked up for the boys' stocking (actually their pillow cases). It made it feel a bit more Christmasy especially as Irene produced a few much-welcomed minced pies. We were woken at 7pm - we had a strict and busy schedule ahead.

Sam was really thrilled to see a trail of chocolate coins leading from the bedroom to the pillowcases by the fireplace. He opened his giftswith relish and Ben seem amused by the sight of wrapping and new toys/books/chocolate. After a 'traditional' breaky of ham, pineapple, poached eggs on toast, we had time to help feed the lambs before packing up and heading to our first stop of the day: Nick and Amy and baby Parker (Nick is Tony and Irene's Son). Then on to Tony and Irene's impressive cliff top 'other house'. After a few more prezzies and a light lunch we made our way over to Tony's sister Pam's house a little way down the coast for a BBQ dinner. A delicious spread and wonderful views, the weather was windy and sunny. Then back to the other house after an exhausing, thorougly different but very lovely Christmas day.

Boxing day proved to be just as busy but we did get to stay in one place. The weather was fine and guests came and went throughout the day. At one point there must have been 18 people. Irene produced an almost continous supply of food, tea, beer... Sam was a little under the weather so spent large chunks of the day with Meg and Mog on the ipad. He brightened up in the evening with the help of some paracetamol and enjoyed playing with his new toys and new friends/relatives Geoff and Tanya (Tony and Irene's other son). Ben, as always just monkeyed around and kept us entertained and on our toes. Phew, another cram-packed day.

The following day we headed into the local town New Plymouth. Irene very kindly lent us her car so we didn't need to drag Dougie around and try and park in the town. We 'did' New Plymouth. The coastal walkway, excellent museum, and popped into a few shops. Tony, Irene, Geoff and Tanya met us in the evening for Fish and Chips at the Port before going to the local annual attraction of 'Festival of light' set in a beautiful park. Festival of Light is quite a unique spectical where a park is lit up in different colours. It had be dark so it wasn't until after 9pm that we started walking around to take it all in. About 10pm Sam was flagging, Ben still giggling in his pushchair, we headed home. A good 12 hours in New Plymouth and very tired out.

Gathering up all our belongings, washing, supplies and new toys we bundled back into Dougie for the first time in a few days and after wishing Tony and Irene big 'Thank Yous' we hit the road again. I bet there was a big sigh of relief when we rolled down the drive. Sam and Ben were very good - but they can be quite a handful! I think we got away without breaking anything (Irene wisely hiding all things breakable).

Otrahanga and the Kiwi's was our next stop. We parked up at the Kiwi House campsite, a little gem of a place. I think we were all happy to be back in Dougie and our routine of pitching up somewhere new. Sam was quick to chat to everyone and introduce himself to the most likely playmates and Ben toddled about pickling with everything and anything with no regard for boundaries or safety. With his blonde curls bouncing he terrifies us and amuses us in equal measure.

We saw Kiwi's! They really are the most wonderful creatures. It was like seeing a mythical beast. Well worth the visit. Bless um. Otrahanga (Dougie's birthplace!) turned out to be a very nice little place.

Sheep at the farm

Herding cattle

Shearing sheep

Out with the working dogs

Christmas morning present opening

Showing gifts (and Kinder egg - Sam's breakfast!)

Feeding lambs on Christmas morning

Building Lego

Christmas Day BBQ

Mt Taranaki - view from the coastal house

Ali with Tony and Irene

Coromandel & Caves

Before meeting up with family for Christmas we enjoyed a whirlwind tour through the beautiful Coromandel peninsula. From Auckland we drove south through Thames and then along the spectacular coastal road which twists and turns along the ocean road before heading up and over the mountains and into the small town of Coromandel. We spent two nights at a site overlooking the sea - beautiful for the evening sunsets.  This was a great spot to visit the Driving Creek Railway - a brilliant miniature railway lovingly built by Barry throughout his life. The track makes its way up the forest hills, over bridges and streams and ends with a spectacular view over the peninsular. An excellent day out especially as we bumped into our friends we'd met earlier in the Waipoura forest.

Leaving Coromandel town, we took the steep mountain road over to Whitianga on the other side of the peninsula. Arriving at Hahei beach, and with the tide on our side, we headed straight to the famous Hot Water Beach where there is a spot on the beach where you can dig your own spa pool with the water heated from the hot springs underneath. We had to be careful as some of areas of the beach have steaming hot water bubbling out! A very strange but awesome experience, especially with fish and chips for tea afterwards.

For an early Christmas treat, we took a trip on a 'glass bottom boat' to see the spectacular cliffs and coastline of Whitianga including 'Cathedral Cove' - a dramatic and huge hole in the rock which you can walk under. The boys enjoyed speeding through the waves on the boat and then viewing the sealife through the glass bottom of the boat with various fish swimming past. Jonny jumped out of the boat for a spot of snorkeling. We enjoyed a 'free night' camping at a carpark on the sea front which had a more beautiful view out the window than many campsites we had paid for.

The next day we were up and off for a lengthy journey across the country on route to the Taranaki region on the west side where we were due to spend Christmas. We broke the journey with a two-day stay in Waitomo, famous for the Glow Worm caves. Worth a mention is Hamilton Gardens where we had a lunch stop: beautiful gardens divided into 'zones' for each style of garden, historically and stylistically. And it was FREE! Recommended. At the Waitomo caves, we visited Ruakuri cave for a two-hour tour of the caverns with spectacular rock formations and glow worms. But the afternoon trip to the famous Glow worm caves was breathtakingly stunning. Here, you board a small boat and float silently on a river than flows through the cave with thousands of glow worms shining above like a beautiful cathedral of stars. Thank goodness Ben had fallen asleep in his sling at this point otherwise his squawking might have ruined the moment for everyone!

We left Waitomo and after another long drive, eventually made it to our destination for Christmas on 23rd Dec, to spend the festive period with some of Ali's relations.

Sunset campervan view

Driving Creek railway

Hot Water Beach

Cathedral cove

Hamilton Gardens

Waitomo caves

Forests & Flats

Heading south, we entered the glorious surroundings of the Waipoua forest, home to the giant and sacred kauri trees. The biggest trees really were impressive. A beautiful region with the road snaking high up into the forest hills and then back down again to where we found our campsite: a lovely site next to the Waipoua river.

Here we had three idyllic days with forest walks, wild river swims and fun with a Scottish family with two young children (Alba and Floyd) similar to our boys' age. They really loved playing together and 'sharing' each others toys - we were to meet up with the family again at other sites so Sam and Ben were really happy to have little travel buddies. The forest was lovely and so peaceful, with the sounds of owls and millions of stars at night.

We spent a windy day and night on the shore of the fresh water lakes Kai Iwi. The lakes looked idyllic and we had a fun few hours on the beach by the water. We had a long drive planned for the next day. We were aiming to make it through Auckland and on to Thames at the start of the Coromandel Peninsula. A flat tyre less than an hour into our journey threw our plans out the window. However, we couldn't believe our luck, really, as we discovered the flat tyre in a town called Dargaville right opposite a tyre garage. The chap who came out to look at it told us we'd been driving on it flat for a while (a friendly mechanic called Craig who was from County Durham and from a little town called Toronto near where Jonny grew up in Shildon. Small world!). Thank goodness we hadn't realised earlier as we'd have been stuck in the countryside. So we left Dougie in their capable hands (it cost us x2 tyres as they could only get hold of another tyre of the same type but of a different thickness so we had to replace both front tyres...).

Two hours later we're back on the road and heading towards Auckland on a Friday evening, at rush hour. We're all getting pretty fed up and there is little chance we could make it past Auckland in the traffic, at least not without a tea break. So we made a 'mayday' call to our friend Barbara and crash landed outside her house. She had the kettle on and toys out for the boys - magic. We ending up spending the night in her driveway after a fun evening and fast food, but not quite what we were expecting at the beginning of the day.

Blonde bombshell Ben

Tired boys in the back of Dougie

Standing near the biggest kauri tree, Tane Mahuta

Ali swimming in the beautiful Waipoua river

With friends.

In the forest

Forest walks

Dougie looking cute in the trees

Fun with Jonny's luxury purchase: vacuum cleaner for the van. Happy days. 

Northlands

We left the Bay of Islands and decided to bite the bullet and make a plan to head all the way to Cape Reinga - the uppermost Northern tip of New Zealand. After a brief visit to the lovely town of Katikati to post off some Christmas gifts and have lunch at the charming cafe near Stone Store (NZ's oldest building), we headed to the Kerikeri peninsular. Here we had one night at the DOC site overlooking a beautiful bay - it was our first experience of a Department of Conservation (DOC) site: much more basic with no power/luxury but fees are cheap and are located at natural beauty spots.

We hit the road the next morning for the long journey north, slightly unprepared. Fuel was running low and unbeknown to us the sparse northlands has limited amenities, especially petrol stations. We eventually limped into 'the last stop' fuel stop, Dougie gasping for diesel. Bad news - a powercut in the area meant no fuel until it was sorted out with no idea when this might be. The station gradually filled up with other campervans and travellers, all in the same predicament on their way to and from Cape Reinga. However, after a long lunch, the lights in the shop flickered on, signalling power had been restored and a fight for refuelling began.

20 minutes later, Cape Reinga was in our sights...or not as it turned out. We arrived in a cloud - heavy mist with almost zero visibility! A mythical sight famed for it's magnificent views from the lighthouse down towards the ocean where the Pacific meets the Atlantic. It was not to be, and so we left with other disappointed day trippers and headed to a nearby DOC site located at a bay at the bottom of a steep, windy track road - quite the hairy decent. But it was all worth it and a beautiful spot awaited us next to the crashing waves of the ocean. We could relax...

Or could we? The next morning, after a pancake breakfast, word was sent down to the camp that a tsunami warning had been issued for the area and we were to leave as soon as possible! Our fastest Dougie packup time yet found ourselves banished and back at the carpark of Cape Reinga, contemplating our misfortune/fortune and planning our next move. We spotted a break in the misty weather and decided on another walk to the Cape lighthouse. This time we were not disappointed and were treated to the stunning views down to the rocks and ocean in glorious sunshine before the mist and rain swiftly returned a short time later.

We decided to cut our losses and head back down southwards but not before befriending and sheltering some soddened Belgian backpackers, giving them a lift a few miles down the road back to where they had started their trek.

We ended up staying an unremarkable night at a site in Pukenui before heading onwards to the Hoik region. Stops at the historically preserved  Kohukohu and a stay at Rawene (over the bay on the car ferry), have revealed what a calm and peaceful area we are currently in.

Cape Reinga: the view, first try

Cape Reinga: the view, second attempt

At the lighthouse, the end point.

Rainy day at Kohukohu

Campsite at Rawene

On the Road

We are now well and truly 'on the road' and frustrations with the van/seatbelts and being stuck in Auckland are now a distant memory. Dougie is now 'home' and we are now on our fourth campsite so we feel we are becoming more and more adept at setting up the van on arrival and packing her up when it's time to move on (we now don't need to pull over soon after we've set off to repack something that has flown loose, like the fridge door and contents after a left turn...) Pulling away down the highway to our first campsite destination at Ruakaka with the boys happily strapped in the back in their seats felt soooo good! (ok, Ben did cry quite a bit on that journey to be honest but he happily climbs into his seat now!). The view from the van window for that first night could not have been more perfect: a beautiful view out towards the sea and distant headland with ducks and seabirds nesting on the wetlands.

Our next site was a more rustic, hillside setting on The Farm: a real backpacker/WOFER hangout. Very chilled out and the owners, Mike and Ellie were super friendly. The Farm is a working dairy farm but mainly gets income from school groups who come to camp and do the activities on offer such as kayaking, horse-riding and motorcross riding. The boys loved our 2-night stay there (even though we were surrounded by many machines/tools/hazards that we had to ensure the boys did not maim themselves on...). We went to help feed the calfs and pigs one morning and slowly kayaked down a river another afternoon. Sam enjoyed making friends with the young workers there and happily joined them in the lounge to watch episodes of The Simpsons on the TV. Ben is thrilled by any pet or wildlife he sees which is great although he goes to extremes and bellyflops on to hapless dogs in a manner not always welcome by the poor animal.

A 1-night stay near the charming coastal town of Russell saw us eating delicious pies from the local bakery, strolling down the old pier to buy souvenirs and viewing the beautiful Bay of Islands from the hilltop before we caught the short vehicle ferry across the bay to Paihia.

Dougie is serving us well and has been going slow and steady up and down the (sometimes very) steep and windy roads. Our longest journey so far has been about 1.5hrs so it's all pretty manageable for the boys. However, an unfortunate error this afternoon saw us (Jonny) reverse Dougie into a ditch and got the back of the truck hooked and dug into a grass ditch - wheels spinning and no way out!. A panicked and stressful time, particularly as we were in the Waitangi National Reserve (this is the most important and historic site in NZ!). However two local chilled out Kiwi's who were passing thankfully helped us out of our fix with a tow from his truck. We quickly made haste after patching up the churned up turf as best we could, hoping no one would notice our unintended vandalism of the precious land.

However, we enjoyed a very worthwhile trip to the Waitangi Treaty Ground and Museum with a tour and 'Cultural Performance'. The site is beautiful, the museum very good and the tour and performance really interesting and enjoyable. We learnt a bit about Maori culture too. The icing on the cake was that one of the performers of the traditional Maori dances, haka and warrior moves was the kind guy who helped us get Dougie unstuck the day before. Embarrassing...

About to set off for the first time in Dougie

View from window of first campsite. Not bad eh?

Helena bay view point

Morning Sam and Ben!

At The Farm

Russell

Dougie the campervan tour!