Overdue road trip update

I posted that we were going on an impromptu road trip to New Plymouth – and then completely forgot to update when we got back!

First of all, the weather was PERFECT for a trip up the coast!  We were able to see Mt. Taranaki in its full beauty and had a lovely view of the ocean.  We stopped along the way for some photo opportunities, as well as to visit a cemetery… because who doesn’t drive along and say “OOOOOH, OLD CEMETERY! LET’S VISIT!”.  The cemetery was the final resting place of 12 sailors who drowned when their boat – the Lizzie Bell – capsized off the Taranaki coast (if you want to read more about it, click here!).

I’ve often posted about the calming effect the ocean has on me, and it is fair to say I was extremely happy, calm & relaxed as we drove along the coast!  On top of that, I also love mountains… needless to say being flanked on one side by the ocean and on the other side by Mt. Taranaki meant I was in a very happy place, mentally & emotionally.

Our first stop [after driving about 15 minutes in the wrong direction…] was Pouakai Zoo.  There were plenty of animals to look at, including two white tigers and two lions!  The kids loved having the chance to hand feed some of the animals (um, not the tigers or lions), admittedly so did the adults!

The next stop was the New Plymouth waterfront.  We walked, we talked, we ate, the kids played… and the weather was gorgeous.  Perfect for spending a couple of hours getting some of that glorious sea air!

When we left the waterfront it was too early for dinner, so we drove around and showed Mathilde & the kids some of the sights of New Plymouth – our second favourite city starting with ‘N’!

Dinner.  Oh dinner.  HELLO LONESTAR!

Not a lot more really needs to be said.  Lonestar have ribs.  And they are awesome.  And we ate until we were stuffed.  The kids were all given a free t-shirt for doing a colouring in competition, and because Mathilde helped Aidan, she too got a t-shirt!

Then it was time for home.  Surprisingly, the kids didn’t fall asleep until we were at  least an hour into our (2 hour) trip… I sure wish I had their energy!

We were close to home when suddenly the moon was right in front of us; huge, golden and overwhelmingly beautiful.  Yeap, we had a pretty awesome view of the super moon!!!  It was interesting to see how big it was up in the hills and then how small it seemed once we were home and back at (close to) sea level.

The trip was definitely a success and I am glad we were able to share another one of our special places with the kids, who were incredibly well behaved.  I would actually go as far as to say I enjoyed taking four kids on a road trip… something I never thought I would say.

Impromptu roadtrip #2!

We can’t resist a chance to get up close and personal with this gorgeous mountain!

Lauriel’s friend is here from France and today we decided……

Hey!  Why not go to New Plymouth!

So that is what we are doing!  In our defense, the weather IS beautiful today and tomorrow is meant to be crap – there is no point going to New Plymouth and not being able to see the stunning Mt. Taranaki!  New Plymouth has always been special to Lauriel and I, as a couple, so we never turn down a chance to go for the day.

Before you ask, yes, all four kiddos are coming with… it is the school holidays in NZ right now, and we wanted to do something nice with our crew before Aidan and Eloise head off with their dad on Friday.

Know what?  It was me – little miss travel anxiety – that suggested we go!  I didn’t even think ‘noooo, we might crash and die!‘, I just out and suggested a roadtrip.  Not only is it a roadtrip, it is also a roadtrip where I am in the passenger seat.  That generally equals double the anxiety for me; not because I don’t trust my fabulous wife driving, but because I have this intense need to be in control of the vehicle I am in.

Maybe, just maybe, I am finally taking control of this anxiety thing.  It’s a lovely feeling.

I am sure I’ll be back later with photos from our day in the ‘Naki!

Unlike our first trip to New Plymouth, I do not plan on spending hours in the ER with a sprained ankle…

 

Roadtrip: success!

… admittedly one of the highlights of our weekend

Well, our roadtrip was pretty damn successful!  So successful in fact, that the kids all want to move to Napier.  So do we.  Dreams are free, huh.

Rather than giving a hugely detailed account of our trip I thought I’d just post some photos and a general overview… here goes!

Friday
We left about lunchtime, got to Napier at 3.30pm and stopped at the Silky Oak Chocolate Company for some afternoon tea (OMG, the 3 hour trip was worth it for the Marshmallow slice!).  We then went into the city and spent some time on Marine Parade before heading up to the Bluff Hill lookout for some… well, looking out!  Bluff Hill was followed by a trip to Mexi Mama for an authentic Mexican dinner.  Well worth the cost, the food was simply delicious!  After dinner we found our way out to my friend’s house and spent a couple of hours socialising before getting some much needed sleep.

Kiddos all ready to go!

Rainbow on the way to Napier

Marshmallow slice from Silky Oak Chocolate Company

Entering Napier… I love the Palm trees!

Marine Parade

Bluff Hill

Mexican for dinner… seemed only right to have a Corona!

 

Saturday
We left my friend’s at around 8.30am and headed into Hastings to get some new shoes for Emersyn.  Her boots broke.  Of course.  After our quick visit to KMart we went up to the top of Te Mata Peak and were lucky enough to have a breathtaking view of Hawke’s Bay.  Te Mata Peak was followed by a short visit to Arataki Honey to sample some honey and learn about bees… it was quite fascinating really!  From Arataki Honey we finally made it to Skeinz.  It was love at first sight, I tell ya!  All that wool, all that inspiration – it really would have been easy to spend hundreds of dollars in there!  By then time was getting on so we had a quick stop at McDonalds for lunch before going to McLean Park to watch Hawke’s Bay beat Taranaki in the final pre-season match.  We were lucky enough to get a photo with one of our favourite players who seemed amused when Eloise told him her dad used to be his teacher when he was in primary school!  After the game we stopped at the famous Marine Parade playground before heading to Feilding to stay with friends for the night.

Te Mata Peak

Skeinz, baby!

The kids with Tony Lamborn, a family favourite!

… and a rainbow on our way out of Napier

Sunday
Was mostly spent in our pyjamas, having baby cuddles. Eventually we left, getting home at around 3.30pm.

My wifey and Miss Lillian (3mo)

As nice as our weekend was, it was lovely to get home!

… and Mr Bo was happy to have us home

“Let’s go on a roadtrip” they said…

You know how sometimes you get an idea and you know it’s going to blow up in your face, but there is a small chance it might actually work out splendidly and that small chance is enough to make you go for it?  Also known as a ‘<enter activity here> they said, it’ll be fun they said’ moment.  Well, we had us one of those on Tuesday; it went a little something like this:

“So where is the Hawke’s Bay game on Saturday?”
“Napier”
“Hmm, we could go… take all the kids, make a day of it!”
“We could…”
“We should…”
“We really should!”
“Let’s do it!”
*excited giggling ensues*

Us in October 2012, our first trip to Napier

On Wednesday ‘make a day of it‘ turned into ‘we could always stay the night‘.
This morning after a friends invitation to stay, ‘could stay the night‘ turned into ‘we will stay the night‘.
… and there is the potential for it to turn into two nights.

Yeap.  We, of [supposedly] sound mind are taking our four lovely (read: crazy) children on a 3 hour roadtrip to watch some rugby and explore Napier.  For a whole weekend.  A whole week.end. Whooooooole weekend.

Napier is a very special place for Lauriel and I – it is the first place we went away to together on a roadtrip – and I love that we’re going to have a chance to share it with our children.

I remember as a kid it was always so exciting to know we were going away for a weekend, especially if it was somewhere we didn’t often go (for us that place was Christchurch, Dunedin or Queenstown)… and I want our kids to have that same excitement!  Eloise is already extremely excited about going – and if you have a tween or teen, you’ll know what a joy it is to see them excited about something; especially something related to spending time with you!  Gabrielle and Aidan are also excited… to the extent they have decided they’re going to get up at 5.30am so we can leave as soon as humanly possible.  Emersyn is Emersyn.  As long as we are there, as long as Eloise is there, she is happy.

At the game we went to on our Napier trip

The kids don’t know that we are now leaving tomorrow as our original plan was to leave on Saturday morning.  Okay, this is going to result in tears from Gabrielle (how dare we make her miss a day of school?!) but I’m sure she will get over it by the time we are at McDonalds having breakfast *rolls eyes* (yeah, I stupidly promised McD’s as a treat for breakfast).

I’m not too sure what we’re going to do in Napier, but one thing is for sure, we’ll be checking out the Skeinz shop!  I hear there is a magical bin there that I simply have to check out!  Speaking of knitting, because Lauriel is doing the driving I will be able to do lots of knitting on the trip there and back!  Might even be able to get my niece’s Unadorned knit over that time!

Okay.  I said the kids are excited, but really… I am bloody excited.  I cannot wait to get away with my beautiful family for a whole weekend… it’s been so long since Lauriel and I went away and even longer since we went away with the kiddos.

On a more serious note: this is going to be a big test for my anxiety.  As I’ve posted before, one of my major anxiety issues is with being a passenger in a car driving long distances.  I am feeling a lot more relaxed about it than I would have this time a year ago and am actually considering emailing my psychologist to let him know just how far out of my comfort zone I’m stepping.  Sure, it might be a different story tomorrow morning, but all I know is I can do this and I will do this.

UPDATE: this is now a full weekend trip…. two nights away it is!