Sunday 16 September 2018

new zealand part one

About two months ago we decided we really needed a holiday, a proper one. We looked at Fiji, but then didn't think a resort for over a week would be right for us. We had been toying with the idea of Auckland for a while, so we went with New Zealand. We planned the trip to have some time in Auckland, some time in Rotorua (mostly so Matt could get some mountain biking in) and some time on the Coromandel Peninsula. It worked out so well, a really great trip to take with a child Elroy's age, some moving about but not too much. Because the trip was in three parts I'm going to do three blog posts, so get ready for some NZ spam!

The first full day there we drove out to Piha and it was so beautiful and such a great way to start a holiday and forget reality. We walked up one of the big hills and I experienced the full force of my vertigo - but felt so happy that I did it, had a picnic at the beach and made the most of it before the rain came in.

The next day we walked up Mount Eden and found some amazing parks for Elroy to play in (one of the brilliant things in New Zealand were the children's playgrounds - so great), I visited a few shops on my list: Father Rabbit, Alex and Corban and Citta.

The third and fourth days were rainy which was a bit of a pity, so we took it slow, a few drives, a few more shops for me - the incredible Tessuti and Everyday Needs - I really did find that New Zealand/Auckland has a much more interesting design approach, well these stores were certainly refreshing for me.

We had some lovely meals, we ended up going to Amano on three separate occasions (one on our very last day for an eat in lunch which was so good), the other times were for takeaway lunch and dinner, Pasta and Cuore, Mexico, and Little and Friday a few times as well. Elroy is pretty good at going out for dinner, but we have to be careful not to push him too many nights in a row. It is always a balance traveling with children.

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