Up early this morning with a plan to be at the Antarctic Centre when they opened at 9am.

The weather treated us kindly for our last full day in New Zealand. We had glorious sunshine, even if it was still a chilly 18 degrees and quite windy at times.

We woke up to a much clearer morning this morning. Not clear as such, but the rain was easing and we could actually see some of the surrounding mountains.

The weather has been so outstandingly miserable today. It worsened overnight with a storm coming in and some impressive thunder and lightning and has rained non-stop all day.

After checking out this morning, we had some grocery shopping to do, knowing there are no shops at Mount Cook.

I had booked us in for a tour of the Cadbury chocolate factory at 10am this morning and it was close enough to walk.

We had a couple of hours to spend yesterday morning and so drove back to Te Anau to fill the car with petrol and check out the visitors centre which had a nice display and showed a film about Fiordland and conservation.

We had a very stormy, rainy night last night and found out today there was quite a thunder storm, which we slept through. The weather cleared up a little and there were moments of sunshine, some rain, but the morning was mostly overcast. We were booked on a cruise and kayak tour for the morning.

We knew we had quite a drive ahead of us today so got up and going by just after 8am. First stop was only an hour down the road at Queenstown. Basically a bigger, more majestic version of Wanaka.

We have had another much needed restful day in beautiful Wanaka. I did get the kids moving quickly once they woke up as we wanted to visit Puzzling World before it got too busy. This amazing place is on the outskirts of Wanaka and started as a maze in the 70s but has grown to include all sorts of displays. We spent a good 3 ½ hours there exploring and enjoying.

We woke up this morning in dark, dreary, rainy and cold Fox Glacier Village and are finishing in sunny, 27 degree Lake Wanaka.

Finally we have had another much needed day of relative relaxation. We had another leisurely start with everyone sleeping in and getting up late.

We all enjoyed a sleep in this morning but still had a crazy time getting packed up and ready to check out.

We had to get up very early again this morning as we had a three hour drive for our next adventure in Charleston on the West Coast.

We got up this morning and packed our picnic lunch with plenty of snacks for our planned 12km walk. I had booked to catch a Water Taxi at 9am from Marahau.

A very early start was needed to get to the ferry terminal in time and drop the car off before check-in. We were running a little late but it seemed everyone else was too. The forecast was for some strong southerlies and quite a swell so we all took some sea-sickness prevention prior to the trip.

Another much needed sleep in for the kids, but we were out of the accommodation by 9.30am, heading by foot to Te Papa Tongarewa, the National Museum of New Zealand. It was a beautiful day to start so seemed a pity to go inside, but we had heard how amazing this museum is. And it is!

With 4 hours of driving to accomplish and a plan to break it up along the way, we left early. Unfortunately, it rained for most of the day, which didn’t impact on some of our plans, but for others the wet was less than ideal.

With a relatively short drive in front of us today, we didn’t plan on leaving Taupo until after lunch. This meant Liam could go see his friends at the bouncing pillow, and Emily could sleep in.

Well, the fireworks started about 8pm and continued until well past midnight. Most of them were privately set off and relatively quiet and then there were a couple of louder, presumably professional, sets.

I have aded a page with links for Google Earth trails we have created! Access them from the WALK MAPS menu

Liam was up at the crack of dawn to get back onto the giant bouncing pillow which he was on last night until it deflated at 8pm. It is amazing what gets him out of bed early. The rest of us followed suit with the aim of getting some much needed washing over and done with before the day got away from us.

Another big day that went perfectly to plan despite more windy roads and car sickness. We had an early start from Hahei, leaving just before 8am to accomplish the almost 2 hour drive to Karangahake Gorge. I had read about these walks through the disused mining and railway tunnels and thought it would be right up Liam’s alley.

I just heard from my Mandurah contacts that there was a quake between the North & South Islands this afternoon! We were blissfully unaware, perhaps because our legs were still shaking from the mornings 12+ km walk!

We will keep a closer eye on the news from now on, and keep our 'ready bags' close!

I let the kids sleep in a bit this morning as they are still adjusting to the time difference and it being lighter so much later. Although, the kids had not been woken at 1.15am by the local emergency siren like Colin and I had. Eventually, though, they were roused and ready for our big day.

After the amazing time we had at Waitangi Treaty Grounds last night, we decided we had to come back for a proper look. We were there at 9am and checked-out the museum, had a guided tour and then another cultural performance. It was well worth going.

I got up this morning with a desire to get out on the water and see some of the Bay of (144) Islands. After a quick look at another waterfall (yes we are getting over them), we headed to the wharf for the 11.15am fast ferry to Russell.

Browsing a tourist brochure last night, I came across some information about the Abbey Caves in Whangarei. I had planned to break our 3 and a half hour drive from Auckland to Paihia in Whangarei to check out the falls, but the caves sounded even better. After reading lots of reviews I realised that these caves are undeveloped, free to explore unguided and very wet! So, we needed to prepare ourselves for this adventure and took a quick trip to the shops on our way out of Auckland.

After a much needed sleep in, we all woke up refreshed and excited to have Christmas day in New Zealand. After some present giving and stocking unpacking, we readied ourselves for a day out. Driving west from Titirangi, we called in at the Arataki Visitor Centre. Unfortunately shut for Christmas, it was still worth calling in for the amazing views over Auckland, Manukau Harbour and the Waitakere Ranges.

We arrived in Auckland this morning, exhausted as none of us had slept for as long as we had hoped to on the flight.  After the usual routine of baggage collection, immigration and customs, we collected our Camry and drove out into Auckland.  We stayed near the airport for our planned shopping trip, which was surprisingly familiar as we grocery shopped at Countdown (NZ's version of Woolworths) and bought an Esky from Bunnings.