Wanaka to Glaciers

 From Wanaka we drove through the Mount Aspiring National Park via some nice windy roads again and more beautiful views. We stopped at the waterfalls known as ‘ Roaring Billy’. Haast Beach which was very isolated and felt like middle of nowhere was a nice beach but full of sand flys. We stopped overnight in a quiet and basic campsite in Okaroa, which turned out to be a good call. The girls didn’t argue (too much) for a change and entertained themselves on a basic swing and a big pile of sand. Until this most parks we have been to have had great play parks, go-karts, trampoline etc. to keep them busy… actually here they had nothing else than a swing and they played much nicer, which was bonus for us! We could relax and have some peace and quiet … which we appreciate more when you are with them 24/7.

From here we drove to the Glaciers. On way there we saw many more beautiful places one such place was Bruce Bay. The long beach was full of driftwoods. Other travellers had written their names and messages on white pebbles and then placed them on the roadside along the beach, there were quite a few… The Hunt’s Adventures left their own there too!

We did the walk to the Fox Glacier which was an hour round trip. The girls did really well again, considering the path was pretty much uphill all the way to the glacier and a very rough uneven rocky path. There were several stepping stones over the small streams.

It was amazing to see how much the Glacier has receded over the years, even six years ago you could have just parked on the carpark and walked round the corner to the glacier…now it’s a half an hour walk to see it! Glad we did see them as who knows how long they will be there for, which is a real shame. The glaciers are rapidly moving, flowing down to sea level and are very reactive to changes in the local weather conditions. The high annual rain and snowfall means that about 30m of snow falls on the top of them every year. This is pushing the ice down the valleys up to 10 times faster than in most valley glaciers.

We found a great top10 campsite near the Fox Glacier town, where the girls could again argue about go-karts, trampolines and playgrounds… end of our relaxing holiday ;) In the evening we drove down to a lookout point to see sunset against the Fox Glacier but got eaten by mosquitos again!

Queenstown to Wanaka

What a lovely little lakeside town Queenstown is!  

As soon as we drove down the hill we really liked it! Managed to find a great campsite, just a 5 min walk to town. We enjoyed walking around the shops, went to a nice park and the girls found a few play parks to keep them occupied. There were some  really good street entertainers in the evening and live bands playing on the green during the day. 

We queued up for the famous burgers at ‘Fergburger’ and I mean queued up! It was going down the road every time we past it and we had to wait about 40mins to get our take away meal (almost as long as the fish&chip’s shop in Budleigh!) but It was so worth it though! We thought we had found the best burger place (Grill’d) in Australia but the Fergburger was ace!

Unfortunately after the first morning in Queenstown, it rained for rest of our time there which was real shame as it would have been a nice place to spend more time outdoors and wasn’t  even worth going on the Gondola. Luckily Steve did his bungy jump on the first morning!

We did get to meet our lovely friends and spend some time with them which was great. The girls just adored Meg and lucky her she got a special pampering from the girls. Queenstown is a beautiful place that has got a real buzz about it, and now we understand why everyone always talks about it so much.

On our way to Wanaka we stopped at real old style village called Arrowtown. It was a quick coffee stop as it was still raining so didn’t walk around too long but the shops were great. Old little individual stores, old coffee shops, bakery, hairdressers, dentist etc. the village had everything there. You could go for different walks around and there was an old Chinese settlement to look at too.

At Wanaka we just stopped overnight, so didn’t explore too much. Again, the view was beautiful, but to be honest we have now seen so many different lakes with snow topped mountains behind them that after all they all starts to look the same. We found a campsite that actually had a spa and sauna which was lush as it has been quite cold until that point. Me and Miia took advantage of these luxuries! The sauna is one of the things I miss from Finland so when I get to go in one, I do appreciate it! The town was lovely too, had a nice feeling to it. Stopped at a skateboard park on our way out so that the girls could have a ride on their scooters. Even Miia has got a bit braver with her scooter whizzing down the ramps! 

Aoraki Mount Cook

We got up early (pretty good for us to leave the campsite by 08.15)! and drove to the Mount Cook Village.

Before we set off for our hike we enjoyed a lovely breakfast in The Old Mountaineers Café which looks towards Aoraki Mount Cook.

 We walked up the Hooker Valley trail towards Aoraki Mount Cook. The track was easy walking, mainly flat surface with few little hills on our way. You cross three swing bridges over the Hooker River until you reach the Hooker Glacier terminal lake, where you can still see some icebergs floating in the lake. The whole walk took us about 3.5hours and the girls did really well. It was a very warm day with beautiful views on our ways. Needless to say we all slept well that night!

On our drive to the next campsite we stopped to enjoy the views over Lake Pukaki which Aoraki Mount Cook overlooks.

Lake Tekapo

From Akaroa we travelled up to Lake Tekapo which was on our way to Mount Cook. Thanks to Katie James who kindly let us their Camping in NZ book, we found this lovely spot! The combination of the turquoise lake and the snow topped mountains made the scenery just phenomenal! The campsite we stayed is right by the lake so we could watch this lovely view from our camper van. When we arrived it was really windy and cold, but the following day was really hot so we decided to stay there for another night so we could enjoy this spot for longer. Within 15mins walk there are a few shops and restaurants with loads of holiday lets to stay. Next door to our campsite was also Tekapo springs, where you could enjoy some spa treatments, hot pools, water slides etc.

The girls enjoyed playing on the beach and they both managed to paddle in the lake too. Miia and I went for a quick swim too…it had to be a quick as it really was freezing! Even colder than the water in Finnish lakes!!!

First few days in New Zealand

We flew to Christchurch where we picked up our motorhome. A big thank you to Tania from DetourNZ who sorted us out a great deal and has been super helpful, nothing was too much trouble and she even went to lengths to provide an itinerary. Our motorhome is similar to what we ended up in Australia in the end, so plenty of space for the next three weeks. We are going round the south island with the van and North Island in a 4x4.

We didn’t see much of Christchurch. Drove through some suburbs but nothing seemed that nice. We went to the New Brighton Pier which was ok and the beach was lovely but you could still see some serious signs of earthquakes that devastated Christchurch in 2010/11. The roads were really bad, houses boarded up/demolished and lots of the shops were closed down. 

After what we had seen so far in Christchurch we decided to give the central a miss and drove to a place called Akaroa, which is about 1.5 hour from Christchurch via some very winding roads. But when you finally get there the view is just stunning! The picturesque French settlement village is the South Island’s oldest town and is perched on the edge of a deep volcanic harbour. We found a lovely campsite on the hills with views down to the Harbour, couldn’t ask anything nicer for the start of our New Zeeland adventures. We only stayed there for one night but decided if we still have time at the end of our three week tour, we would return there for our last night.

Sydney

We arrived in Sydney a couple days before the NYE celebrations ready for the most amazing fireworks we would ever experience. That is exactly what they were, just amazing! The whole afternoon was people buzzing here and there to find the best views. We were on the north side at McMahons Point just because our hotel for the night was there and that meant we could just walk back and avoid public transport. We found a lovely picnic spot in the park and the girls were great. They entertained themselves most of the day. 

We were there 9hours before midnight so it was a long wait but definitely worth it. Emmi managed to see the family fireworks at 9pm which were amazing too and then fell asleep half an hour before midnight and slept through it!

Even the girls said that the fireworks were the best thing in Sydney. There was plenty of things to do but we wanted to concentrate on getting to know the city rather than going to all the usual tourist activities. We did walk over Harbour Bridge, went to see the opera house, walked through the Royal Botanic gardens, got to know the Rocks area, Darling Harbour, China town, Olympic park etc…

The girls loved the play area with water play in Darling Harbour and had a lovely time on Manly beach and Bondi beach. We were little disappointed with those beaches but again after seeing so many stunning beaches driving down from Cairns…nothing comes close!

There was a lovely walk from Bondi to Bronte which we all enjoyed. The girls loved all rides on the double decker rail system. We bought an Opal card which you added credit to and topped up when it ran low. Easy way to travel, cheaper fares and price capping. On a Sunday you can travel anywhere for $2.50!! Very slick, clean and well run public transport.

Sydney was a great city to visit with the children and we would all like to return there one day.

Aussie Christmas

One thing that both me and Steve like is Christmas, especially Finnish Christmas as I don’t think you can beat that anywhere else…the proper white Christmas. So when shopping for Christmas decorations in +30’C almost wearing bikinis…you can imagine it didn’t quite feel the same for us. We were very lucky to have lovely friends in Perth who made us a pre-Christmas dinner (English way) so that set us up in the Christmas spirit… thank you Sarah and Maxine!

Luckily we also found a Swedish shop and ikea on our travels to stock up with mulled wine and ginger bread biscuits; they certainly helped us feel Christmassy. To be honest, for the girls we carried on as much as we could with our own Christmas traditions and I don’t think they were bothered that it was +30’C instead of -5’C! One thing I really enjoyed was the stress free December!!! No hundreds of cards to write, no lists of presents to buy, no food shopping, no baking or cooking to do…these are the things that I usually like about Christmas but it was so nice to have a year off and I was relaxed! There were days we didn’t even know what day or date it was and that just tells you that we managed to wind down!

We stayed near Coffs Harbour in a little place called Mission Beach, just perfect!

No pool in sight, no other kid’s activities other than a small park by the river bank. It was great! We enjoyed Christmas Eve on the river kayaking, paddle boarding and playing tennis. Campsite owner invited everyone for free hotdogs at lunch time and the children had a special visit from Santa! Everyone had a photo taken with Santa and received a bag of sweets, so lovely touch from the owners. In the afternoon we drove to Coffs Harbour and on way back stopped at the few beaches before went to a place called Emerald Beach and found a little gem there. A great Mexican restaurant that just catered for all our needs. Including Emmi and her allergies. We had a fab meal that was finished with delicious desert, chocolate nachos!!! Yeah baby, cinnamon flavoured homemade nachos covered in chocolate sauce, cream and berries mmm.

But I have to say, aussies don’t do Christmas the way that we like… there isn’t that Christmas feel and when on Christmas day we stay at home in the Uk and in Finland, here people went to the beach for a bbq with their families.

And that is exactly what we did too, we had a bbq for xmas dinner and spent the day on the beach!

Gold Coast

We had high expectations for the Gold Coast as everyone always talks about it, so we booked there for a few nights on the top of the Gold coast. Our campsite (Treasure Island) happened to be the best Big4 park we have stopped at so far and we decided to stay there for an extra night, would have stayed longer if we hadn’t already booked elsewhere. It had everything and catered for all of us. Nice little touches like welcoming packs and leaving presents etc. Three different pools with water slides, splash areas, a jumping pillow and the kids clubs kept the girls busy. We even had a chance for a run and workout or just sit and relax. Managed to go for a breakfast just me &Steve whilst the girls were being entertained with a magic show (these little moments you credit when other times you spend with the children 24/7)!

We were so pleased that our campsite was next door to the massive Outlet village ‘Harbour Town’ we just had to visit more than once!

For the rest of the Gold coast we just drove and stopped at different beaches. Surfers Paradise was just what we expected, not for us so just stopped to take couple of photos and drove on. There were few lovely beaches but to be honest after driving through the Northern beaches of Queensland  we have seen so many amazing ones that these on the Gold Coast were just beaches. 

We decided to drive nearer to the Byron bay area as we had been looking forward to staying in there. We found a campsite near Lennox Heads just south of Byron Bay to stay. Which was lovely, just short 15min walk to the amazing beach and very modern and clean facilities with play and pool areas for the children. We all enjoyed swimming on the beach and what made it even more special were the dolphins swimming in the waves just meters away from us!!! Just amazing.

We also had a fantastic day in Brunswick Heads just north of Byron Bay. The town was very hippy and had lovely individual shops and plenty of places to eat. Loved the river in low tide where the kids could just puddle and play in sand and water, kayak or paddle board. But the beach was just amazing and water was so warm. Even I got into the sea (and as you should know by now I don’t do the sea very easily) but after watching both girls having a go at body boarding I decided to have a go and loved it! So much fun!

On our way back to the campsite we decided to go Byron Bay for tea but I have to say, I don’t really understand what the fuss is all about??? Or have we just missed something??? Didn’t really like the town, and the beach was so busy… yeah it was just before Christmas but I don’t know why everyone was raving about the place…perhaps we have seen so many nicer places that we didn’t appreciate Byron. For us it was a big disappointment and even after a fine meal, we didn’t want to return there for another day. I would definately recommend Lennox Heads instead, just a short drive from Byron. Quieter but quirky little town. Lovely shops and places to eat or enjoy cup of coffee as we did. As for the beach…well it had been listed as one of the top ten surfing spots in the world…that just tells you all about it!