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The Site

When we started to research our trip and how we wanted to spend our time in New Zealand, we first thought that we were going to go the route of renting a camper van and spend our days driving around and camping. The reality of what that meant, with two small children,  had us digging in a bit deeper and planning with a bit more gusto.

We ultimately decided on having three different home bases during our stay and going from there. The more we learned about New Zealand’s South Island, the more we wanted to go. Truly, the South Island has it all, from mountains to beaches.

We discovered a series of working farms that have glamp sites set up all around New Zealand and when we saw the one on The Banks Peninsula, specifically Lavericks Bay, we immediately signed up for six nights.

What follows are some images of the site, set in the middle of a the valley, also in the middle of a working beef and sheep farm. The site was set up by Harriett and her husband, Lloyd (oh, how I wish I had a photo of them) and they truly thought of everything, making our stay both comfortable and relaxing in a camping-type of way.

The hills on either side became our entertainment and the weather dictated how many layers we needed on our bodies.

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Darlene Are Your Feet Hot?

untitled-178We’ve made it to the Holy Land of Beaches on the upper left corner of the South Island. I’ll swing it around to eventually get our farm pictures up, which all seems like a distant dream now that we’ve become full-time beach bums. Our beach-game is strong, meaning we’ve got beach toys, Barry has a SUP board and I now have my very own set of fins to make myself go extra fast when I want to swim into the deep, blue ocean.

We’re renting an amazing house here in Nelson and it suits our every single need. When we first arrived, after a longish day of driving, the girls ran wild checking out every single nook and cranny. While this happened, Barry and I unloaded the car and started laundry because we hadn’t washed a stitch in over a week.

It wasn’t until we’d settled in a bit later that we noticed the ‘shoes’ Audrey had discovered and shoved on her feet. The girls were busy playing Darlene (their favorite imagination game, Audrey’s Darlene….it’s really funny).

Anyhow, we noticed Audrey’s shoes and she told us she’d found them in the kitchen drawer by the oven. Upon closer inspection, we learned that she was wearing oven mitts as shoes/slippers. We haven’t had the heart to tell her that they aren’t shoes and she’s worn them around the house now for a few days….

That Darlene. She’s a funny one.

Off to the beach where I may or may not accidentally swim directly into a sand bar because I’m so focused on my new fangled fins.

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But First, Christchurch

Before we went to the farm on the Banks Peninsula, we spent a couple days in Christchurch. A day or two before we arrived, there had been a pretty significant earthquake, enough to make the locals worry, but it was nothing compared to the damage done five years ago. The entire city seems to still be in recovery, with damage still very obvious and rubble or the remains of what once was. Everything seems weary and tired in a way.

But there are parks all over and the sense of starting over, new ideas blossoming. There’s a downtown area that is made up of  boxcars/shipping containers. The actual stores are in the containers and pieced together like a mini mall.

On our way out of town, we went to what we were hoping would be a nice Farmers Market, but discovered it to be the largest Flea Market known to mankind. It seemed like the optimal place to find some treasures, but since we’re not here to dig around junk to find the needle in the haystack, we bought a snow cone and got on our way.