Finally....

Again, photos at the top...



Layla

Jaz the speed demon

Boh cruising down in Jaz's awesome "sceanie" (scarf plus a beanie!)

Boh busting a jump!!

Me finally getting the hang of it with a perfect run down the slope!

Me celebrating after said perfect run

close-up of the sceanie

me on a not-so-good run lol laughing it up

all of us at the start of the day

Tyler at the end of the day!!

us on the pier in Akaroa

Awesome car we saw in Akaroa

Sorry it's been so long in between posts everyone!

We have started to get into holiday mode, hanging out with the cousins and all. But nevertheless, here we are once more! So we are currently back in Christchurch, but since we last posted we have done quite a few things...

We took a day trip to the beautiful, french-settled, lakeside town of Akaroa with Aunty Bren, as she had the day off work, and we weren't sure what the roads would be like. But we arrived without drama, where Bren showed us around (which didnt actually take too long, it's pretty little!), and pointed out a couple of shops worth having a look at. After that we had a yummy lunch of fish'n'chips (Jaz says they're the best there), and, given the fact that we had pretty much seen the whole town, and that it was starting to get late, we headed back to Southbridge.

After another day or two of waiting out the bad weather with the family, on thursday we decided to take a quick trip down south a bit while the forecast looked good, and get back in time to avoid the weather warning for sunday (there did end up being a snow blizzard so we were lucky we did hurry back). So we headed down to Lake Tekapo, which Bren said was beautiful. And it was! As we drove in at about 4pm, the cloud had come down, and we were literally driving like, in a cloud! Plus the whole place was completely covered in snow, so it was like driving in a white bubble! We also stopped along the way at this lake which had completely frozen over, and the ice was so thick that someone had been driving on it (there were tyre tracks!). So Boh had a bit of fun sliding around on that! Unfortunately we got a tad bogged in the icy snow...but it was ok...we got out in the end! We stayed in a caravan park right on the lake shore, and next door to a snow-park/spa! We wasted no time in trying out tubing, which was wicked fun! Although we had to use up the very last scraps of cash we had, cos there was no atm in the town.

The next day it was on to have a look at Wanaka, another pretty lakeside town in the mountains, and a place that rivals Kaikoura for our favourite place in NZ! Although we would have liked to stay, we really didnt want to risk the weather, so we pushed on to Alexandra that day and stayed there for the night, as it was a step closer on our big drive home. It was a bit of a boring old town, reminded us a bit of Albany actually...haha!

So the next day was the massive drive back to Southbridge, so we decided to push our leaving time to 9:15am...sigh getting up before nine! lol. And drove all day until we got back at about 3.30pm....exciting...

Now unfortunately we have no photos of this trip down south...because about an hour into the trip we stopped to take photos...and Boh dropped my camera on the roadside. So now it has a couple of massive dents in the front, and won't turn on at all...

Which sucks.

But ah well, we have now gotten over it, and will just have to sort something out before we leave Christchurch.

Well the next thing of note we have done is *drumroll* SNOWBOARDING!!!! That was yesterday, and it was awesome. Really hard, really tiring, and relativley painful...but awesome!!! Now I'm not going to say that I'm particularly good at it...but I tried! Haha, and definately improved by the end of the day!!! (woulda been hard not to) Boh went pretty good, although he said it was a lot harder than he expected. But he picked it up pretty quick and had a really great time. Brenda managed to get us this deal for Porters Pass Ski field (one of the smaller ski areas)which included a bus from Christchurch to the mountain and back, snowboard and boot hire, a 1.5hr lesson, and a full day lift pass for $88! (Mt Hutt would have cost $140 without the bus!) So we were stoked, and so were the cousins, cos Bren decided that Jaz and Tyler could have the day off school and come too , seeing as though it was so cheap(and luckily Layla was allowed as well).

So it was a really amazing day, and sooooo worth all the pain...which is saying something...cos we are really hurting today!

So thats about all, and the photos from yesterday are up top(we took Bren's camera up with us)

Now THATS a decent sized guinea-pig!

Photos first today cos we can't make them go to the bottom...

Me and Jaz ice-skating

Jaz's rugby game

The guinea pig...(read on, and you will know what we are talking about)

The frost in Hanmer

Sharing the road with sheep

Me buried at the rock beach in Kaikoura

This cool little sculpture at the beach in Kaikoura

Bluey checking out the view in Kaikoura

Hi there everyone!

We are currently staying with my Aunty Brenda and her family (Tyler who is 16, his girlfriend Layla, Jaz who is 14, and Jayde who is 9 and Bren's husband Steve who is actually in Sydney atm) in Southbridge, near Christchurch, which is like halfway down the South Island on the east coast. So it's great here with the family, been a while since I've seen everyone, and they hadn't met Boh so yeah it's been fun to catch up!

Ok so we've probably skipped a little bit...it's always hard to remember our last blog...I guess I should probably read the last one before I write the new ones! I think...we left you guys in Blenheim, and from there we headed down to Kaikoura, which is like THE most beautiful place we have been so far! It was amazing! It's a beachside town, but get this...there were MOUNTAINS...with SNOW...like right behind the town, pretty awesome backdrop. The place we stayed there had a spa too, so it was really crazy to sit in the spa with that view, and also to wake up, stick our heads out the door, and the first thing you see is these amazing mountains!

Yeah and on our way there we stopped to look at this seal colony, which was super-amazing, like all these seals just hanging out on the rocks (like hundreds and hundreds), sun-bathing (well they would have been if there was any sun...) so we took a few photos of them just from the side of the road. They are really camoflauged too so you could pretty much drive past and not even see them, but we are in the know so we were keeping a look out...

So we stayed the night there, then hung out until like lunchtime so we wouldn't have to drive on scary icy roads. We had a coffee, walked around the town a bit (it's actually a really cute town, reminded us of Denmark!) and had a look at the beach, which was REALLY cool...cos there was NO sand...weird huh? lol Yeah it was just like little rocks and pebbles, some of them greenstone, so we played with the rocks for a while...you wouldn't believe how much fun it could be...haha.

Then after a treat for lunch (fish'n'chips..mmmm), we headed off to Hanmer Springs, which is inland from there, and is one place I remember going to last time I came over with the family. The drive to there was made pretty epic by the huge herd of sheep that happened to be borrowing the road for a bit. Pretty funny catching up with like every one of the many many cars that had passed us throughout the drive! Unlucky...

First thing about Hanmer was the COLD...it was soooo freezing. By the time we rocked up, there was just time for a quick spin around town to check out our caravan park options, before booking in, cooking dinner, and heading off to bed. The morning saw some awesome frost, and iced over puddles, and ice condensation on the inside of the van windows which, I am sad to say, entertained us for a fair while...

Playing mini-golf was our big activity in Hanmer, and it was not so great for me cos I got put off my game by the infuriating little kids infront of us (who takes a 2yr-old kid to play mini-golf anyway...), and Boh picked up on the weakness and actually managed to beat me...sigh...

So we decided not to stay another night there because we were afraid we may freeze to death...therefore we pressed on to Christchurch. The only thing of note that happened on the way there was that we pulled over to check out this obstacle course thing (we ended up being too expensive...but thats not the story...), and we spotted the owner's pet pig...yeah pretty cool huh?! So we patted the pig, and just as we were leaving, another guy walked up, and said to the owner guy "now thats a decent sized guinea-pig you got there" - completely deadpan - which had us in hysterics back in the car...haha... So from now on anything big...shall be called a decent sized guinea-pig...lol.

Since then we have been hanging out with my cousins, went and watched Jaz's rugby game yesterday, which was awesome! Jaz scored a try, and her team won, so that was great fun to see some good rugby! Then we met up with my Uncle Lance, and cousin Holly, who also live in Christchurch, and we went Ice-skating, which was cold and painful, due to badly fitting skates! And really quite scary, as we havn't been ice-skating since yr 8 camp! Fun though!

So now we are just hanging out, as we are a bit scared to go anywhere cos Bren said its supposed to snow soon! Boh is super excited! Had a massive pancake cook-up this morning, and Layla introduced us to what she says is the Kiwi way of eating pancakes...brace yourselves...it may sound gross, but we have been converted now so we will make you all eat it when we get back!

Pancakes, maple syrup, fried bananas....and bacon!

Trust me its goooood!

So I guess we will post again soon.

xoxox

South Island!

Hi there everyone,

We have finally made it to the South Island! We are currently in Blenhiem (the place names are getting a bit more european down here, so a little easier to pronounce, which is a bonus! haha), which is a town below Picton, where the Ferry comes in, and where we stayed last night.

So the past few days since we last blogged have been nice and cruisy, just hanging out with Lara, Sven and the kids, but the time haad eventually come to move on, and get started on the next half of our trip! Lara was nice enough to offer to book our ferry tickets on the internet for us, which meant a lot less hassle, as we were able to just jump on the ferry yesterday, no worries.

It was a pretty neat experience, driving the van onto a huge boat, especially seein as though Boh had mentioned to me that once they forgot to shut the back of the boat (surely they employ soomeone to remember small details like that...) and it sunk! SCARY, but we got over our fear when it hadn't sunk in the first few minutes. We also noticed that a train was driven on to the bottom level which is pretty awesome when you think about it. Apart from feeling a little queasy, which we remedied by sitting up on the deck for most of the time, it was a great trip, as the ferry was really quite coll, with it's own bar, cafe, shop, and CINEMA on board!! Coming into Picton was absolutely beautiful, sailing through the Marlborough Sounds, seeing all the farmland on the side of little mountainous islands, and houses only accessable by boat. Getting into Picton at about 5pm, we headed straight for a campsite, which ended up only being like 800m from the ferry or something, so that was very easy. It was there that we had a bit of a surprise, as we got chatting to an older couple who were in the kitchen area, and when i mentioned that my mum was from Ashburton (one of the places she grew up), he said "oh what's her name, that's where I'm from", and I said Karen Hampton (her maiden name), and he was like "not Lynley and Lochie's Karen?" (this is my aunty and her ex-husband) and I was like wow omg, yes! So it turns out he used to hang out with mum, who was friends with his ex-wife, and he actuially movved to brisbane with my aunty and her then-boyfriend Lochie! And he's really good mates with my Uncle Mark too! CRAAAAZY... So that was pretty insane. Small world huh?

So anyways, having headed out of Picton this morning, we are headed down the east coast of the South Island, and will probably head down through Hanmer Springs, before going on to Christchurch. So it is time to email my rellies there! (If you are reading this Jaz, or Aunty Bren, I will be emailing you in a minute!)

More soon,

xoxox

Unfortunately we were a bit slack in Wellington, and didnt remember to take some photos of Lara and her family, so we just managed to remember to quickly snap one of Bubba and Abe, who were the only ones home (with the nanny, not on their own! lol) when we left. So heres a bunch of photos of the crossing, and some other stuff we have done in the past week or so...

Heres Bubba eating his lunch...

Sven's awesome Jaguar!

Me at this awesome pirate adventure mini golf place we went to.(I won...)

The Ferry coming in to get us.

Boh chowing down a Big Mac on the side of the road...cold...nice.

On the Ferry and going through the Sounds...

Warmth and Children....

We have arrived in Wellington to stay a little while with my cousin Lara and her family (Her husband Sven, their four boys; Ike - 8, Joe - 6, Abe - 4, and Ezra a.k.a Bubba - 2, dog Friday, cat Mouse - the cat is called mouse in case anyone is confused - and horses Rocket and Ash) which is awesome, great to spend some time with my little cousins! Though I must say that Bohdi is much more popular than I am, as you would expect...teenage boys are so captivating to little boys, he practically has three little adoring shadows (Bubba is a little young to mind about gender yet). Lara has been really helpful, offering to pay us an hourly rate to do some jobs around the house, as we were keen for some work at some point on the journey to replenish our funds somewhat. And the digs are just fantastic, as we have our own little self-contained flat above the garage to hang out in.

So it has been a great few days here so far, hanging out with the kids, and doing some work round here, including babysitting Bubba for a bit today, which is hardly work at all really, he's adorable!

Yesterday we headed into Wellington for the first time (Lara and Sven's is quite a way out of town), leaving then car in FREE parking in Plimmerton, which is near their house, and taking the train from Plimmerton to the city. Our first stop was the Museum of Wellington (entered into purely because of the fact that it is FREE), which was basically just the history of the city, but pretty cool all the same. Then it was on to "Te Papa" which is the museum of New Zealand, and is also FREE!! It's actually quite surprising that it is free because there is some really awesome stuff going on in there, from volcano exhibitions to a giant squid! Also, it contains the skeleton of Phar Lap, which was one of the things I do remember about visiting then museum last time my family came over. Then after scoffing down some lunch we headed off to the movies to see Transformers! Which was Awesome! Really really really long, but cool all the same. Then we dragged our exhausted little selves all the way back to the train  station and headed back to Lara's. 

So today we pretty much just spent the day doing stuff around here, and hanging out with Bubba which is really fun as he is just an awesome little character.

Not much has really happened apart from that since we last posted...So I guess we will let you know when something else does, and as far as our plans, well we think we will probably spend the weekend here with the kids, then off to the South Island on the Ferry.

More Soon, 

xoxox

 

(oh yeah just wanted to thank Issy for the plug on her travel blog - she is in Canada at the moment, if you wanna check it out click here, her blogging was what gave us the idea!)