New Zealand

Today was pure fun. As usual we had a slow time getting going and left for the gondola at about noon. I learned this morning that Nick pronounces this word “Gunjula”. You think you know a person and then get thrown a curveball like hearing them say “gunjula” instead of gondola. We got in and…

We had a very exciting late night last night. At midnight, right as we were halfway asleep, we heard a loud screeching and then a massive bang. We immediately shot up out of bed and knew there had been a car accident outside of our little house. We looked out of the window and couldn’t…

Yesterday, as we were walking back to the park after ice cream, we saw a flyer in a window advertising an Easter Egg hunt at a nearby farm. Say less. We packed up the house and left just after 10am. The farm was only a few minutes away, on our way out of town. At…

For days I’ve been pronouncing the name of this town as “teh-now”, as in “up to now”. I have no idea why. I never heard anyone say it, it just felt right in my heart. Well, turns out I was way off. It’s “Tee Ah-new” as in Te Anau Reeves. Anyway, our plan for the…

Millie woke up feeling mostly better, but she still had a low-grade fever and a stomach ache, so we decided to take it easy today to let her fully recover. We read 2 whole Babysitter’s Club books (we’ve started the whole series over again). She did a little bit of “school” work in her notebook.…

We had a big breakfast (foreshadowing) this morning and then set off for the 2 hour drive to Milford Sound. It’s been a lot of driving recently and we did not feel like spending more time in the car but today was the best weather on the forecast, so today was the best day for…

We started our day at the one non-nature attraction in Wānaka: Puzzling World. This place was part puzzles, part maze, part optical illusions. It was nothing very groundbreaking but we had a fun few hours there. We started in the illusions section. They had a “leaning room” where everything was at a 15 degree angle.…

It rained all night and was still pouring when we woke up this morning. I was over it. We are in a place that is known for its great hikes and views, and both have been shut down for us due to the rain. The beautiful mountains all looked like this: And as we drove…

Another rainy day and another lazy morning. We ate oatmeal in our hotel room and played more cards. Millie is getting very into Set which makes us both very proud. We finally left the room at 11ish. The first activity of the day was a short hike to see the Franz Josef glacier. Or what’s…

Last night we stayed in a very barebones caravan park. Our little cabin had comfy beds but a shared bathroom and a shared kitchen. Most of the other guests were RVers. It made me start thinking about what our next big family adventure could be, and I’m dreaming about a long RV trip. The idea…