From the Coast to Taupo

Our camper van adventure continues! After night one, we met up with Jay and Shane and ventured further down the coast. The views were stunning as we drove past stretches of beaches before eventually stopping at one to spend the afternoon. 

The kids ran wild up and down the beach, building castles and collecting shells. They got sand in every crevice and I had a hard time getting them to leave when it was time to go. By kids, I obviously am also referring to my husband, who sat with a bucket and dug holes, having the most fun of everyone. The only downfall was the fact that I got stung by a bee, but the scenery made up for it.

We headed back into town for dinner and then decided to spend the night at a fancy campground on the beach. It had a pool with water slides, trampolines, playgrounds, and most importantly, hot showers! 

We settled in for the night, relaxing outside after the kids were tucked in. At home, the girls fight bedtime on a nightly basis. Here in New Zealand, they are worn out from long days playing in the sun and they go to bed immediately. We were so worried about them sharing a bed, but knock on wood, sleep has been better here than it ever is at home. 

After a lazy morning at the pool and after numerous snacks, we were back on the road and bound for Rotorua. 

It was a beautiful drive along tree lined winding roads as we passed by lakes and orchards. It reminded me of a more tropical Okanagan. 

We found a cute little campground with thermal pools and enjoyed an evening swim before bedtime. 

The next day was a day of adventure for the grownups. We headed to a place to go zorbing... AKA rolling down steep hills inside of giant inflatable balls. I stayed back with the kids while Ryan, Jay and Shane zoomed down. 

Once they’d had their fun, we headed for lunch and then ate ice cream in the park. 

Finding freedom campsites had proved to be more of a challenge in Rotorua, so it was another night of “glamping”. Our campground for the night had an inflatable jumping pillow, hot and cold pools, trampolines and a great playground. It was small enough that the girls could run around without constantly needing us. They were particularly excited about the kid sized picnic table. We feasted on a home cooked meal and then headed to bed, tired from a long day of fun. 

Today was another day on the road! Before we left Rotorua, we stopped at the Redwoods forest to walk on suspension bridges high up in the trees. It was beautiful, and the fresh forest air was wonderful. Aaralee loved running down all of the rickety bridges, and Briley hated every second of it. 

We stopped at a geothermal park for a picnic lunch and then made our way towards Taupo. 

Our campground for the night was by far the fanciest thus far. We are gearing up for some free camping nights soon, so we’ll enjoy the amenities when we can. The girls will be so disappointed this summer when our campgrounds don’t have trampolines, playgrounds, or swimming pools with swim up bars. After checking out our new home we ventured to Huka Falls to take in the views before continuing into town for dinner by the lake. Lake Taupo is gorgeous and I can’t wait to explore more tomorrow. 

We are now over a week into our trip and it’s going by too fast. The girls have had their share of meltdowns and tantrums, but overall everyone is having a great time and we don’t want to go home any time soon. The girls particularily enjoy eating breakfast outside, something that we won't be able to do in Canada for several months.

Oh, and in case you missed it... we shared some pretty big news this week! Life just wasn't quite chaotic enough, so we are adding a bit of extra fun this August.