Hanmer time!

On the 9th March we went to Hanmer Springs, a thermal pools/water park thing.

There were three slides:

One was a bowl slide, very similar to the one at Wet’n’wild but about 2x smaller,

One was a cool tube slide that was slow enough for mum to go on it,

And the final one was just like the other tube one, but was dark, and much faster, so you got thrown around quite a bit.

And then there were the pools.

There were lots of different hot pools, ranging from hot & stinky (the sulphur pools) to warm and relaxing (basically all of the other pools). There was a lazy river, rainbow pools (not sure rlly) and some hexagonal pools (for any of you who watch Look Around You).

It was fun… and although I couldn’t go in some of the pools, I did get to go on the slides over and over.

Barnaby 😎😁🇳🇿

Here are some links to images…..

https://goo.gl/images/4QaExB

https://goo.gl/images/mCvfnN

Glaciers and Gorges!

This week I have actually done some walking, which I know is very surprising! First we did a walk in Franz Joseph to the Franz Joesph glacier, on the way we saw lots of waterfalls (luckily dad decided not to go underneath one) and we also had to go across some stepping stones across a river! But, after a not toooooo hard walk we got a very good view of the glacier

Then, a couple days later we went to Hokitika Gouge! On the walk in Hokitika Gouge there was a bridge which was a bit wobbly which was very scary for mum! Once we got to the end of the walk you could climb down some rocks to get down to the river… but unfortunately I was silly and forgot to put fly repellent on so got virtually eaten alive!!

Te Anau glow worm caves and a few other things……!!

Mum asked me what I’d like for Christmas…..tickets for the Glow worm caves in Te Anau please!! After a boat trip across the lake & a chat about the rare, flightless & frankly stupid Takahe birds who live there (most of them have died because they go out for a walk & fall off of the cliffs!!) we went into the caves.

All we could hear was the raging torrent of water coming through the caves, which freaked me out & was slightly more scary than Wookey Hole! After walking further through the caves, we got into a little boat. It was pitch dark but thankfully the water was calm & we saw loads of beautiful glow worms lighting up the cave roof.

Unfortunately we weren’t able to take photos there but if you Google it, you’ll see just how stunning it was! Thanks Mum & Dad!!

A couple of other special encounters on our travels have been meeting up with our cousins Julian, Lynfa & Nick. Why is it that it takes a trip to the other side of the world to meet up with family who only live an hour or so away from home?!!!

We loved Wanaka & the weird #thatwanakatree!

I’ve also added a couple of photos of our palace on wheels, so you can picture where we are living it up!!

Doubtful Sound!!

On the first of March we got up really early and went around Doubtful Sound in Manapouri for the day.

First, we got on a 40min cruise to an island, where we went on a 45min (cramped) coach journey across it, where we then went on a 3hour journey into the Tasman sea and back, and finally, we did the first two journeys back to Manapouri.

On the journey, we saw baby fur seals, massive mountains taller than the Burj Khalifa and rapid waterfalls.

Barnaby 😎😀🇳🇿.

An interesting day…

Today we are in Wanaka and we vistited 2 of the towns main ‘attractions’. First we went to The national toy and transport Museum. There they had 4 airport hangars filled with old toys, cars, aeroplanes etc… It was very interesting to see a load of old memorabilia and other collections of things but it was a bit weird… We also found something called a crap shooter.

We then went to a place called Puzzling World. At puzzling world they have loads of optical illusions and a maze. They also, surprisingly, have puzzles! We went in a room that was very weird it was basically a slanted room that confused me a lot! Mum described it as the ‘wonky room’. We also managed to complete the maze (after quite a while of walking around). Finally at Puzzle World they had a leaning tower that you could take funny picture with. Here are some examples….

The Skyline Luge!

On Saturday, we arrived in Queenstown and went on the Skyline Luge. Now, I know what you’re thinking: what is the Luge? Well, it’s basically definately go-karting. First, you put on these massive really-uncomfy helmets, then you went up a chairlift to the top of the hill where the track starts and finally you got in the Luge and went down this track down the side of some of the mountain (not off the side as most of you would hope).

On the Luge, there were two tracks. One hard and fast one, and one easier one where you weren’t that fast. You could control your speed though (and I think Alice and Mum found that very useful)

https://www.youtube.com/embed/24H_HY2X__M

Barnaby

And so it begins in New Zealand………

Arriving at our brand new airbnb house after an overnight flight was definitely a welcome sight for tired and sore eyes! We’re only the 3rd people to stay here and everything is new – it’s like staying in a 5* hotel!

Today (Sunday 18th) we went to the Antarctic Centre and rode on a Hagglund (v bumpy!), experienced an antarctic storm (v chilly!) and saw Little Blue penguins (v cute!)

Then we headed back into Christchurch, which feels just like Oxford and visited the 158 white chairs, a memorial to those people who died in the 2011 earthquake. We were invited to choose a chair that “spoke to us” and you can see our choices below.

We then went to see the ruins of the original cathedral and went into the Cardboard Cathedral, which is very impressive and yes, it is made of a lot of cardboard!

There’s apparently a tropical cyclone on it’s way, so we can’t wait to pick up our campervan……..

West Coast update….

Oh deary me, we are rather behind here….

The last post was for Coral Bay when we left on 10th Feb…it’s now 18th Feb and my homework is late.

So here goes…from Coral Bay to Lancelin, crossing back over the Tropic of Capricorn, we stopped a couple of times

Carnarvon…where we visited a “Space Museum”…it’s on the site of an old Satelite Tracking Station, that was used during the Apollo landings (and more importantly for the set of the BBC Educational Look Around You series) Gallery of pictures below…

At Lancelin, we stopped specifically to try our hand (legs) at Sandboarding….which was fun, but tiring walking back up the hill each time…

From Lancelin to Perth where we met up with Judes’ primary school friend Helen, who hadn’t seen each other since 2005….

In Perth we spent two busy days with Helen…..cruising the River Swan, travelling by tram and bus….visiting the Fremantle Prison…..a selection of views and poses below…

(including an apocolyptic sky!)

We also visted Rottnest Island, home to Alices new pet Quokka…

It was also great to meet up with Dawn and Dean (and kids!) , old collegues from Hallmark days…..not seen since they were sent over on the boat in 2002…

We flew out of Perth to Christchurch, New Zealand on 16th Feb….just in time for Cyclone season!!!