The adventure begins at Wilderness Adventures, picking up what was going to be our home for the next 7 days. A 7.1m RV. Sally gave us a 40 minute routine instructional on how to use it, she installed the kids seats, gave us a map and circled a few key places to go and then said “in ya hop!” “Too da loo!”.

We picked up the groceries and ate dinner and headed south towards Geraldine. We stopped at Coronation Holiday Park to set up camp. We put the kids to bed (they are sharing a king bed) and they eventually dozed off after an hour or so of giggling and playing with the lights. This was expected being the first night. Sam was so excited to be sleeping next to his little sister!

A day or two before we left for NZ I was searching camping apps on my App Store and found “CamperMate” and downloaded it. I quickly discovered after half an hour of driving it could be the best thing for our trip! It provides a map that locates the nearest holiday parks, cafes, petrol stations, shopping, places of interest and tourist spots and provides photos and info on all these things. We used this a lot... For example, whenever we were approaching a town I’d look on the app to see where the coffee shops were.

From the farmyard we hopped back into the motorhome and headed for Lake Tekapo. The drive there was amazing. Easy straight roads with views of the mountains, some with snow sprinkled on their peaks. It was just lovely to watch the bird life and nature as we drove.

We didn’t bring an Ipad for Sam because being a driving trip it would be so easy for him to overuse. He is quite content to look out the window, play with a water colouring activity, draw or listen to his favourite songs or sleep as we drive. Sienna just ponders, plays with toys, eats and sleeps!

From Lake Tekapo we continued down south to Cromwell. We heard there was fantastic food and wine there and there was nothing else that we craved!

We were an hour or so into our trip only 20min away from Cromwell when we changed our minds and decided to turn around and head west to Lake Wanaka (pronounced “Wonaka” not “Wahhhnaka”).

Heavens what a beautiful place.

We pulled up at “Lakeview Holiday Park” and hand picked our campsite! Right behind a playground with views of the mountain! Absolutely stunning! The kids played until it got dark and then we strolled into the town for dinner. Shops, bars and restaurants overlook the lake and we chose a nice little pub for dinner. Isaac and I both devoured the lambshanks and had a couple of NZ beverages and we taught Sam how to play Jenga! They had great food options for kids too. I’ve never seen Sam eat so much margarita pizza!

When we were walking out the doors of the restaurant I realised I left my phone on the table, I walked back in to collect it and as I walking back towards the exit a gentleman (from Adelaide of all places) caught my arm, he had stopped me to say how beautiful my children are and how well behaved they were at dinner. My heart could have burst.

Some dinners we have out are cringe worthy, it felt so nice for someone else to notice we had a great time! From that experience I think it’s so important to issue praise when it’s due. Especially if it’s going to make their day and encourage them. So thank you Man from Adelaide, you taught me a very valuable lesson.

The drive from Wanaka to Queenstown has been my favourite part of the trip thus far. It’s that beautiful! Very “Lord of the Rings / The Hobbit feel” with stone built farm cottages and grand picturesque landscape.

We drove past “Bra Fence” in Cardrona (a fence with lots of bras on it), there’s many vineyards and a really cute boutique grocer.

Hello Queenstown! Arriving into Queenstown after two days in the country makes me feel like I’ve just walked through the wardrobe in the movie “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”. You go from quiet little towns to a “big” city (compared to everything else) there’s so many people (a great diversity), crowds of people eating and lining up for” Ferg Burger”. If you enjoy shopping then this is the place for you! Although everything is twice the price... we bought a pair of mittens for Sienna which cost us $30 😐.

From Queenstown we worked out we could keep driving to Te Anau and fit Milford Sound into our trip.

When we arrived at Te Anau at the Top 10 Holiday Park the weather turned sour and it was going to stay windy, stormy and horrible for a few days so we made a vast decision the next morning to head East to Dunedin. My heart broke when we were at the fork of the road and turned right to go to Dunedin instead of East to Milford Sound. It had been our goal of the trip to cruise around the Milford Sound and we got so close but had to turn around. It wasn’t fair on the kids to take them out in the cold and rain and it wasn’t ideal driving conditions either. We knew we would come back to visit Milford Sound another time.

We heard some great things about Dunedin such as the Cadbury Chocolate factory and the Larnachs Castle. Isaac and I promised Sam that after the long drive we’ll be going to the chocolate factory to have a tour and he can eat some chocolate. He was so excited! We kept reminding him the whole 3.5 hour drive that at the end there will be chocolate!

We pulled up, literally got a park right outside the doors, only to read a note on the door which said,

“The Cadbury Chocolate Factory is closed. If you have booked a tour please call this number ...”

My heart was crushed again...How are we going to explain this to Sam?!

Thank god by that time because of the long drive Sam had pretty much gotten over the idea. He just wanted to get out and play.

I unbuckled Sam out of his seat and told him to wait by the door while I get Sienna ready. I pulled Sienna out of her car seat and stood her up and began putting her jacket on when I heard a loud “PSSSSSSSSTTTTTTT” noise. I looked up and saw a thick cloud of white dust filling the air inside the tiny caravan. I stood up and immediately started choking on the dust. I saw sam standing there in shock with the fire extinguisher in his hand. “Cough, cough, Samuel!!” Mid choking, I grabbed the kids, burst the door open and jumped out of the campervan. I still don’t know how he managed to release it but this situation didn’t help my first impressions on Dunedin.

Dunedin’s infrastructure is quite ugly. we were so spoilt by the beauty of central New Zealand and when we arrived in Dunedin we were quite let down. It looked like a war stricken industrial ghost town. We stumbled into a beautiful little cafe near the train station called “Ironic Cafe” we saw more people in the restaurant than outside in the town, we took a table and planned an escape route out of Dunedin.

From lunch we drove to Lanarchs Castle. The drive was spectacular. It was the first time we had seen New Zealand’s coast line and the South Pacfic Ocean! Our spirits were lifted and we started to feel that buzz again!! Upon arriving to Lanarchs Castle it really was amazing. Like the Wardrobe analogy, you walk through a forest and up a hill and it appears out of no where! The gardens were beautiful and the interior of the castle was like nothing I had ever seen before. Sam loved this tour. Kids love castles!

When we drove through the town of Oamaru we were pleasantly surprised of the beauty of this old nautical town. We walked down a lane way with a beautiful boutique children’s clothing store, little antique shops, a limestone carving workshop and a small merino factory.

We had lunch at Scott’s Brewery (home of the most delicious sweet potato chips! Yum!). Then we took the kids down to the water and discovered the most amazing playground we’ve ever seen! Seriously, New Zealand, you have the most beautiful playgrounds.

We stayed at Lakeview Holiday Park Lake Tekapo on the way back to Christchurch.

When we arrived in the afternoon I told Isaac I would take the kids down to the lake and have a play in the park while he had a shower. When the day turned into dusk it had suddenly become cold, really cold. Our cheeks started to chill and Sam told me countless of times his hands were freezing. I started to feel the same thing, my hands began to seize. Sienna’s hands also turned bright red. I called Isaac and told him something is happening and to swing by and pick us up on the way to dinner. It turned out there was a huge dump of snow at that same time around the mountains of New Zealand.

That night we went to dinner at Mackenzie’s over looking Lake Tekapo. I had Lamb Chops and Isaac had Beef ribs. Both were amazing, one of the best meals we had in New Zealand. I’ll never forget when I took Sam to the bathroom that night a South Korean woman asked me if I get his hair professionally permed. 😂

When we arrived back to the campervan that night Isaac and the kids fell asleep straight away. As usual I’m the last to doze off.. I opened the sun roof above our bed and laid back gazing at the stars. I think you can see then entire galaxy clear as crystal from Lake Tekapo. It‘s a really special place.

Before we handed back the campervan we stopped by Orana Wildlife Park in Christchurch, an open-range zoo that proved to be amazing for the kids! You can hand feed the Giraffes, see the Lions running around and watch the orangutans play.

Arthur’s Pass was another place we wanted to see on our trip. It was only two hours out of Christchurch so the next day we hired a car over the road from our hotel. The drive to Arthur’s Pass was so picturesque

On the plane back home to Sydney I wondered why had we not done this holiday years earlier but I couldn’t imagine travelling to New Zealand without my babies.

I hope this blog has sold you on the idea.

I’ll leave you with this photo. One of my favourites from the trip. I know it’s one I’ll look back on in years time and find so much joy in it. Which is what life is all about, creating unforgettable moments of just joy.