Our first Spring trip in the Kiwi Blog Bus
The weather has finally turned, the daffodils and lambs are out and we decided we were well overdue a trip in the bus (and a post on the blog!).
We haven’t had to venture very far to find this little gem of an overnight stop either.
Just a short drive to the lovely town of Matamata, just around the corner from the Hobbiton movie set, and then 2km up the road to Firth Tower Museum.
We have parked up for a very friendly amount of $10 (including power) and I must say it’s a very beautiful spot.
We’ll be looking around the museum tomorrow and i’ll bring you the best of the visit in my next post. For now, I’m off to enjoy a long glass of cold cider!
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Dare I tell you about Simpsons Beach?
From the Kiwi Annisons Archives:
There is a beautiful sandy beach in a stunning Coromandel bay surrounded by rolling green hills, where you can camp just a stones throw from the water’s edge (and I do mean that literally) and the payment for this paradise…
Just $5 a night.
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The official medal chart (Kiwi Blog Bus style)
In the spirit of the Olympics ….
(or just because I cannot think what else to blog about today!) this post is about the best of The Kiwi Blog Bus and the winning entries to date.
The positions for most popular post:
Gold medal goes to Waterworks: surely the best fun you can have with recycled objects?! Read More…
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Huka Huka: Prawns and Falls
From the Kiwi Annison Archives
If we’re ever heading down to Taupo or beyond, one of our favourite spots to call in for a spot of relaxation, great food and good old easy-going kiwi ambience is Huka Prawn Park and its fantastic riverside restaurant.
Situated next to the Waikato River, just a short distance from the powerful Huka Falls, the park breeds and grows tropical prawns (Giant Malaysian River Prawns) using waste geothermal heat from the geothermal power station next door. Read More…
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Sometimes the best things in life really are free
One of the big things we noticed when we moved to New Zealand from the UK in 2008 was the fantastic and plentiful array of kids playgrounds here.
It may seem like an insignificant thing but when you have three kids who have usually seen broken, graffiti covered, litter strewn playgrounds that normally contained a set of broken swings and nothing too adventurous that you could potentially injure yourself on – then it all came as a breath of fresh air.
Thames playground
Before I get jumped on and all the UK peeps shout at me…. yes, I agree there were SOME nice parks and playgrounds for kids. But I am speaking my opinion when I say that while we lived and travelled around the UK I can honestly say that the large majority of playgrounds were either in undesirable areas or visited by undesirables who used for undesirable purposes.
Sad but true.
Another huge difference for us here was the school grounds. Read More…
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A little place we like to go (infamous for doing it in public)
From the Kiwi Annison Archives:
In one of my strangely popular (!) posts Doing it in public, I mention briefly a wonderful little spot that we quite often like to visit.
Today I give further, deserved, attention to Fergusson Park in Tauranga.
As well as BBQs and a fantastic playground, the large waterside sports field has toilets, changing rooms, a boat ramp and is a very popular area for kiteboarding and windsurfing.
We were drawn there by this… Read More…
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Minniesdale Chapel and the brave pioneers of Albertland, New Zealand
A spur of the minute decision we made on a trip in April 2011 took us to a place that roused my emotions and stirred my hidden pioneer spirit.
Minniesdale Chapel, Port Albert
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100th post! (and an explanation)
I’ve made it to 100 blog posts!
It is 19 weeks today since I first pressed that big blue “Publish” button and launched the Kiwi Blog Bus on the big world-wide web.
If you have followed me since early on then you’ll remember my amazement when the blog quickly took off and established a (small and friendly!) readership around the globe!
The blog stats became the first thing I checked online each day and the flag counter was closely monitored as it ticked its way upwards (it’s currently on 92).
I love to blog about our travels in the Kiwi Blog Bus and have managed a few short, brief posts while we’ve been on the road; tackling the longer more detailed descriptions from home at a later date.
Winter has snuck up on us now in New Zealand and we may not be out on the road quite so much until it warms up a bit (having no heating at all in the bus!).
I will continue to post from The Kiwi Annison Archives as we’ve still quite a selection of trips to tell you about and heaps and heaps of photographs to work through.
Kiwi Annison and Pip the dog
But the other reason for this post is to mention that I have now graduated (Diploma in Journalism) and found full-time employment (yay!) so I have to admit the free time I had for blogging is beginning to dwindle a little!
I hope to still get a post up every week and perhaps you’d like to become one of my blog ‘followers’ just to make sure you don’t miss it!
Thank you and hope you stay tuned.
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Tarawera Falls, one of the best walks in New Zealand
From the Kiwi Annison Archives…..
In December 2010 we made a special visit to Lake Tarawera’s eastern shores.
We had previously been to the western side of the lake (read Lake Tarawera and the Buried Village) but the journey to Tarawera Outlet required us to travel via Kawerau (off SH 30 between Rotorua and Whakatane) where we had to obtain a permit to travel on the private forestry road to the lake. Read More…
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This and that, dogs and a sunrise
I just found some photos on my phone that I don’t think have ever made it onto the blog….
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Kiwi Blog Bus
Campervan tales from New Zealand
The Kiwi Blog Bus - campervan tales from New Zealand 