Category Archives: Hospitality

Part 21 – Moeraki and Oamaru

It wasn’t quite that easy to leave in the morning. We said good bye for a good while and sat in the warm kitchen, having coffee and not actually leaving. It was starting to rain and a rainbow appeared over Timmy which looked very pretty.

When everybody had left for school, kindy and work, we also left. Today, we went up the coast to the Moeraki boulders. These boulders are fun, spherical boulders lying around at the beach. It’s a geological oddity but it makes for very pretty photos.

A new restaurant and an alpaka farm have opened right next to the beach access now which I hadn’t seen before. After lunch in the motorhome, we took a walk along the beach before heading up to Oamaru. One more stop at All Day bay for a coffee and some beach time. Then, it was time for Oamaru where we stayed the night at a park over place next to the race track. It was very convenient to stay in town. Also, we arrived early enough to have time for another BBQ.

The next day, the weather was still very grey and drizzling. The small bakery shop in Oamaru was still a must, Flo and I had been here before. They were still setting up so we waited for more, still warm, baked goodness to arrive. Apart from bread, we also bought sweet treats for a later coffee time.

Exploring Oamaru’s historic town center was fun. The i-site/museum wasn’t quite the plan but it started raining and the ladies at the counter kinda talked us into it. It was much fun to try out old toys, have a ride on the penny farthing carussell or have a look around the old shops. The schoolroom was a good reminder of the horrible practises that had been used to keep kids from fidgeting.

Leaving Oamaru, we turned inland. Driving up the Waitaki valley, we stopped next to a hydrostation and a dam. It was still raining quite heavily and wasn’t much fun to go out. In the end, we made this a long driving day, driving almost all the way up to Twizel today. We stopped at a lake right before the town of Twizel and stayed at the edge of the plateau above Lake Ruataniwha on a freedom camp.

I’m sure, Timmy is smiling too. The kids were very excited by the frequent rainbows in NZ.

Part 20 – Friendzone: A weekend in Dunedin

We had plans to see other travel / motorcycling friends, Janet and Scott, later this afternoon. By now, they also have three kids so we were invited for a catch up and dinner after naptime at 3.30pm. Which meant, we had almost a whole day to kill first.

So we opted to spend a good chunk of it at our favourite place in Dunedin: Celia’s and Tig’s house. There was time for showers, schoolwork, playtime, food, even more coffee…everthing that happens when 5 adults and 5 kids are in the same place. In the end, Celia came up with the plan to go on a walk at Mt Cargill. It took some time packing snacks, water and whatever the kids needed to go on a walk, but then we were off to a car ride and a walk. The weather was nice, everybody enjoyed to be out and about and the views of Dunedin were quite spectacular. The photos tell most of the story, really.

We were back at Celia’s and Tig’s place just in time to pack up and leave for Janet’s and Scott’s place where we would also spend the night. It was so good to see them again and meet their kids. After a lovely dinner with an astonishing amount of food having been eaten by 4 adults and 5 kids, we got dessert in form of banana bread that their eldest had baked. The two younger of their three girls took quite the liking to the AoE and not long after, they had a make-up party on the top bunk bed.

In the evening, we slipped right back into the good conversations we used to have when all four of us were living in Wellington. Good times were had!

After breakfast the next morning, we said our goodbyes as Janet plans every day very thoroughly, especially the weekends. It reminded me a lot of myself when we’re at home. So many things to do!

For the rest of the Sunday, we got Tig and the two younger kids to join us at St Clair Hot Saltwater pools, while Celia and Charlie went off to train for their big three day hike coming up in April. The pool was very cool, actually pretty warm and it had toys and goggles for the kids to use. Both our kids were IN LOVE with the goggles as they allowed them to dive without the sting in their eyes. So we stayed even longer than our friends, having an extra round of splashing and diving.

Back home at Celia’s and Tig’s, everybody was knackered. A rather quiet evening was had with one more conversation with the adults. I had managed to get through all my pre-prepared lists for the Hocken library in 4 days. Thus, we will leave Dunedin tomorrow after one week here instead of the planned two weeks.

Part 19 – A week in Dunedin

Monday was supposed to be my first day at work…until I checked again and realized that the Hocken Library is closed on Mondays. Thus, we had Monday to explore a little bit of the Otago Peninsula. Dunedin looked quite a bit similar to Wellington when we moved along the harbour (minus the high-rises). Our first stop, for lunch, was a playground next to Macandrew beach. The kids enjoyed the play time (and the ice cream), before we continued to Te Rauone beach where we spent the afternoon and the night freedom camping.

On Tuesday, we had a brief look around Taiaroa Head but couldn’t visit the Royal Albatros Center as now I had to be at the Hocken Library at 10am. After this, I was mostly out for the rest of the week.

Flo: So while Nina slogged away at the Hocken, both kids and I got to explore and go on adventures. We started local, but non-the-less awesome at Toitū Otago Settlers Museum. I remembered it fondly, and the broad selection of exhibits and topics was a hit with the kids as well. That night we cowed from first real rain on our trip right at the heart of town. Dunedin’s Freedom camping policy is awesome.

Another (rainy) day, another museum. Tūhura Otago Museum, a “British Museum” style potpourri of different exhibits. Including the fantastic “Relics” touring exhibition of “Where’s Waldo”-style Lego dioramas built into “relics” of humanity. Plus, a butterfly greenhouse, for some reason. Great fun was had.

The big one came on Thursday – hopping on to the Taieri Gorge Railway on the first sunny day after the rain had passed. The kids were 100% on board (get it?) and had heaps to tell mom, who came to pick us up after coming back to town and because why not, we added a whole steet art walking tour in the afternoon.

On Wednesday and Friday we came back to our friends Celia and Tig’s place to give the kids more chances to hang out (plus ok, maybe some personal hygiene). It was amazing getting the time to hang out. A personal marker for the outstanding quality of people we call friends is how effortlessly we find into a rhythm even after years of not seeing them. One more huge shoutout to them and their amazing tamariki! Our kids will sure remember the time here.

After that full week, we had more of a low key day on Friday, exploring the Dunedin Botanical Garden, catching up on sleep and preparing for a shared evening meal with our friends. The kids were suprisingly engaged in the “plants selected for their fragrence” section.

Part 8 – Work, Work, Work

Well, how the turntables. All of a sudden, the “holiday” vibe was gone, and it was almost a settled life for almost all of us. The general arrangement for this week was: Nina goes to town and does basically a full workday either at the National Libary of New Zealand (Turnbull Libary) or at Te Papa Tongarewa. Maybe a brief meetup for lunch, if I am in town, but that was it.

Number 3 got the chance to go to school. Which is mind-blowing to us, coming from Germany. He could not have hit it better, though. He got assigned to Mr. Cross` classroom of year 3 kids. First day kicked off with swim class. He was in love. Just the logistics were a bit of a challenge.

That left me and the Agent of Entropy, finding our ways. Most of the time, that meant going to Wellington as well, either to get stuff sorted (like, voting as #1 and #2 voter in NZ in that incredibly unneccessary snap election Germany had) or just to hang out.

Then, in the evening, with the kids in bed and the house settled in, I would go and get to work, usually 8pm to midnight. Sometimes, a bit longer. We knew, this whole trip could only work if we both put in serious time to work. But still, ouch. Those first few days hit me hard. Especially before I managed to make a mid-day nap a non-negociable. Working late is weird. Somehow, not helped by the 12 hour time difference, it feels like “the morning” in my mind.

Anyway – we got through this mostly alive – probably the hardest week of our entire trip in terms of work commitments. Time for some weekend fun …

The kids really warmed to Lupin and Loki, the two Golden Retrievers

Part 2 – Pre-Lauch

As I am lying here, in the back of Timmy the Motorhome with a view of the beach, there is no other way than feeling our trip has just now entered Chapter 1 proper. The last week could be considered prolog, but in life – everything counts, nothing is extra. So let me tell you a bit about the rest of our first week in New Zealand.

We arrived on Thursday morning, as evidenced in our first post. By Saturday, we had pretty much settled in: All paperwork done, accounts reactivated and a motorhome purchase completed. Shoutout to Hennie, who was very supportive and patient with his personal “scammer” buying a pretty expensive vehicle for the most part remotely from Germany.

Sunday was a slow day for all of us, most of all me with the obligatory plane-pest now all the way at the fever stage. Nina: The kids and I still spent some time in Kelly Tarlton’s Sea Life Center on this Sunday.

So as Monday came round, it was time to direct our focus towards this place. Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland. We decided to use the day to make good on Number 3’s birthday present and took the bus to MOTAT – the Museum of Transport and Technology in Auckland. He absorbed every minute of it, from opening time at 10am till the doors closed. The Agent of Entropy was less impressed but got distracted enough by some craft opportunity as part of the Auckland Anniversary Day weekend program. Her real highlight was the daring deeds to be had on the playground afterwards.

Tuesday was all preparations, getting Timmy ready for the road. It never ceases to amaze us that the unwritten NZ tradition when trading used goods seems to be that the buyer will clean. Nina: I on the other hand used the morning to get acquainted with the laudromat to do some proper washing of everything.

I was a bit high on isopropyl alcohol and glue (from fixing some sag in the headliner in the luton) when we met friends Elle and Nick in the afternoon. As perfect coincidence had it, Elle works at the Auckland Maritime Museum, so Number 3 got to see the Black Magic and America’s Cup replica first hand.

It was brilliant to catch up with old friends after 10 years. Things change, things stay the same, but everyone has a distinct memory of the covid years.

And so Wednesday came around. Nina’s first day at work and the reason (among others) why we are in New Zealand in the first place. So while she got real work done, thanks to amazing support from the Auckland Art Gallery staff, I got to play stay-at-home dad and took the little ones on a day hike up Maungawhau (Mt. Eden). The cafe up there was the perfect lunch spot. In my view, the view from the caldera beat spending over 100$ on the SkyTower any day. The Agent thought less so for all the walking up and down hill it entailed.

And so, we end our settled ways, sleep one more night at our AirB&B with Timmy ready to go tomorrow …

Even after a brief shower, the trampoline remained their favourite “toy”

Day 2 Frantic departure

Snow at first light – ready to go after 5 hours of sleep

Day 12 – Castle and bog

We got up, ready to go back to the beach. Both kids had loved running along the beach, feet in the water so saying goodbye to the beach was a high priority. But first, breakfast. We took the easy route as this campground had a mini kitchen for campers to use: toast and a boiled just saved us quite a bit of time, so much in fact that we even got to use the other facilities and had a lovely shower. Right before caking the kids in sunscreen, sand and salt water. XD

We left the beach later than Flo wanted but too early for the kids so I call it a fair compromise. Our next destination was the Glenveagh National Park although we didn’t have a good idea about what to do there. I already had a hike through Poisened Glen planned for the afternoon and the Glenveagh Castle was closed today.

In the end, we just went with the flow. The Glenveagh Castle Visitor Centre had a charger which we could use without cost, the shuttle bus to the castle cost 6€ for all of us as a return ticket and according to the wardens in the centre, it was great to just explore there for a while. Plus, Number 3 got to ride another – fully electric – bus and was happy.

The walk that caught our eye was a 2km loop to a viewpoint with a view down to the castle and the lake. In the beginning, it led through the outer parts of the “garden” with exotic plants and an Italian terrace but then it meandered up through more native landscape. Both kids were really good throughout the hike. Number 3 had no choice but to walk it all while the Agent of Entropy was carried uphill and then demanded to walk a section of the path downhill.

Nina on the viewpoint, looking down on kitsch “castle”

It was past lunchtime by now but the cafe in the castle was pretty packed and didn’t have a lot that I count as “food”. We rather took the bus back to the Visitor’s Centre and had a pricey lunch there, right next to a playground. Still, for 6€ plus free charging, this was definitely a win.

From here, it was just a short car ride to Poisoned Glen but the Agent still feel asleep. She’s done almost 2 hours longer than her usual naptime so that was quite impressive. Number 3 also was tired but he wasn’t allowed to sleep as he needed to walk more as soon as we stopped.

The way to the Glen was scenic already with a view to Errigal Mountain to the right and a sort of bog landscape all around. Parking next to a ruined church, the “rough hiking path” turned out to be a hopping from stone to boulder and back through the bog. Given that Ireland is having a heat wave with 23 degrees and multiple days without rain in a row, the path was pretty dry with occasional patches of bog or a small stream running over it. Flo was instantly happy. The Agent of Entropy slept through most of it and Number 3 was an amazing mountain sheep (he doesn’t want to be a goat). It was described as a 4km round-trip and we got a good stretch in when suddenly, we decided to go back. Number 3, who was very tired by now, had slipped and put a foot in the bog. When he pulled it out, his shoe stuck. It was a catastrophe for him, while Flo had a laughing fit. Of course, we managed to rescue the shoe and Flo cleaned it enough that Number 3 could put (a now very wet shoe) back on.

Back at the car, we embarked on a longer ride to Ardara and over Glengesh Pass. Another really scenic drive though by now, we’ve all had a long day and weren’t as wowed by the scenery anymore. When we arrived at the campground next to Sliabh Liag, I was pretty tired. Just a simple dinner of bread or muesli had to do and then we brought the kids to bed.

Since it was kinds early still, Flo arranged our makeshift baby phone and we went the 300m to the nearest pub “The Rusty Mackerel”. It was lovely as a location, all food looked really good but the kitchen had closed at 8pm and I was a little twitchy because the kids “were so far away”. However, we discovered that Guinness now produces a 0.0 beer which is an important information on a road trip.

Day 18 – Full throttle … to a halt

Time to leave Sweden. It will take us a couple of days to get back to Frankfurt as we choose not to drive that long with the kids in the car. Gothenburg is about 2-2.5 hours from Malmö so that’s doable. In Malmö, we cross over the Öresund bridge into Denmark, get around Copenhagen and find a nice campground. That’s the plan.

The kids were allowed to play for a bit…I mean, a long day in the car is just punishment for little kids

Rain was forecast for today but only later in the morning. Number 3 and I bought bread rolls in the shop on the campground which made our breakfast quick and easy. Looking at the sky, we decided to pack up quickly while it was still dry. With no awning, the tent was packed up super fast, thus we decided to take advantage of the kids’ bathroom. Everybody got a shower or bath. There was even time left to explore the playground a little.

As soon as it started drizzling, we hit the road. Both kids were tired out from bathing and then playing and fell asleep right away. Flo and I got to listen to our audio book, look at conveniently placed charge point and even discuss if we’d manage to find a restaurant that serves köttbullar for lunch time.

Critical gaze…yeah, nah…it’s not working

About 24 minutes before our lunch break, we heard a loud noise. It certainly startled me, Flo probably too. We couldn’t see anything straight away but it just sounded as if a tire blew. The car, however, was still running without any swerving. Flo checked the tire pressure and we were losing air fast in one of them. Time to get over to the shoulder of the road and stop. Warning light came one, warning vests came out and both our kids were still asleep. By the time Flo had emptied out the trunk to get to the repair stuff, the Agent woke up and complained that it was cold. And it was cold. Freezing in the chill wind, Flo tried to fix the tire with spray but it didn’t do any good (no more spare tires in new cars).

A road side assistance car stopped behind us and from there on, things sped up again. The tow truck would be there in 20 minutes to take the car to the workshop. Once it arrived, we all went into the assistance car and drove after our poor Puru Hiko. Number 3 was very excited about the tow truck but also anxious that we were grounded for now. The Agent simply screamed for the most part: It was cold and different and strange men were handling her car seat and wtf was going on?!?

They closed off one lane to make it a bit safer for us to tranfer into the assistence car. Number 3 was…not sure how to feel

The workshop had a matching tire available so we could have it changed right there. In no time, we were ready to be on the road again. I didn’t do anything in all that time other than look after the kids. By this point, they were also quite hungry. Number 3 had asked to have his dragon plushie with him which we thankfully managed to take. The workshop also managed to produce two plushies called “Blinky” so every kid had something to cuddle with. In the meantime, Flo had called around. ADAC, our insurance or mobility guaranty with Kia…who would make sure that we could go on now? He’d managed to get someone on the line who guaranteed that the costs for the repair would be paid but Flo should NOT pay upfront. They wanted to deal with the workshop themselves. The guys from the workshop were unhappy about it because in their experience, that just took time. In the end, they were right. It took until 3pm to get the e-mail saying “We will definitely cover the costs” to the right hands. Lucky for us, the car dealer had a restaurant so at least we had proper lunch. *le sigh*

The broken automatic tire pressure thingy that we weren’t told about but the workshop left on our dashboard

It will still haunt us in Germany though as the workshop broke one of the automatic tire pressure thingies on the tire they changed (Flo: TPMS). BUT we could continue back home! With only 2-3 hours lost!

When we finally, finally got to Malmö, I seriously suggested that we could camp here for another night. But we had to cover more distance. So we crossed over the Öresund bridge. By bye Sweden, you are such a lovely country! Thank you for our holiday!

Headfirst into Denmark, the first thing you encounter is Copenhagen right on the other side of the bridge. Trying to get around it, we hit a bit of a traffic jam and then the problem that there were no campgrounds in the city. Our originally picked one was probably still our best chance. I looked at the website, saw that they had their own bakery next to the campground and said “go!”. If everything failed, we’d probably still be able to get food at the campground. We arrived there at 6.15pm, about 15 minutes before the kids’ bedtime.

Asking for bread rolls, Flo was given four bread rolls from this morning for free. We chose our site, set up the tent in record time, ate the bread rolls and put the exhausted kids to bed. Man, what a day! Our poor kids. And poor Flo. This was not how we had envisioned this day at all. But we’ve made it. In Denmark now with a full belly and another looooong day in the car ahead tomorrow.

Day 15 – Boat, a kingdom for a boat!

Given that Number 3 has been on our case about riding a boat for most of the trip, and our spectacular fail in Malmö, there was no more delaying it. The option of boat rentals was one of the reasons we came here in the first place after all. A boat we had to rent. What kind we would leave open to some consultation with the campground owner, but it would likely come down between canoe or row boat. Kayaks (which we would have preferred) were out due to the lack of AoE restraint options and out boarder seemed to be a bit against the spirit of it.

So we had a long, leisurely breakfast and enjoyed the comforting knowledge that there would be no packing today. Jan, the owner, is an extremely kind and laid-back kind of guy, so Number 3 almost burst from excitement when the reception was finally opened at 9am. In the end, he advised for the canoe as the nicer way to get around and we agreed, even though I was a bit apprehensive about the twisty kind of paddling. After all, my diagnosis of a broken rib was less than 5 weeks ago, and I can still feel it and not lay down on that side.

Everyone got kitted out with life vests, we packed some snacks and water and off we went. Nina had only kayak experience so far, so we quickly decided that maybe me in the back would have been the smarter move all along and swapped places. A lifetime ago, I did a two week-long trip down a local river in a canoe and to my surprise, the right motions were still there. That also meant that I, blessed with dad reflexes, could have an eye out for the Agent of Entropy. She insisted quite from the get go that the only way to enjoy the trip was to tippy toe over one side with one hand in the water.

We did a decent loop – maybe a bit too ambitions for the amount of food we took, as lunchtime sort of crept up on us. The Agent at some point refused to go on any further without the loudest of protestations. So Nina and I gave it one last big push and moored at a fallen log to give her at least a feed. Meanwhile, Number 3 and I went mushroom hunting again but got ourselves almost knocked out cold when I tried to use a decent sized (but rotten) tree as a handhold climbing the bank. It fell with a decent thud, luckily in the right direction for us. Oops …

Even with a feed, the Agent would refuse to part with mama for the rest of the way home, and so I did the last third of the way paddling alone from the back. Not ideal, but to my relieved surprise it went pain free. And so we arrived back for a late lunch, with big smiles all around (after the food, for the most part).

The afternoon flew by, with some exploration, cooking and Number 3 making friends with the 2 ½ year old neighbor. I really enjoyed seeing him as the tutor for once. The two of them played for almost an hour. His parents were really relaxed about it, enjoying the freedom that comes with those team ups (more on them tomorrow).

After all of that, bed time went pretty well and Nina and I had a good evening just for us, blogging, planning and talking in these beautiful surroundings we found ourselves in.

Day 9 – Give me shelter …

Everything is already so wet. It rained through the night. We decided for once against our pride and to make use of the facilities we are paying for. So instead of huddling under our awning, we packed everything up and got ourselves comfortable in the camp kitchen. A dry breakfast helped in getting the spirits up.

We actually used the kitchen to stay dry during breakfast

In the end, we were the only ones we saw all morning. Exploring the service building a bit more, we thought this really cool family bathroom was worth taking advantage off and added a family scrub to the list of things to do before facing the rain to take down the tent.

While we wrapped up our kids in full battle regalia, they did not last through the entire packing without complaining bitterly. We had to drop everything and head down to the playground at the lake for some cooling of tempers. So we were now pushing on lunch time before getting on the road – something that will become relevant to how our day would go …

Stopping at a random roadside cafe called Emma Grön

It was only two hours to our destination of the day: Visiting Emma, an old friend of Nina and myself. Well, actually not only Emma anymore, since she had found a companion since last we met and we were looking forward to be meeting Johan for the first time as well. The original plan was to have the lunch stop half way and arrive leisurely in the early afternoon. Now we were merely on the road and had already missed lunchtime.

Not much we could do about that, so I set course for the first restaurant Google suggested along the road. What an incredible luck we have sometimes. It turned out that Emma Grön could hardly have been more up our alley. We had a wonderful and tasty lunch in a little witches’ hut of a dining room. Oh, and the sweet treats looked so appetizing that we already knew that we would stay for dessert. What a great way to lift the spirits!

The rest of the way was uneventful – apart from some last minute COVID tests to keep our hosts and potential humans to be as safe as possible. With slight delay we arrived and triggered all of the burglar alarms around the house while waiting for Emma to return from her shopping run. We had initially intended to stay nearby somewhere with a good camp spot. But the relentless rain with no respite in sight had lead us to jump at the offer of some “urban camping” in our friends’ driveway.

The evening had much sharing of love and old tales, while we were spoilt by a great home-cooked lasagne from Johan. The kids slept as well as anywhere – why wouldn’t they? It is the same tent wherever it is parked.

Thank you Emma and Johan, for the shelter we needed …