Final few weeks

Squeaky bum time! Less than two weeks to go until we vacate our little slice of NZ and begin the journey west! Bernie had been busy packing boxes and I've almost finished at school..  I've got two days surfing at the beach with a bunch of kids to help me transition into the beginning of our endless summer!

We fly to Bangkok on December 13th and have 5 nights booked in a down town hotel. We then south travel to Koh Lanta for Xmas with friends from London and have this pool / sea view to put up with!

The kids are most excited about the hotel I read about that let's you eat as many cakes and deserts as you can stuff down your throat! They have also been practising packing their suitcases daily... With swords and Lego, not clothes of course!

2016 - the Endless Summer?!

There's a lot of planning still to go, but our mission is to enjoy a year of endless summer. Beaches, jungle, bush and more beaches are the intended destinations, as well as some cultural cruising... our rough route is as follows:

December / January here in sunny NZ for Xmas and the New Year:

In January, we hope to join our friends Phil, Margaret and Mia for a few days in Sydney:

We'll then head to South East Asia, the Philippines is the most appealing:

After a couple of months beach hopping we'll head to South Africa to see the Dupont's in Durban and wild animals on safari:

We then hope to hop to the UK at the beginning of June to see the Whitaker's and my favourite pub in the world - The Lord Nelson:

We hope to travel by campervan through Europe:

Before Flying back to New Zealand... via Samoa hopefully!

All that's left to do now is pack up our life and get some plane tickets! Fingers crossed it all goes smoothly!



Travel Time!

Two weeks ago, I sat down with Bernie and we had a conversation that kicked-off an explosion of excitement. In a five minute chat, we decided to throw away much of the stability we have created since settling down and having kids, for a year of action and adventure (and of course airport lounges!). We decided that I would give up my job; sell (and eat) our cows, chooks and ducks; rent out our six acres of heaven and travel the world throughout 2016.

We are lucky to enjoy an outdoor existence year-round in the Winterless North of NZ, but with our kids rapidly approaching school age, this seemed like the best time to reinvigorate our lives, see new countries and spend quality time with family and friends around the globe.

Fourteen days on from our eureka moment, I have handed in my notice, we've had estate agents round and our beloved source of milk, cheese and family cow chases - Milky the Jersey cow - is up for sale. We are trying to put together an itinerary that will enable us to make the very most of 2016...

 We really love our house and land, but it will be here waiting for us when we get back...

We cant wait to travel with our two little monkeys!

So, three months to sell all our junk and baby gear, pack up what we want to keep.... plus enjoy some of the Kiwi summer before we leave!





Getting tanked up!

It has been a good learning experience and necessitated several trips to the local plumbing shop where they patiently help me learn about the myriad of fixtures and fittings required to hook up our water tank. Once I'd scrubbed and scrubbed the roof, prepared the base and made many errors collecting the the right bits, it didnt take too long to hook it up... hang on, am I sounding a tad like AJ (my late Grandfather)?! Middle age is fast approaching and Bernie pointed out that I now finally have the maturity to focus upon tasks for sustained periods of time... how long until Will can do the same?!
It is nice to have it done and timely too, we have a tropical storm heading our way tomorrow, just when we were meant to go camping we get Will laid up with kickin pox (as he beautifully calls it!) and lashings of rain on the way... at least the water tank can get a good filling... provided the glue holds!

Jammin!

Our awesome strawberry plants have been producing so well that I've had to resort to making jam each weekend. The kids love grazing on them in the day for snacks and we still have kilos coming out of our ears... not literally.... that would be weird!

Digging it!

I've spent a fair while digging, levelling and laying sand for our new water tank. I know i sound so middle aged and boring, but we need drinking water and the bore water we depend upon keeps running out already, even though its early summer. The tank has to go in and I'm learning as quickly as i can to get this big boy plumbed in before we head away to Sydney for Xmas and New Year... wish me luck!

Living the dream... more than ever!

Both kids are thriving. Long legs, big willing smiles and heaps of energy means a lot of running around for Bernie and I, but moments like this pic makes our heart's melt. Thanks for the physics of nature, evolution and good decisions for moments like this!