December Diaries, Part 6: Road Trip! -- New Plymouth

New Plymouth is a great kiwi town on the central-western coast of the North Island.  We've noticed it posted on a few lists as one of the top towns in NZ, for different reasons, so we thought it would be fun to check it out!  You are welcomed into the area near New Plymouth with a beautiful view of the stunning Mt. Taranaki.  

We set up camp at a holiday park in town, right in the middle of a neighborhood!  It's funny how you'll find those spots hidden almost anywhere, but when you are in the park you really don't notice anything outside.  The park wasn't busy, and they allowed us to use two spots for the price of one…one for our tent, the other for Big Red and the trailer:

We were right next to the community kitchen, with the playground/pool on the other side.  Since the park was nearly empty, we essentially had the place to ourselves.  It was wonderful.

I took these photos the morning after we arrived.  The previous evening, we pulled in at about 7pm, and the kids swam in the pool while we got the tent set up.  We were all starving, and there was no way we were going to be able to talk our kids (um, ourselves) into eating sandwiches again, so we went for take-out.  We came back to our "kitchen" and covered the table with our loot -- fish and chips, samosas, chicken tikka masala, and chinese noodles.  It was quite the spread, and we all ate way too much but slept like babies.

The highlight of our visit to New Plymouth was our stop at Pukekura Park.  We went there as almost an afterthought, on our way out of town.  Since we were looking at another 3-hour drive (and since we were trying to make it back in time to prepare some food for the Christmas party at church that evening), we didn't even get our youngest three kids dressed out of their jammies.  What slacker parents we are. :)  If I'd have known I'd be taking dozens of pics at the park, I would have taken the extra few minutes to put clothes on the kids.  Oh well.

Right at this entrance to the park is a huge, impeccably landscaped cricket pitch, with grassy terraced seating.  It sort of reminded us of ancient ruins or something!  The kids had fun climbing on the different levels:

Those flip-flop straps proved to be a bit pesky for Luke...

…so he felt the need to throw a quick little tantrum over it.

Oh brother.  He recovered quickly.

We rounded the corner to the gardens entrance of the park…one of most peaceful and beautiful places we've seen.

We continued on the path to one of the coolest playgrounds ever!  The kids were in heaven.

I love swinging.  Swinging's my favorite.

After leaving the play area, the path took us past this water wheel…

…then to this amazing, fun, colorful corridor!  We read that the park had recently celebrated 75 years, and this section was created in honor of that milestone.  It was so delightful.

It was a treat to visit New Plymouth, and especially Pukekura Park.

The three hour drive home went smoothly.  It amazed us to note just how long we were able to see Mt. Taranaki, from different directions and very long distances!  Any time the twins acted up, we'd say, "Luke and Landon, where's the volcano?"  It worked like a charm.  

We covered a lot of ground in that quick little roadie…we've now been to most of the areas we hoped to see on the North Island (with the exception of the Northland area {north of Auckland}, which is on the calendar for March).  I'm so grateful for all we have been able to see and do in this beautiful country.  Viva Aotearoa!

December Diaries, Part 5: Road Trip! -- Hamilton & Raglan

After visiting the glow worm caves, it's not much further to Hamilton.  We dropped Steve off to do a session at the temple, then picked him up afterward, just as it was getting dark.  We were so excited to visit the temple at night, as we had heard that they light the grounds for Christmas, similar to other temples like Salt Lake and Washington DC.  We had really missed seeing Christmas lights this season!  In our neighborhoods in Utah, nearly everyone lights the outside of their homes for Christmas, but here in Palmy we only saw two or three homes lit in the whole city.  The Hamilton temple grounds were magical, and it was fun to see how many visitors came from around the area to enjoy the beautiful lights!

Backing up a bit… while we were waiting for Steve to finish his session at the temple, the kids enjoyed playing at the park where we camped:

Cameron even spotted a parrot flying around the campground!  I tried to get a photo, but the bird flew away. It was so colorful and beautiful.

The next morning, I woke up early and got ready to head to the temple for my session.  I couldn't resist taking a few pics of my cute sleeping kids (they'll be so thrilled that I'm posting these photos, ha ha).

It warms my heart to witness all six of my little chicks sleeping in one place.  That doesn't happen very often.  I marvel that they are mine, but also that I'm theirs.  It humbles me.

After my temple session, I was cheerfully greeted by my crew.  As you can see, it was a glorious day!

We headed straight to Raglan, a really fun and relaxed beach town about 45 minutes from Hamilton.  

We stopped at the swimming beach, suited up in our togs, lathered on the sunscreen, gathered all of our towels and toys, etc., and proceeded down the very steep path to the beach.  We had been hearing from our friends/family in Utah about a terrible ice storm they were dealing with, and as we stood at the top of the hill, overlooking the ocean and enjoying this amazing view, I actually felt a little guilty…for about 3 seconds.

Alas, despite the perfect weather and beautiful scenery, we were quickly reminded that life with toddler twins isn't always a fairy-tale.  We had scarcely gotten our things laid out onto the beach when both Luke and Landon started to seriously melt down.  They didn't like wearing sunscreen.  It was too windy.  The water was too cold.  They had poopy diapers.  The sun was too bright.  Someone's dog came over and sniffed them and scared them (it probably smelled the diapers).  Uggh!

After only about 30 minutes, we had to abandon the whole operation.  It just wasn't working.  We headed back to town, found a park, and made some lunch while the kids played.  Emily enjoyed posing for a picture:

We had planned to spend more time in Raglan, but the twins were in desperate need of a good nap, so we made the quick decision to drive 3 1/2 hours to New Plymouth, on the central-western tip of the North Island.  Just as we hoped, Luke and Landon fell right to sleep, and we enjoyed a lovely drive.

December Diaries, Part 4: Road Trip! -- Waitomo Glow Worm Caves

The Waitomo Glow Worm Caves are one of the most popular tourist attractions in New Zealand, at least on the North Island.  We have really been looking forward to visiting the caves for ourselves, and we finally did!  It was a stunning experience, and certainly did not disappoint.

Unfortunately, there is a strict "No Photography" rule inside the caves…hence, the above photo is one that I found online.  While we were waiting for our tour to start, someone took a photo of our family in front of a green screen.  We almost never buy those "exit" photos, but since it turned out pretty cute (and since we hardly have any whole-family pics), we bought the package.  I'll use a few of them in this post.

Before I talk more about the cave tour, let me rewind a bit.  We reached Waitomo at about 11:30am and had about an hour until our tour started.  We found a spot with some shade, and commenced to pull out some sandwich fixins for lunch (after pricing the cafe at the Visitor Center and calculating that lunch would cost us about $100).  Now that Luke and Landon are getting older and more mature, we are open to the idea of occasionally going out to eat together, but we might need to wait until we return to the US. :)

So, sandwiches all around.  (deafening applause…not!) 

The first part of the cave tour was cool, similar to other caves we have visited in the past, with stalactites and stalagmites.  Steve and I were worried a bit before hand that one of us might have to abort the cave tour if Luke and Landon didn't do well, but they loved it!  They oohed and ahhed and made the cutest observations with their sweet little voices.  We love them.

As the tour progressed, we learned about the cave formations, and also about the main attraction -- the glow worms.  The most interesting thing for us was to learn that, while the glowing part is the only portion visible in the dark, when lit you see that each worm produces a silky, sticky strand that traps insects as food:

We descended deeper into the cave, reaching an area known as "The Cathedral."  It was a very large, open room with amazing acoustics.  The tour guide invited anyone to break out into song to test the sound, but we were too bashful.  The guide sang a Maori song instead.  He was very friendly and knowledgable, and is actually a direct descendant of the original Maori chief who discovered the cave.

Although a few glow worms were visible in different parts of the cave, you have to board a boat to float to the most impressive areas:

Contrary to the above stock photo, our boat tour was pitch black other than the glowing worms, and the guide didn't speak a word as we gracefully floated under the twinkling lights.  It was nothing short of magical.  We will never forget it.  It was like gazing up at the night sky, only more enchanting.

That's the last of the green-screen photos, I promise. :)

None of us wanted the tour to end, but we were eventually dropped off at the exit ramp.  This is the view looking back into the cave:

A nice German-speaking couple took some family photos for us, the only ones of the day with a real background:

Oops.  That won't do.  Let's try again:

That's better.

We very slowly made our way back on the trail and through the beautifully-designed visitor center.  No one wanted the experience to end…it was truly one of our best adventures in New Zealand so far!

Thumbs up for glow worms!