South Island - part 2

Now, if you've never been to New Zealand, you should know that the most recommended and toured part of it is the west coast of the South Island. Well at least I would think so. And if you ever come this way, I warmly recommend you do the same. It's a beautiful piece of coastline with some amazing scenery. The south island is the least populated of the two islands, and a lot of it retains its untouched wilderness aspect (although don't look too close or you might stumble on a mine... yes, New Zealand is opening up national parks for mining, what a shame).

 Since my mum hand't seen much of the west coast we decided to go through at least part of it. We took the road inland that goes through Reefton, and old mining town and the first to have street lights in the whole Southern hemisphere. That's what mining will do for you. Now they still have street lighting but the town seems to have come to a halt... I guess it was good while it lasted.

Gold no more

Reefton's one and only motor camp. 

We then hit the west past and headed for Punakaiki. I'd forgotten how stunning this part of the South Island was. What a drive. We stayed at a nice campground right by the beach, played in the waves and watched the sunset. Magic.

The next day we headed south, through Greymouth, visited Shanty town (another ex-mining town that has turned into a make believe tourist attraction. I had hoped we could make it all the way down to Queenstown, but that would have way too much driving, the kids would have gone mad.
So we ended up heading back to Christchurch through Arthur's Pass. and that will be in the third and last post about this trip...

South island - Part 1

While we were living in Pukerua bay my mum came over for a few weeks. We decided we should go on a road trip together, and since we were close to the South Island and she hadn't seen much of it we chose to hire a camper van and travel through part of it for 2 weeks.

The camper van turned into a motorhome. The people at the rental company took pity on us and thought we'd be more comfortable with a bigger truck and were glad to upgrade us free of charge. Even though I was sceptic at first (it was quite a beast to drive...), I'm glad they talked us into it. It was comfortable. The only stressful part being that it was brand new. Add two young kids more than happy about their new jungle jim and you've got a recipe for disaster. I spent a lot of time trying to tame the two monkeys (especially the older one who could climb everywhere!) and worrying that one would get hurt or that some irreversible damage would be inflicted on the said motorhome. Luckily we had wine.

We started off from Christchurch and spent the first night in a small suburb north parked in front of a park. In hindsight we probably should have stayed in a motor camp just to make the beginning of our trip easier but hey, we were fine! (although a bit frozen in the morning).
We headed north the next day, through Kaikoura, and stopped at a great spot called Lake Grassmere. It's a DOC campsite, and if you're not familiar with those, they usually offer pretty basic facilities but most often are situated in some beautiful spots. This one was no exception.

Lake Grassmere. Unfortunately the photo doesn't do it justice.

The kids had a great play on the sandy shore before dinner and we all slept well (thankfully I managed to score an extra duvet at the recycling station in Kaikoura). Around the lake were some saltworks which were quite impressive with their white mountains! They looked like a mini antarctic display...

We almost got stranded going through Blenheim when we didn't stop early enough to get petrol (and then the closest gas station was closed because the computer crashed!). Then we caught up with Josh's sister in Nelson and spent a few days in the area. The kids had a ball with their cousins.
We checked out the WOW museum, the Nelson market and got to spend a few hours on the Abel Tasman. All of which I'd recommend.

Abel tasman

Abel Tasman view from the coastal walk. picture perfect.

two friendly paradise ducks

Hard work!

W¡

A little while ago, back in February of this year, Josh and I teamed up to design the march issue of our little local what's up kind of leaflet thing called Wasab¡

Wasab¡ - The crafty issue

Being the creative eco friendly type that we are, and wanting to give some free knowledge away as well as entice in some fun up cycling activities, we created an issue about crafting with stuff you've got at home, such as a shirt, or some wood. And turning the said stuff into some cooler stuff that can hang around a bit longer at home, like a pillow cover or some blocks (for the kids or yourself. Or you dog).

It was lots of fun, and even though there were no cat fights, it was good to learn to negotiate around creative ideas and to think as a team. Not how I would have pictured our spending time together without the kids (luckily granny was here!), but agreeable none the less. Josh came up with the concept of putting the whole issue together on one board, then taking a photo of it. The text and photos were printed out then stuck on the board, then we added some bits and pieces to make it look handmade. It was challenging but came out just as we wanted.

Photo shoot on the dining room table. 

We're happy with how it came out, and although I haven't seen anyone sporting a cool pillow cover yet, I'm hoping it's inspired some...
If you're keen to get very own copy of this issue, I'd be delighted to send it. Worldwide. Yes. Leave me a comment or get in touch with me.

The boys

They're well and healthy, touch wood we haven't been hit by any kind of nasty bug recently. Miro is now walking running, trying to imitate his bigger brother which can lead to very funny situations or extremely dangerous ones... Hard to get Tahi to understand the effect of his actions.

Tahi just got a big box of lego and is in heaven. He seems to be enjoying "making" things now, mainly cars with the lego, or at least things on wheels. Josh is glad to join in and after three months of intense work and no play, this seems to be the best therapy for him and a great way to get some special father and son moments. Aaawww.

Miro sporting a Piou Piou tunic and some very cool pants by Dame Sorciere

Inspired by...

More books.
We've been back for almost two weeks now, but what with the moving, the broken modem and new computer (plus getting the garden ready for winter, some sewing and watching "deadwood"), well, time flies doesn't it?
Here are a few more books from the Wellington library that kept me interested and inspired during our time away.

Back... almost

Oh dear,

I have been shut off the web for what seems like ages and for my first post back blogger has completely revamped its site. I AM LOST! Now I feel like a total has been. Definitely time we went home.
Anyway, I'm just dropping by to say hi, sorry for being silent for so long. Lots has been happening, Josh has been busy 7 days a week which means I've been looking after the kids 7 days a week. Most days I'd get to the evening so tired the only thing I could do is crawl into bed and read. It has been nice though, and check out the view from the house we've been living in...

We're back in Gizzy in a week, promise I'll post photos and stories (including our 2 week trip in the South Island).