December 3rd Sunday
Airyen was a not well, so we had parents come over for a bit, whilst I went and got some medical supplies. Akshey was our driver who dropped us to Gatwick, where we boarded our 8.25pm flight to Dubai. Airyen slept through a lot of the flight but did not have much food or drink. So in Dubai we had a look at changing the ongoing flight, which required a medical certificate of illness, but as there was not enough time between the flight (not helped by the delay taking off) we carried on on our next leg to Auckland direct. We had to work a bit to keep Airyen hydrated.
5th – Tuesday
Arriving in Auckland, Bhavni went ahead with Airyen and took a taxi to Starship, whilst I collected the bags and stroller before heading to collect our hire car for the next few days; a Toyota Camery. Driving was a bit surreal as I recognised bits and pieces. Eventually I made it to starship and found Bhavni and Airyen there. Airyen had perked up re-markedly compared to the flight. The doctors thought he was ok so we headed to the car then north to Whangaparoa, arriving at Sheilina’s house a bit later. Sheilina was there to greet us, then all the children. How much have they grown since we last saw them, and the new addition Rian, 6 days younger then Airyen. Grant was away up north and would be back tomorrow.
We chilled around for the rest of the day and for dinner we had a Thai take away. Due to the drama on the plane, we were tired and went to bed without any real jet lag.
6th – Wednesday
Today was mostly a day to rest. After breakfast, Sheilina left with the children and went to work; we went out ourselves to Silverdale, just up the road. First stop was to the bank to get our cards reactivated. Quite a pleasant experience, and Airyen got a new toy. After we got some shopping locally and at the supermarket before heading back to Sheilina’s house for lunch – Bagels, hummus and avocado. Sheilina and the children came back after lunch.
I grabbed a short nap, to be woken by Shamil (who told me not to sleep to get over the jetlag!). For the evening I made some Swahili pasta. Grant came a bit late after we had eaten. Sheilina and I headed out to the pub for the quiz, and Grant and Bhavni joined us after round 1 after putting Airyen to sleep. Grants mother was looking after the children at home. Surprisingly we did not do that badly.
7th – Thursday
After breakfast, we did some morning packing, and ended up running late. We drove to Epsom to Sues house (No 28) getting there just before 1pm. Sue and Peter greeted us and we made our way to the garden for lunch all home made.
Unfortunately Sue had some bad news, the Grants were going to join us for lunch, however just on Sunday they had been up at their house in the north, Joice left a bit early, but when she got to Auckland she got the news that her husband had been found in the water. That was really shocking news.
After food, with Airyen making it from outside to inside, he got a nice little present – a proper kiwi book about a yellow tractor.
We then went over and paid our condolences to Joice, then set out back for Sheilina’s. Finishing some more packing we then stayed in and retired early (Grant and Sheilina were going into town).
8th – Friday
After breakfast and a bye for now, we headed out catching the SH1 north. We stopped at 11ish for a coffee and a break for Airyen, at a cafe called Salt n Pepper. One whole banana, tea and flat white later, we were back on the road. This time to Whangerei, where we drove into the town center.
We went to one cafe, but were not impressed by the look, so after a quick search and 5 minute walk we ended up at the Mokaba Cafe just after 12.30. It was a nice lunch, including chips and a butternut squash salad.
Back on the road we carried on until Airyen needed to get out of his car seat, so a stop at a nursery, then the last push until we arrived at By the Bay Beachfront Apartments in Coopers Beach at 5pm. After checking in we went for a walk on the beach.
Airyen got to put his feet in the water – He was not impressed. Back at the room we chilled on the veranda until dinner time. After Airyen was going to sleep I picked up a take away from from the thai restaurant in Manganui.
9th – Saturday
After a simple breakfast of cereal, we went for a long walk on coopers beach right the way from one side to the other. Then we went into town for a look around – there is not much. Lunch was at the Little Kitchen; the seagulls there are really daring, you cant leave a table for more then 2 seconds.
We then visited the Rangikapiti Pa Reserve, which had a road up a long way. I could push the pushchair up much of the gravel path, but the last bit was not suitable for it, so Bhavni and I took turns climbing up and seeing the view of the whole bay and surrounds.
Getting back to the car we then took a drive past cable bay and then up onto the Karikari peninsula; this was actually the way to the Carrington resort that Sheilina was going to go to later. We had come a fair way, so took a while to get back. Sitting on the veranda we introduced Airyen to grass. He was not impressed by the feel of it and tried to keep lifting his feet high.
The managers were having a staff party and when Airyen and I went past he was really the topic of conversation. Dinner was a takeaway from the Indian, the dar was nice but the chilly panner was not really good.
10th – Sunday
In the morning we had breakfast and then gave the washing to the managers to do on our behalf. Whilst this was going on we went for a short walk on the beach. We had to wait a little while for the washing to be finished.
Driving south at 10am, our next stop was in Pahia. We parked and had a little walk around before stopping for a coffee and some sour bread at the Alongside cafe. We were on nice couches and Airyen got a little entertainment from a self professed crazy American.
The next stop was again in Whangerei. I dropped Bhavni off at a shopping complex near by so she could go to Briscos to buy some kitchen supplies. I then drove to the riverside, parked and then went to the Quay cafe. It was quite busy, so with the push chair I tried to get the attention of one of the staff, but he was strange. Finding a seat, Bhavni arrived, so we got our lunch, including chips and toasted sandwiches.
After lunch it was a straight drive to Sheilina’s apart from the traffic at Warkworth. Making it to Sheilinas, we chilled with the children and made some dinner. We also had to do packing for tomorrow.
11th – Monday
In the morning we had to finish packing. We said bye for now to Imani,Arka and Arjun as they were going to school. We left around 11am and drove to return the car. All ok with it, we were dropped to the airport and then checked in. The gate was a really small building, and mr man was a bit fidgety.
Slightly late we boarded the small prop plane and were on our way to Nelson. Arriving, Bhavni went to look after Airyen whilst I collected the bags (just outside on a trolly) then got the rental car. Getting to the car we noticed that the baby seat was fitted front facing, so we had to get that changed, which took a while as the seat was faulty for back facing.
The plan was to stop at a vineyard, but it was too late, so we drove to Motueka and stopped at the countdown there getting supplies.
Then it was to Kimi Ora Eco Resort. We checked in cleaned up and then went for dinner. It was a nice view, but really hot in the sun, so we sat on the side in the shadow of the building. The restraunt was pure veg, so there was not problem about ordering, however the salad had hair in it, not just one but many. Telling the staff they played the blame game, with even the owner saying that it was likely our hair as no one in the kitchen had that hair.
After Mr was asleep we just chilled.
12th – Tuesday
We had breakfast nice and early in the restaurant, sitting outside; mostly breads and cereal, after which we headed into the local town and got our tickets for the cruise – a small tour of the close highlights of Abel Tasmin.
We had to wait on the beach for a little while before we could board, so we enjoyed the morning sun. Boarding we sat right at the top; a bit exposed and blustery when sailing at speed. The first stop was the Split Apple rock, then the various beaches up the coast. We saw some wildlife as well including seals. Bhavni and Airyen went downstairs to get out of the breeze after a while. I joined them nearer the end of the outgoing part, after which we departed the boat onto a beach – boundary bay. Here we got a little while to rest before the next boat came to pick us up for the return journey. It was a bigger boat, but we stayed on the first deck watching out.
Getting back, we went to the restaurant there, to have a drink and food time for Mr.
Back at the accommodation we rested for a bit then we went for a swim in the afternoon, the water was not that hot though.
For dinner we had the salad – this time with no hairs and some sort of gnocchi thing. We took our desert as a take away and then tried to play some board games in the room – but resorted to a bit of TV.
13th – Wednesday
In the morning we had breakfast inside the restaurant, giving Mr a chance to play. We then finished up and checked out. Then it was a gentle drive south. Originally I had planned to go to St Arnoud, but as the drives were quite long we abandoned that idea and drove past stopping in Murchison. There we had a little walk around and then went to the Beechwoods cafe for some tea and food for all of us. The weather had gotten a bit cloudy on the way here, but was still fine.
After it was a drive on the SH6 towards Westport, then south to Punakaki. It had rained somewhat here, and was quite cloudy. There were a few stops along the coast for some nice views. When we go to the Beachfront Motels, I parked up and met the owner. Originally we were booked in a small chalet, but there were lots of works going on, so he had moved us to a larger 2 bedroom property – basic but ok. So after the intro we offloaded the car and chilled for a bit, out on the deck. Here there was no phone reception, and there was no supermarket and no shops as such – I did not expect that!
So after a while we set off to the pancake rocks area, and had dinner at the cafe there – pizza, which was quite good. After we crossed the road and went around the pancake rocks. It was quite stratospheric as it was cloudy and breezy and near high tide. Some very interesting rocks and formations. The blowholes were not quite roaring though, just rumbling. The cafe sold milk, which was quite useful for our supplies. We got some ice creams.
Getting back, it was some relaxing and a bit of tv watching, along with the ice cream.
14th – Thursday
The day dawned much nicer, with blue skies. We had breakfast then drove to the Punakaki river car park. We had a nice walk along the river walk. Mr was well covered for the walk and had a nice sleep on the way. We had read that there are not that many steps, but near the latter half there were numerous steps.
At the end of the trail we stopped and had a nice break, eating some fruit on some logs on the side. The return journey was good also, though it got warmer.
Bhavni went across the road to check out the tavern, before we went back to the accommodation to rest for a bit. We went for a small walk later along the rocky beach then got back in the car for a drive up Bullock Creek road, getting up to the point where it became a 4×4 road only.
It was then dinner time, so we drove back and walked to the taven. We sat outside in the “garden” and got talking to some others who had some small children. Airyen sat on the grass very stiffly trying to avoid as much contact as possible.
For dinner we had chips, garlic bread and pizza. One of the guys asked where we came from and knew the area. As we were leaving he shouted Go Watford – as in the football team.
We went back to the accommodation and chilled before bed (well apart from the fun of trying to do the washing in the dark).
15th – Friday
After our morning breakfast, it was time to check out and get on the road. We drove directly to Graymouth, which is quite a big town. We decided to get some provisions, so we stopped to shop in countdown, which was visible from the main road but a slight diversion off it. Replenished and refueled we then drove to Hokitika, where we stopped again for coffee and Airyen to have some food at Stumpers bar and cafe. The weather had degraded and was drizzling. Setting off again we then drove only to Ross, which was not that far, in which time the rain had turned into mostly sunny conditions, where we stopped for lunch in a small cafe there. We had a toasted sandwich each, but no chips – a very small place.
Then it was a drive to Fox Glacier. As we drove it got cloudy again and soon turned to rain. Lots of rain. Bhavni drove from Franz Joseph to Fox, where we got to our accommodation – Fox Glacier Mountainview. We passed a lady on a ride on mower, who turned out to be our host. We got shown our room, then had a sit down with the owner and talked about the area over tea, whilst Airyen had fun in a walker.
We then went back to the room and cleaned up. We then got in the car then headed to Lake Matherson. We then had a little walk to the lake, then headed back to the Reflection cafe that was there. There we had a nice dinner and desert. We then went back, put Mr to sleep and then watched some tv.
16th – Saturday
Waking up early, we had a look outside – the mountain peaks were not covered, so we got ready quickly and drove to Lake Matherson, where we started the walk.
We got to the first lookout and were still in luck, the lake was mostly quiet and we could see a good reflection. After a bit there we carried on to the main lookout, where we met a tourist who had been there a while trying to get good shots. He had tried on a number of occasions before also – but he was a bit more hardcore – having travelled 14h in the car the day before.We got some more nice photos, then carried on back to the car park. The mountains kept on going behind cloud after this.
Driving back, we quickly got ready and then went to breakfast (as we were later than the time we said we were going to have breakfast). Airyen enjoyed the walker.
Packing stuff we needed we drove back to Frans Joseph. Our first stop was the kiwi center, that was recommended to us. The experience was so so, only a small section with one kiwi in the dark – Airyen did not like this area. Then there were a bit of displays which we had a look at before leaving. By now it was nearly Airyens lunch time, so we went to a restaurant called The Landing and got some food there sitting outside.
We then went to the hot pools, where we had booked a private pool. It was quite a nice setting, and after a bit of persuasion, Airyen got in and thoroughly enjoyed himself.
As Bhavni went to the shower she complained that the water was cold – soon after the staff told us the power was out and we had to leave. We had had 40 mins of our hour and got refunded.
By now the weather had turned and it was drizzling, so we went to the tourist information to ask what to do – it turns out we had done nearly all we could do with the weather as it was.
So we drove back – taking a diversion to the glacier approach (where the vis of the glacier was better, but still really bad in the rain).
After warming up, we went for dinner to Cafe Neve, where we had pizza on the veranda.
17th – Sunday
After breakfast, we finished up in the room and said bye to owner of the B&B. It was then time to head off south towards Haast. Our first stop was at a beach – ship creek – where there was a lookout and access to the sand through some forest. We had a little walk around here and took some photos before heading back in the car.
Our next stop was in Haast itsself for Lunch. After a little deliberation we went to the Hard Antler Bar for loaded nachos and other stuff. It had a bit of taxidermy going on, but otherwise was no problem.
Back on the road it was south again towards Wanaka. Our first stop was at the Roaring Billy Falls. Quiet walk down to the river bed with the falls up on the other side. The next stop was the Fantail falls. This was busier, and we did as others and balanced some rocks in piles. We then stopped at the famous blue pools. These were quite busy and a longish walk as there was a big decent. We saw plenty of people complaining about sandflies, so we really covered up and used the deet on all of us. With the heat and sun it was a bit extra a slog. Well the pools were not blue today – sort of green. Not really amazing today.
Back on the road we started towards the pass. By Makarora, the sky had opened up and as we continued it became torrential, with visibility rubbish. This weather continued past the neck and most of Lake Hawea, only easing by the time we got to Albert town.
As we got the the place Shamil had booked in Wanaka, at 4pm we were back in sun. We parked and got ourselves in, offloaded the car and gave Shamil a call. He was in town, and came back. After a bit we went together into town and parked near the lakeside, where we had a bit of a roam around. We then went to The Spice Room for dinner, ordered too much food, so a take away. Back at the accomodation we chilled and watched a bit of netflix on shamils laptop.
18th – Monday
We had a simple breakfast, then got in the car and drove to the Mount Iron track, and parked in the semi busy car park. It was a hot day, so we had to cover Airyen and Bhavni carried him. It was a good walk to the top, where the views were quite nice.
We spent a bit of time up the top, before decending on the other path – which was a much harder route. We had to walk a bit around the hill at the bottom to get to the car park.
After we went to the Lavander farm. Airyen and Bhavni went to sleep there, so Shamil and I had some lavander tea. We then went to a couple of wineries – Atkens Folly and Maudes – where we sat and had some food some wine sampling.
Getting back to the apartment we relaxed for a bit before Shamil and I picked up a take away pizza from the Cow.
19th – Tuesday
Today we decided to go on a bigger trip, so after breakfast we got in the car and drove to town where we talked to the rangers at the mount Aspiring tourist site, who said that that way was cloudy and webcams confirmed this.
So we instead decided to go to Cromwell. It was only an hour away, so we found ourselves a cherry picking farm, where we had a bit of fun collecting cherries. I think we ended up collecting a good 2Kg of them – not including the ones that we ate – including Mr who was exposed to this new fruit.
For lunch we went to the Wooing Tree, having some bits and some desert.
It was then back to Wanaka and the apartment for a while to relax. Soon enough we were out again, where we went into town and lake front to chill for a bit.
We then drove to diamond lake where we did the lake walk – Bhavni could not face another climb. No one believed me the lake walk was only an hour, they all assumed that it was much longer.
We then did a bit more of a drive towards mount Aspiring, until the road turned unsealed, after which we headed back. We spotted the lookout for mount Aspiring, where we got a couple of good views and we got Airyen ro pose on a tree branch.
Bhavni wanted to go to Patigonia to get some deserts but it was closed, so we went to one of the cafes there and had dinner.
We then went to see “That Wanaka Tree”, lots of people were taking photos, including wedding shots being done.
Back at the apartment we had a cheese and wine evening watching some netflix.
20th – Wednesday
After breakfast we spent a bit of time cleaning up the house and finishing all the stuff we had to do. We then said our goodbyes to Shamil, who was heading for the mountains, whilst we were headed to Queenstown. We stopped for a final view from the waterfront before heading up the Cardrona valley road. It was not that long a trip, though there were lots of slow drivers around.
When we got to Queenstown, it was the ususal search for parking, (including the quick pit stop at the library parking) but we managed to park not too far away – we did not even try right in town as that was busy.
Our first stop was the Patagonia cafe where we had our mexican churros, having a chat with some italian tourists. Then some sight seeing and window shopping. For lunch we stopped at Ivys kitchen and bar, having a quite filling meal.
Soon enough we had to head to the airport (a bit of a harder walk to the car uphill). We checked in and then I returned the car keys. As usual the 3.40 flight to Auckland was a little late, but we were soon back in the north island after a ok flight.
We had to wait a little while for the Go rental car to pick us up – for some reason they also thought we would be at the international terminal. We waited outside, which was fine if blustery. At the rental place, all seemed to be going fast (even though it was quite late by now), but then the baby seat took a while to fit. Then there was a real caffuffle as they realised they had given us the wrong car – though exactly the same spec as the one we should have had, which was just next to it. Well after they said they were going to make us change, Bhavni went in guns blazing and sorted that silly notion out.
So it was a bit of a later drive to Custom Street West. Bhavni jumped out and grabbed the keys and fob for the apartments from the local dairy. We parked and offloaded a bit, went up and gave Airyen his dinner. Whilst Bhavni put him to sleep I finished offloading the car and then went to the local metro and bought some supplies to make Agli oli for dinner (forgetting the oil, luckily there was the dairy).
21st – Thursday
Today we decided after a relaxed breakfast outside on the rooftop balcony area to go shopping. We headed for Newmarket, remembering the Farmers there – does not exist anymore. We had a quick round there, but due to parking not knowing what was there, we diverted to St Lukes. It was busy, but Bhavni found some parking. We did some general shopping, had some food and I spent a little time at ASB to get to the bottom of why out points were not working – the short answer was they would not today.
After we headed back to the apartments, parked then headed out for a walk down Queens street. A bit of window shopping then we stopped for a drink before heading back.
Originally we were going to get a take away for dinner, but we decided to go out to Grasshopper Thai. It was a nice dinner, with Airyen getting plenty of attention also (though he nearly managed to climb through the seat).
22nd – Friday
After breakfast we headed out. I had decided to see my old workplace – Sitehost. They had moved, 5 minutes drive away. I was greeted by Nathan, who opened the door and exclaimed “Dr Shah”. I was shown around the place, much larger then the old place, only Nathan and Quentin were there who I knew. We had some coffee and talked about the new offices and my old colleagues, with Bhavni and Airyen joining us. Quentin said a quick hello.
We then went to Cornwell park and had lunch at the bistro there, which was nice. The cloud was so low that we could not go to the lookout in the park.
We then went towards mount eden. I dropped Bhavni off at Twenty Tree cafe to see one of her friends, whilst I went for a drive as Airyen was sleeping (including a drive up Mount Eden). I joined Bhavni after he woke up an hour later, and had a coffee, before saying bye.
The next stop was to Kohimarama to meet Bhavnis other friend Silvia, spotting her on the boardwalk after we had got Airyens feet wet. We had a look at the restaurant there, very limited so we drove to Mission bay and went to an Italian – Mama Mia.
The manager was a bit rude, almost like he did not want our custom – He said to his staff dont set up the table as we are just looking even though we had told the waitress to carry on. After dinner we had a walk on the beach and sat near the fountains for a while.
Dropping Silvia back, we headed back to the appartments. Whils Bhavni chilled I went for a drive to Whangaparoa, to get our bags from Sheilina and Grants place. Grant was there, with a full house, I had some tea and then drove back.
23rd – Saturday
Our last day here, we had breakfast on the terrace and finished up with the packing, putting the bags in the car. Bhavni made some mikshakes with the last of the bananas and mik as we were expecting Silvia. Though as she was running late we made our way to the Soul Bar, just around the corner, which we had booked.
After Silvia turned up we had some starters before I had to go move the car (and leave the keys in the apartment). That was not fun as I could not find any decent parking nearby and after a good 20 mins went and left the car in a loading zone to get back to the looks of relief by the girls (I had left my phone on the table). Bhavni went to try her luck in moving the car and came back in 5 minutes after finding spaces just outside. Anyway the food was very nice and after finishing it off and the obligatory photos we said good bye to Silvia and her son.
It was then a drive to Whangaparoa and Sheilinas. We went to Grants shop to see him and let him know we are going to go to his house after a bit, so he could let us in to the house via remote. We then went to the New World and bought some wine and chocolates.
Back at the house we were let in through the garage, where we did some final packing. Grant came home soon after, and a little while later Sheilina and her family came in. It was a hello to all including her parents. We spent some time relaxing, making Airyens dinner and even having a demo of professional trampoline by Grants guests. Soon it was time to leave, Sheilina managed to take Airyen and keep him (he was refusing to go to anyone apart from us). We said our good byes to all and left.
We dropped the car, got dropped to the airport and checked in. We had some time so we did some shopping, getting the kiwi toy and then had some noodle soup. The flight was pretty uneventful, we had plenty of room, but our food was not ordered again. I noticed we seemed to be changing course – an hour later we got an announcement that there was bad weather in Dubai, so we were refuelling in Colombo. After that we resumed our flight, but at Dubai we spent the next 2 hours just circling until we could land.
Arriving we found our flight had long gone, So we had the fun of seeing about the rebooking. Bhavni and Airyen got separated from me when I tried to join another queue, but by the time they joined me at a different counter I had managed to get the rebooking sorted. We then got this confirmed with new tickets at another counter.
We had a good 3 hours until we had to be back at the boarding gate, so Bhavni thought we could go see Meera. We got to the exit, but apparently the immigration queue was over an hour. Nearly giving up after talking to the staff, a family which required special needs came, and they opened a counter just for them (and us), so we got through and took a taxi to her house. There we met Meera, her parents and the little 5 week baby. We had some food and tea, then rushed back using an Uber that Meera had called. Airyen threw up a bit on me in the car – too much motion and rushing. We got in and after all that we found that our plane was delayed another hour.
As Airyen was not great, we decided to go into the lounge and try to relax for a bit (it was a bit expensive but we were tired). We had some food and let Airyen sleep a bit. Getting onto the next flight, we had the whole middle isle, but again our food was not correct. It was a bit of a tiring flight and when we got to Gatwick we found that we had a bag missing. After going to the baggage services we eventually found that the bag was there, it just had not been put on the conveyor and had been left outside. We got the bag (which was open at the zip) and got a slow taxi ride home arriving at 11pm – nearly 12 hours later then expected.