Waitomo, New Zealand, has no lack of activities for kids. Of course, there are some excellent paid activities, such as the Spellbound Glowworm Caves tour that we absolutely loved, but there are also many fantastic hikes that are not only free, but of reasonable lengths to hike with children! We had already done the Ruakuri Hike, so this time we decided to check out the trails to the Mangapohue Natural Bridge and Marokopa Falls(about 25 km wet of Waitomo Caves).

One of my children is missing from those photo, and I managed to acquire 3 extra that were traveling with us on this adventure!

Mangapohue Natural Bridge walk features a 17 meter high limestone arch (the remains of an ancient cave system), with old fossils exposed in the limestone walls.

The walk is easy, and stroller or wheelchair friendly for a good portion.

The boardwalk trail takes you through a scenic limestone gorge, over several bridges, and then to the entrance of a stunning archway that towers high above your heads.

You can climb up a fair amount of stairs to a viewing platform. I mean, seriously, folks….is this not STUNNING?!!

On the viewing platform, looking down (archway above our head…waaaaay up there, still)!

And every moment is made happier with a baby smile like this one!

After ascending the stairs, you can then choose to turn around and retrace your steps the way you came, or take a trail out the arch’s backside, and walk through about 15 minutes of farmland.

Of course, we opted to see something new. It wasn’t nearly as stunning as the trail in, but it’s still somewhat jaw-dropping in its own understated way!

I’m telling you…DON’T MISS THIS EASY WALK IF YOU ARE VISITING WAITOMO!!!! You won’t regret it!!!

Have you been? Tell me what you thought!

My name is Alisa, and I love traveling the world with my adventurous husband and rambunctious 5 small children. I am passionate about gorgeous scenery, meeting new people, and I’m a certified salad nut. Most of all, I love making memories with my family, and I enjoy sharing our travels with others!

On Te Anga Road, beyond Waitomo Village, you will run into an easy walk to “Marakopa Falls”. The trail is well-marked, and has a sign indicating that it is a 10 minute hike. Between our two-family traveling crew (with a total of 8 kids from 7 months to 12 years), a “10 min” walk means 30-60 minutes. Sooo…the perfect trail length!!

The easy trail is beautiful and green beyond explanation.

At the end of the path, you are rewarded with this gorgeous view of Marakopa Falls!

Marakopa Falls are 35m high, and as they are so close to Waitomo, you really shouldn’t miss them if you’re visiting the area to see the glowworm caves (also not-to-be-missed is the nearby Mangapohue Natural Bridge).

A family pic!

Have I mentioned that this kid kills me?!

Ella with her friend, Marie

My typical view on a walk/hike…

My typical appearance on a walk/hike in New Zealand (frizzy, pulled-up hair, included)!

Dawson is a good sport, and loves going on walks with Mommy!

(Directions: Marokopa Falls is 15 km east of Marokopa and 31 km west of Waitomo, on Te Anga Road)

My name is Alisa, and I love traveling the world with my adventurous husband and rambunctious 5 small children. I am passionate about gorgeous scenery, meeting new people, and I’m a certified salad nut. Most of all, I love making memories with my family, and I enjoy sharing our travels with others!

When we departed Waitomo, New Zealand, we set out on Highway 30 for our next stop–Rotorua (2 hrs 15 minutes away). We chose this Southern Route because we thought it was would be more scenic than tracking back up North from the way we had come. Going along Highway 30 also allowed us to swing right past Pureora Forest Park–offering a beautiful spot to take a lunch break and get out and hike!

We found a great online brochure on the Pureora Forest Park, which showed us that an easily accessible walk was located just South of the Highway. We pulled off at Maraeroa Road, and followed the signs to the Totara Walk.

The brochure explains: “This easy loop walk winds its way among the awe inspiring giant trees for which Pureora is famous. Ferns grow in abundance and if you are lucky, you may hear or see native birds such as tūī, fantails, tomtits, wax-eyes, kererū/kūkū or kākā. Glow worms can be seen at night. (The Timber Trail starts beside the Totara Walk—see C1 over page.)”

The Timber Trail that it refers to is a 1-2 day cycling trail, so we watched cyclers coming and going with their gear–from the same shared parking lot.

We pulled out some sarongs, pulled out a picnic of hummus and kiwi fruit (we are in New Zealand, after all), and the kids did some sword/stick-fighting while I nursed the baby.

On the trail, we found a densely forested walk that was pure lush green. It was easy/flat enough that we could have used a stroller.

There were informational placards along the way that identified plants, trees and insects. We learned that around 18,000 insects are found only in New Zealand–and much like the kiwi bird–many of them don’t fly! For every type of bird in New Zealand there are about 200 kinds of insects.

The terrain was covered in these fern trees–which I find fascinating! The trunk is a giant conglomerate of tree-like ferns that grow to the top and then spread out into a huge canopy.

Green, green and GREEN–That’s a New Zealand forest in a nutshell!

There’s green growth everywhere! Off the sides of trees, on branches, etc. A carpet of green covers the entire landscape and tempts you to touch nearly every branch you pass.

Some of my kids even decided to wear the greenery…

Other people in our family simply wear babies (i.e. me)…

Do your kids drag branches and dead limbs around?

Yeah? Whew. Mine, too…

After the 30 minute walk (which is always decidedly longer with children), we tried to follow the map and make our way to The Buried Forest (or Forest Tower or Vintage Steam Hauler and Tractor) that was nearby, but we were unable to locate any signs pointing us the right direction. After driving for 20 minutes along unmarked roads in the park, we opted to hightail it out of there and get on our way to Rotorua!

Visiting The Pureora Forest Park was the perfect way to break up our drive, as well as experience some of the national park. The Totara Walk trail was easily accessible, and very quiet (unlike the Timber Train next door, which had lots of activity). For those that are looking for cycling in New Zealand, the Pureora Forst Park is a highly reviewed area on the North Island! You can even rent huts for overnight use, at very affordable prices ($5/adult, $2.50/youth).

My name is Alisa, and I love traveling the world with my adventurous husband and rambunctious 5 small children. I am passionate about gorgeous scenery, meeting new people, and I’m a certified salad nut. Most of all, I love making memories with my family, and I enjoy sharing our travels with others!

One should not visit New Zealand without planning a visit to the famed Glowworm Caves of Waitomo!

We met up with our friends, the Pearce’s, who are staying 3 months on the South Island, but had come up North for a passport renewal. We met in Hamilton and then drove to Waitomo in the center of the North Island. This is our 4th country we have met the Pearce’s in, and our kids always have such a great time together! 

We booked a tour with Spellbound, a company that operates small tours of up to 12 people–an ideal situation, for a glowworm tour for children! Since every seat we took (carseats included) was a spot filled, we had to pay for even the baby and our 2 year old. However, the reviews online were great, and it didn’t disappoint. After meeting in their office, our two families jumped in their larger transport van and they took us on a 20 minute scenic drive to their caves that are on private property. 

We learned that there are hundreds of caves in this region, occurring as a result of water eroding away underlying limestone rock. Due to this erosion, sinkholes dot the landscape and are marked by rings of trees that are planted around their rims to help slow down the rate of erosion. It begs the question…is this erosion all occuring because the natural tree-filled land was cleared for European-style farming? Would it not have happened had there still been trees everywhere that would have slowed erosion? I have so many questions!

Our two families at the entrance to the dry cave

And just our family…but hey…we never get full family photos! Everyone was even looking…except for maybe Dawson, who was on my back!

We pulled up to the location of their first attraction, a gorgeous dry cave with a paved pathway that they had painstakingly created over several years’ efforts.

The cave was filled with stalactites and stalagmites that were beautifully highlighted by a lighting system that was tastefully installed to bring attention to the natural features of the cave, and not the lights. This cave had a small number of glowworms that we could see when the lights were off, but they were not the highlight of this particular cave—it was simply beautiful on its own!

I tried to imagine myself as a land-owner in the area, accidentally stumbling upon a hidden cave on my property! What do some of these land-owners do? They lease out the rights for companies to tour through it, of course!

After treking back out of the dry cave, we enjoyed a refreshment break outside (hot chocolate and cookies) and then walked to their (wet) glowworm cave that was just minutes away. 

It’s amazing that this second cave existed so close to the other, because they seemed to have little in common! We donned some safety hats with lights, and headed into the dark cave that had a river running through it.  

Our guide stopped to show us how the glowworms build themselves little silk hammocks from which to hang from the rocks. To catch their food, they build a network of silk threads and cover them with a sticky mucus. These threads are effective in catching flying bugs who are attracted to the worm’s glowing lights.  

Our guide pointed out that glowworms are not actual worms, at all–they are actually maggots. But “Maggot Caves” simply doesn’t have the same appeal, does it? An interesting, but random fact, is that these glowworms live out their entire lifecycle in the caves, later hatching into flies that have no ability to eat. Their sole purpose is to procreate, and then they die!

Back in the cave, we loaded into a fairly comfortable raft, and our tour guide hand-guided us through the caves by pulling on a rope system hanging above our heads.

It took 10 minutes or so for our eyes to adjust to the darkness, but once they did–it was magic!

Admiring the glowworms overheads was like looking up at a star-filled, glittering sky–except these stars were much closer. In fact, the amount of light from the glowworms was so significant that we could see each other without any additional lighting. 

Capturing a photo of the glowworms while on a moving raft was a near-impossible task, but it didn’t stop us from trying. My best attempt:

Thankfully, Spellbound Tours is very thoughtful, and emails professional photos of their caves to all of its customers, so that we could have a better photo representation of what we experienced. Their photo:

Here’s their photo of what it looked like in the cave:

After completing a trek up and down the cave in the raft in the pitch black, we exited, returned to our van, and zipped back in the van to the tour office.

In all, the tour was about 3 hours, and we felt it was definitely worth our time and money. I had admittedly hesitated to book a tour that included rafting, due to not knowing how our infant, Dawson, would handle being in complete darkness. However, I am happy to say that he did great–and it was a nonissue! Overall, Spellbound was great with the kiddos, and even 2 year old Eli loved the experience! The caves were a highlight that we won’t soon forget—and we were grateful for a small tour experience that was more personable and private than other options in the area.

We were excited to visit Rainbow Springs, a 22 acre nature park in Rotorua, New Zealand in mid February. It is home to New Zealand’s largest and most successful kiwi conservation center, where they have released over 1,000 kiwi into the wild since 1995.

Upon arriving, we booked a Kiwi Encounter, which was a special tour that took us through their conservation center to show us the impressive behind-the-scenes work that is occurring each day at Rainbow Springs. It was interesting to learn how they receive kiwi eggs from 15 different sanctuaries and reserves around the North Island, which they then inspect, incubate (70+ days), and monitor during the hatching process. The work doesn’t stop there–they then raise the kiwi until they are 1kg in weight, at which time they release them back in the wild.

Why do they do this?

The Kiwi population is halving approximately every 10 years. I was shocked to learn that the survival rate statistics for kiwis in the wild are absolutely dismal! By some accounts, 95% of kiwi die before reaching breeding age! This conservation work helps protect the kiwi when they are in their most vulnerable life stages, and successfully reintroduces them into the wild at a time when they have much better chances for survival. Their program aims to slow, if not help to reverse the kiwi population decline. Besides seeing real-life kiwi (babies included–so cute!), we found the tour guide to be very knowledgable, and we learned a great deal.

Photos aren’t allowed in this conservation area, which allowed us to simply listen, learn and enjoy the experience. It’s important to note that admission to the Kiwi Encounter Behind the Scenes tour is applied as a 100% donation to the National Kiwi Trust–so you can feel great about knowing that your money is going to a good cause.

After our Kiwi Experience, we entered the park via the colorful bird cages, and our kids immediately got lost in the large playground, which featured a “flying foxes” (the NZ name for zipline!):

Our kids adore the large basket swings that are common in New Zealand (much better than tire swings! What is the name of these baskets?!):

Next to the park is a cafe with plentiful seating, so you can relax while your kids play. Also nearby is The Big Splash, New Zealand’s newest themed water ride. You take a calm boat ride through a “Jurassic” forest, and at the end there is a great splash! We attended the park on a quiet day, so our kids were able to do the ride over and over.

There are many beautiful birds in enclosures, and there’s a daily free-flight bird show that starts at 11:30am (there’s an extra afternoon show during school holidays only). Make sure to time your visit and not be late, because the doors will close (we learned this the hard way–too much time spent at the playground)!

There are other Wildlife Encounters you can plan your visit around, such as the Eel Feeding or Tuatara Talk. We were able to hear a presentation from a staff member, as well as ask many questions before they fed the Tuatara:

You can purchase bags of food, and feed the beautiful varieties of trout that are happily swimming in the clear spring-fed water of the park. Our kids enjoyed the underwater viewing area to see the trout.

The various park attractions weren’t widely spread out, so our kids never tired of walking, and Jared and I admired the beautiful walkways and amazing foliage.  I enjoyed reading the plant placards to try to learn which plants were which–it was as much garden, as it was a wildlife park!

It was great to be a place that was so stroller-friendly that even our 5 year old helped out with some pushing!

Remember how I mentioned their water is spring-fed? It’s so clean that they encourage you to take a drink or fill up your bottles during your visit!

The grounds were absolutely beautiful and well-cared for. I probably spent just as much time looking at the various trees and plants, as I did the wildlife!

Warning: These falls are smaller than they appeared–but they photographed so well!

In all, our kids really enjoyed our visit to Rainbow Springs. The highlights? “Everything!” they said. But when we pressed them to specify, they admitted they especially loved the playground (of course!) and The Big Splash ride.

Jared and I were very pleased with the Kiwi Encounter, and would highly recommend that you spend the extra money to have that experience. It was very informative, and we learned so much more about Kiwi and their conservation than at other Kiwi-oriented centers we have visited. If you want to see Kiwi in New Zealand–this is the place!

In all, we thank Rainbow Springs for sponsoring our visit, and we think that other families like ours will highly enjoy a visit, as we did!

Are you looking for something different, educational, and entertaining for adults and children while visiting New Zealand?

On New Zealand’s North Island lies a gem of a tourist attraction–Agrodome–which is a “unique New Zealand farm experience”. We first enjoyed their hour-long “Farm Show” that introduced 19 breeds of sheep on its large stage.

Seeing the sheep all lined up and labeled onstage was quite the sight! Above the stage was a large projector screen that showed close-ups of the presenter’s demonstration for better viewing.

With all of the sheep labeled and seemingly content to relax at their posts, we enjoyed a laugh-filled sheep-shearing performance/presentation by this fellow:

He may have had one of the thickest Kiwi accents I’ve ever heard–and despite me not following half of what he said–he definitely had the room roaring on many occasions.

He aptly demonstrated a live speedy sheep-shearing, resulting in a nearly complete, in-tact sheep fleece!

He passed around a portion of of the fleece, which smelled absolutely horrid, and had the tourists passing it fast! Not the cleanest animals on the planet…

Sheep weren’t the only highlight of the show–there were also ducks, a cow, sheepdog, and lambs! Baby lambs were fed by audience volunteers, which was super adorable.

We were sitting near the front, which made us prime targets for being selected for audience participation. Ethan was chosen and refused to go up, but thankfully Ella didn’t hesitate long before taking his place. She got to go milk the cow, and received a certificate for her efforts:

After the show, the audience was invited to the stage to take photos, pet sheep, etc.

Next, we jumped on trailer of the Agrodome Farm Tour, which was pulled by a tractor:

The tour was full of interesting information about New Zealand agriculture, and included a scenic drive through their 350-acre working farm. Eli just loved it!

The best parts were the many stops to feed/pet the various farm animals. Our children (ages 2 through 10) had a blast, but the excitement wasn’t just limited to just kids!

I particularly enjoyed watching the Chinese tourists taking photos with the animals and (literally) squealing with delight (and maybe a touch of excited terror?) as they approached animals for the first time in their lives, perhaps! You should have heard the nervous squeal on this tourist before taking her peace-sign photo as the sheep came near:

As of summer 2015 statistics taken, there are about 4.6 million residents in New Zealand, and about 30 million sheep! That’s 6.5 sheep for every resident! Whoa!

The tour continued, and the opportunity to feed llamas was particularly popular…

And we had an up-close encounter with the deer (these aren’t wild, folks)!

Apparently, deer were introduced in the 19th century for sport. By the early 20th century, the deer were spreading and becoming a nuisance–damaging pastures and killing native plans. The government encouraged culling, and even hired hunters to help decrease the deer population. “In the 1970s people began catching live wild deer. They leapt from helicopters and grabbed the animals, tranquillised them with dart guns, or used a net gun, which fired a nylon net over the deer. These live animals were sent to deer farms. Deer farming began in the late 1960s. Today there are more than 1.7 million deer on New Zealand farms. Deer are farmed for venison, and for the velvet from their antlers.” (source)

Who knew, right?!

Apparently the wildlife wasn’t the only attraction on the tour. Baby Dawson, with his red hair, was quite the show-stopper! He will now be immortalized in random tourists’ photo albums that they’ll show to their families at home.

When an Indian couple asked if they could take a photo with him, I happily obliged. I was laughing to myself when about 20 photos later they didn’t look like they wanted to hand him back! A young Croatian woman patiently waited for her turn next, and as you can see from the above photo, there were many additional unauthorized photos taken!

Back to the tour…

We stopped to taste some freshly harvested honey (yum!) and kiwi juice, and we drove past rows and rows of kiwi plants…

Kiwi plants are either male or female, and there must be at least one male for every 8 female plants. I loved the description of male plants that I found online “Males are really only useful for one thing and that is making lots and lots of pollen, hence, they are heavy producers of pollen that is attractive to pollinators which carry it off to nearby female kiwi vines. Because the male kiwi vines do not bear fruit, they put all of their energy into vine growth and are, thus, often more vigorous and larger than their female counterparts.”  Hmmm…I can see the similarities…

All in all, I thought the show and tour were fun excursions that gave us a true taste of the agricultural side of New Zealand! We’re fortunate enough to live in an area where deer practically reside in our backyard, and we can see llamas from our front window. However, I realize that most people are not fortunate enough to regularly experience farm animal encounters–and it was really fun to watch their reactions to the tour, as well as our children’s smiles. Everyone had a great time–and I felt it was an educational, as well as entertaining experience which helped us better appreciate the significance of the agricultural industry in New Zealand. After all, agriculture is still THE primary industry in New Zealand–followed by tourism, of course.

My name is Alisa, and I love traveling the world with my adventurous husband and rambunctious 5 small children. I am passionate about gorgeous scenery, meeting new people, and I’m a certified salad nut. Most of all, I love making memories with my family, and I enjoy sharing our travels with others!

It was a fresh, crisp morning in early February when we embarked on a walk through Wai-o-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. Known as one of the most colorful and diverse geothermal attractions in New Zealand, it was our top pick when selecting where to take our children to appreciate the unique volcanic features in the Rotorua region.

Since we happened to be in Rotorua during the Chinese New Year (along with thousands upon thousands of vacationing Chinese), we opted to follow some online advice that suggested we skip the famous “Lady Knox Geyser” eruption at 10:15am in a separate area of the park. This allowed us to start treking through the rest of the park while the hoards of tourists were at the induction of Lady Knox (yes, the geyser is literally “induced” by pouring a soap into–causing it to erupt according to their schedule each day)! One must select priorities, and since we’ve seen Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park, USA (which is 2 to 4 times higher) we decided our children’s energy would be best put to use exploring the main area of the park without the crowds.

We started out fresh and ready to go…Ethan dashing under the myrtle, kanuka, and manuka trees!

The paths at Wai-o-Tapu (Maori for “sacred waters”) are well-maintained and defined with clear railings or wood boardwalks, when necessary. We opted to bring two strollers with us, making the walk easier with our two wee ones (ages 2 and 8 months).

With sunscreen lathered on, we treked up the hills in near-solitude, and enjoyed the eery steam that rose from the thermal pools into the crisp morning air.

As we spent time in the park, the morning air warmed up, and we were better able to view the bright green and orange colors of Champagne Pool, which is a relatively young hot spring formed by hydrothermal eruption about 900 years ago. It bubbles and boils at a temperature around 175° F (~75° C). Yowzers!

The park was dotted with many craters and pools, and then the path opened up to a scenic view of oddly yellow/green hot spring pools below. The upper paths were stroller-friendly (gravel/packed dirt or boardwalk), but as we descended to the lower hot springs there were quite a few stairs–so we left our stroller in a covered shelter area.

The colors of most of the pools were green or yellow, and of course, there were lots and lots of boiling spring and mud pools!

Sandals are not recommended for walking in the park…and we could see why!

The park’s path makes an easy large loop for those with time to explore the entire park (75+ minutes), however, if you’re limited on time you can do a smaller loop (about 30 minutes). Our favorite areas were actually in the smaller-loop area (see red below), but every section seemed to offer something new. With our progress being limited to the speed of our kids who enjoy discovery of what is around them, we definitely took longer than an hour and a half!

After about one hour of enjoying the morning solitude, the tourist masses caught up with us, and we no longer had the park to ourselves.

Back at Champagne Pool we glanced back across the hot springs at the throngs of tourists just beginning their walk around the park. We were glad to be on our way out!

The last loop ended with a bang at “Devil’s Bath”–which is a striking florescent green/yellow color!

While it’s not Yellowstone, the park was very interesting and in a fairly compact area. We saw a lot of craters, springs, and boiling things, but having missed the earlier geyser, a definite “wow” factor was missing. Why don’t they do an afternoon eruption of the geyser, too?  After all–they get to control it! However, skipping the tourist masses worked for us–and we certainly don’t regret that choice!

Bring hats, sunscreen, water, and start early in order to not cook among the hot earth that steams and gurgles around you. Overall, we don’t think a visit to Rotorua would be complete without an opportunity to view the geothermal wonders in the area–and the locals recommended Wai-o-Tapu as the best! Enjoy!

Two weeks into our visit to New Zealand, we finally felt well enough to make it out to visit Russell. Formerly known as Kororāreka, it was the first permanent European settlement and sea port in New Zealand. It is situated in the Bay of Islands, in the far north of the North Island. 

(Red dot…tip top!)

To get to Russell, you can take a long round-about drive up a peninsula to get there, or you can take a ferry. There are car ferries from Opua, or several passenger ferries from Paihia. We opted for the passenger ferry (adult $12 NZ, $6 NZ return), and found that it was quite a short ferry ride to arrive in Russell. 

Lucky girls–they were the only ones unscathed by our illness!

There’s not much to Russell, and so we found ourselves leisurely walking the main tourist strip, which only consisted of a few blocks with very light auto traffic.

There were a few cute cafes with live music, but we just sat on the beach side for quite some time while the kids enjoyed hunting for little spiral shells on the pebble beach (Ella’s favorite kind, because it’s much cleaner than sand!).

The kids were also enthused by the massive entanglement of branches and roots of this Morton Bay Fig Tree, which was planted in 1870!

A local family was having a blast jumping from the docks.

A Maori woman wood cutout stood watch over the pier:

After the walk, we decided to treat our kids to some goodies from the small grocery store. We bought these popular New Zealand cookies (“Hundreds and Thousands” is the brand name for what we simply call “sprinkles” in the US), and found that they were surprisingly quite good! I’d say they are a thinner/less-frosted version of American “Mother’s Frosted Animal Cookies”. Yum!

Freckles to match the Sprinkles

It was a sweet day in Russell, and literally a breath of fresh air to no longer be confined to bed with illness (sickness while traveling bites)!

If you’re looking for free activities for kids around Waitomo, New Zealand, you won’t want to miss the Ruakuri Scenice Reserve! Within a 5 minute drive of the Waitomo Glowworm Caves is the Ruakuri Walk, with parking shared by the neighboring Aranui Cave (a dry cave with guided tours available).

The Ruakuri Track is 1 km loop that takes about 45 minutes with easy walking, and is a great place to go hunt for glowworms at night in the embankments off the left path at the entrance (free!). 

We enjoyed the beautiful walk following the stream, and then as it winded around the limestone bluffs.

We met up with our friends, the Pearces, and our kids had a blast running up and down and all around!

I look forward (or I should say *Jared* looks forward) to the day when this 2 1/2 year old will walk on his own!

Children will love the small limestone caves that the path goes through!

The entire path was fairly well-shaded, making it a great place to walk on a hot sunny day.

The path climbs and descends, and at one time leads you to the Ruakuri Natural Bridge viewing platform (it’s very dark, so watch your footing). You’ll also have nice views of the stream running along the bottom.

Getting there: The track is 4 km from Waitomo Village. Head west from Waitomo Village and turn left at the roundabout into Tumutumu Road. Follow that road for about 2 km and turn right at the signposted access to Ruakuri car park.

When you drive away from the Auckland/New Zealand Airport, chances are you’re going to drive right past the eye-catching entrances to  Rocket Ropes and Butterfly Creek! Our interest was piqued in January, and the kids were thrilled when we surprised them with a visit here (in April) our last day in New Zealand before our outgoing flight!

Rocket Ropes is a fun Ropes Course with various challenges for children and adults (ages 2 and up)! Older children’s courses require an appointment (so be sure to book early), but little ones on the Rocketeer Course (ages 2-6 years) do not require appointments. Our little guys were outfitted by the attentive staff to begin their open course, which does not require staff supervision.

The Rocketeer Course is all low to the ground, but still requires the children to move their carabiner clips from one track to another. Therefore, our little Eli (age 2 1/2) required us to walk with him and move the clip on each new section. Ethan, however, took off on his own and did circles on the course around everyone else.

It was fun to see Eli a little bit out of his comfort zone, but also safely secured so that there was no reason to worry.

Ethan, our little athlete, was in heaven!

While the little boys were going round and round, the girls were given a safety briefing and prepared to enter their course (Rocket Ropes takes safety seriously!).

The “Croc Tower” course starts on a lower level, helping kids first build their confidence before challenging them to some greater heights.

It wasn’t a very short course, and the whole experience probably took about 2 to 2 1/2 hours. The girls were a tad tired by the end, but radiating from their time on the course!

Next, we decided to go next door to the sister property of Butterfly Creek, which is a fun blend of farm-like exhibits and a dinosaur museum/park!

The grounds are very accessible for strollers and/or those with wheelchairs–which made it an appealing outing for our family with a baby that needed a nap.

We started our visit by entering the “Butterfly House”, where over 700+ butterflies are flying freely under the large greenhouse canopy. Butterflies were literally everywhere, and they were attracted to our children’s colorful clothing.

The kids just loved it, as you can imagine! They also enjoyed looking at a case of chrysalises, seeing the butterflies and little feeding stations, and watching them fly among the beautiful tropical plants that filled the greenhouse.

This section of the park also included live monkeys, a bug & tarantula room, aquaria, and crocodile and alligator exhibits.

Next, we went to the “Dinosaur Kingdom”, which boasts over 60 dinosaurs. The kids enjoyed the perspective of seeing so many dinosaurs that were “life-size”, and reading the interesting placards about the various species.

When we entered the park, the staff gave each of our children a Scavenger Hunt paper, which encouraged them to run around to find the answers to various questions about the dinosaurs.

The Scavenger Hunt may have distracted them significantly, but it gave them purpose and direction and was an overall win.

This (below) is actually a clever trash can!

They had some fun dinosaur exhibits that made our kids laugh!

Next, we visited the Farm Animals area, which is essentially a petting zoo called “Buttermilk Farm”. There were a lot of wandering goats, sheep, chickens, and also some beautiful birds that we enjoyed visiting with!

And the kids all loved holding the various cuddly animals that were carefully handled and provided by the staff. They held soft bunnies and the guinea pigs were a favorite!

I could just eat this kid up all day!

The goats in the “Billy Goats Gruff” area had an amazing playground all to themselves! Kind of made us jealous…

However, outside of the Farm area was a great-looking HUMAN kid’s playground, which we distracted our children from seeing, because we had already had a long day! Poor kids…parents are no fun!

Before leaving, we made sure to ride the little mini-train (one ride per ticket) around the dinosaur kingdom area, which the kids thought was fun. The park also had an amazing gift shop and a Cafe with a very impressive looking menu!

On our way out the door, our kids all turned in their completed Dinosaur Kingdom Scavenger Hunt papers.

They were rewarded with high quality stickers and a mask of their choice! Eli picked a dinosaur, which he insisted on packing all the way home to the US. He still occasionally pulls it out and runs around the house roaring like a dinosaur (do dinosaurs roar?!)!

Overall, this was such a great treat for our kids, and a great way to end our visit to New Zealand! If you’re looking to burn some energy off either before an outgoing flight, or you need to stay awake after arriving in New Zealand after a red-eye flight–this is a great place to go! Have a layover with kids in Auckland? It is practically just a hop-skip-and-a-jump away!  If you’re looking for something to do with kids in Auckland, both Rocket Ropes and Butterfly Creek are crowd-pleasers that the whole family will enjoy!

Waitomo, New Zealand, has no lack of activities for kids. Of course, there are some excellent paid activities, such as the Spellbound Glowworm Caves tour that we absolutely loved, but there are also many fantastic hikes that are not only free, but of reasonable lengths to hike with children! We had already done the Ruakuri Hike, so this time we decided to check out the trails to the Mangapohue Natural Bridge and Marokopa Falls(about 25 km wet of Waitomo Caves).

One of my children is missing from those photo, and I managed to acquire 3 extra that were traveling with us on this adventure!

Mangapohue Natural Bridge walk features a 17 meter high limestone arch (the remains of an ancient cave system), with old fossils exposed in the limestone walls.

The walk is easy, and stroller or wheelchair friendly for a good portion.

The boardwalk trail takes you through a scenic limestone gorge, over several bridges, and then to the entrance of a stunning archway that towers high above your heads.

You can climb up a fair amount of stairs to a viewing platform. I mean, seriously, folks….is this not STUNNING?!!

On the viewing platform, looking down (archway above our head…waaaaay up there, still)!

And every moment is made happier with a baby smile like this one!

After ascending the stairs, you can then choose to turn around and retrace your steps the way you came, or take a trail out the arch’s backside, and walk through about 15 minutes of farmland.

Of course, we opted to see something new. It wasn’t nearly as stunning as the trail in, but it’s still somewhat jaw-dropping in its own understated way!

I’m telling you…DON’T MISS THIS EASY WALK IF YOU ARE VISITING WAITOMO!!!! You won’t regret it!!!

Have you been? Tell me what you thought!

My name is Alisa, and I love traveling the world with my adventurous husband and rambunctious 5 small children. I am passionate about gorgeous scenery, meeting new people, and I’m a certified salad nut. Most of all, I love making memories with my family, and I enjoy sharing our travels with others!

About 15-20 minutes North of Rotorua Central is a stunning walk along the crystal-clear water of Hamurana Springs and the Redwoods Memorial Grove. The easy loop trail takes about a 1/2 hour to walk, or in our case it can be much longer (especially if you likewise want to stop and admire the stunning colors and take a lot of photos)!

We entered the stroller-friendly trail by first heading into the Redwood Grove. The placard stated:

Waiariki is the traditional name for this area. The redwood trees planted here are coastal redwoods (Sequoia), a species native to a coastal strip of the Pacific Coast of North America, beginning in southern Oregon and ending just south of Monterrey, California.

The Redwoods were planted in 1919, which makes them babies compared to their counterparts in North America. It was such a pleasure to enjoy this taste of home, 6500+ miles away from our Redwoods in Oregon!

From the Redwoods Grove, we then walked to Te Puna-a-Hangarua, the head spring (the largest in the North Island). This Spring Water has from the Mamaku plateau through underground aquifers, and then gushes out of this Spring after a journey that has taken 70 years!

There is enough water coming out of this spring to fill two Olympic sized pools each day-a rate of about four million litres of water per hour.

Apparently, in 1957 some divers from Wellington entered this Spring’s opening and recovered over 5000 pennies dating from 1860, which were then distributed to children’s charities.

We did not encourage our children to throw in pennies, OR go diving–Instead, they admired the vibrant blue color of the Spring opening, among the backdrop of New Zealand’s mossy trees.

The rock here is volcanic in origin, and the water is so incredibly crystal clear that you can see every detail in the water.

After oohing and aahing, we continued along the trail

As always, ferns and fern trees abounded…and I couldn’t help but try to capture the fuzzy unfurling of a fiddlehead fern frond! I don’t know what kind of fern this was, but I learned that the silver fern (or ponga in Māori) is a species of medium-sized tree fern, endemic to New Zealand. It is one of the most classic symbols of New Zealand, and can be found in many areas throughout both islands!

There is another Spring on this walk called “Dancing Sands Spring”, which you quickly realize is named due to the “dancing sand” under the water, where the springs are bubbling up from underground. It looks like bubbling sand, but is not hot or dangerous–it just dances!

The trail crossed over the stream, and brings you headed back on the loop towards the beginning–albeit on the opposite side of the stream this time.  You can look across the water and see the Redwood Grove (seen in the background here) and the first part of the loop trail:

The second part of the trail is much less dense, and we found ourselves in an open area without the cover of trees. I sadly didn’t have a filter on my camera to better photograph the water, so I could capture just how stunning it was.

As always, our girls had to do some gymnastics…

Fortunately, a nearby shady area of trees made photographing the water a cinch–there was no reflection to hide the spectacular color of the water/sand!

The is SERIOUSLY the color!!!

The last part of the loop trail was wide open, with a field on the right hand side, and a hidden view of the Spring on the left.

I would have loved to just turn back around at this point, and go right back on the trail the way I came! But Jared urged us forward—as there were more things to discover in Rotorua.

The truth of the matter is that I would have loved to do that simple walking trail every day of the 3 months I was in New Zealand. It will go down in history as being one of the most stunning and beautiful walks I have ever been on. If you have any extra time in Rotorua, please do yourself a favor and make the 30-45 minute roundtrip drive to come see and walk this hidden gem!

My name is Alisa, and I love traveling the world with my adventurous husband and rambunctious 5 small children. I am passionate about gorgeous scenery, meeting new people, and I’m a certified salad nut. Most of all, I love making memories with my family, and I enjoy sharing our travels with others!

Rotorua is a hotspot for tourists exploring New Zealand. While there’s no shortage of high adventure activities for young 20-somethings, it’s sometimes hard to know what to do with the younger crowd. On our recent visit in February 2016, we found the activities for children to be plentiful!

Here are some of our favorites::

1. Kuirau Park 

Kuirau Park is an eclectic public park in the middle of town—featuring both a great playground for kids, as well as a great variety of hotspots and public geothermal pools. How many places would you find a playground built essentially on top of a hotbed of geothermal activity?

Back in the late 19th century, the most popular pool in the park, Waiparuparu, was literally used for bathing after a long day’s work, or on the weekends. Nowadays, the pools are set up quite nicely with seating area and places to sit. Your kids could be playing on the equipment, and just around the corner you could be soaking in a thermal pool

Less than 20 yards from all of that, you could be peaking over fences at a variety of 3hot pools with warnings of thermal danger.

2. The Waterfront on Lakefront Drive

Boating and Jet adventures are at your service on Lakefront Drive, but it’s also a great place to simply take a walk and enjoy some beautiful summer weather. Beautiful black swans gather at the docks, and are fun to look at, but not feed. (If you’re there during Chinese New Year, you may have the opportunity to watch the swans snip at the fingers of Asian tourists who may not [or choose not to] read the “Do not feed the swans” signs!)

Rotorua is well-accustomed to visitors, and isn’t afraid to promote itself. Our kids enjoyed the city’s life-sized picture frame–filled with colorful flowers with the stunning backdrop of Lake Rotorua.

And of course, with children we’re always looking for a good playground! The Lakefront playground newer and modern, and especially appropriate for younger children (while still having enough equipment for the older ones).

3. Hamurana Springs Trail

If you’re looking for a stunning walk through the forest, Hamurana Springs Trail is one you won’t want to miss! Our kids loved the Sequoia Redwood Grove (Whakarewarewa Forest)–a grove of transplanted US Redwoods, planted back in 1919! We personally love Redwoods (a reminder of home in the PNW), and we were blown away by the stunning backdrop of this grove among the blue waters of Hamurana Springs. The easy loop trail takes only about 1/2 an hour to walk–but you may take much longer if you stop to appreciate many beautiful gems along the way!

4. Wai-o-Tapu Thermal Park

Rotorua is a thermal wonderland, and Wai-o-Tapu is one of the best paid-entry parks in the area for a “Yellowstone-like” experience.

The park is dotted with craters and pools, and features excellent walking trails that are mostly stroller-friendly. We recommend going early in the morning to avoid the crowds (preferably while they are manually setting off the Lady Knox Geyser in another area of the park).

5. Agrodome Farm Experience

If your kids love animals, or want to have a unique New Zealand farm experience up-close, don’t miss the Agrodome! Here your family can watch a sheep-sheering demonstration by a high-energy employee, as well as be introduced to their 19 breeds of sheep (live on stage!).

Don’t miss their Farm Tour where you’ll jump on the tractor-tram that takes you through their 350 acre working farm. You’ll learn about and have a chance to pet quite a few animals, including llamas and domesticated deer. The tour will end with an opportunity to see kiwifruit growing and taste their fresh kiwifruit juice and local honey.

6. Tamaki Maori Village

Your kids will enjoy journeying back in time to a representation of an ancient Tamaki Maori Village. At the entrance you’ll watch an intense ceremonial ritual that welcomes you into their small village with rotating stations demonstrating various aspects of village life. The stations are very interactive, and you or your children may be selected to do a haka dance, play some children’s games, or do some dancing. It culminates in a beautiful musical celebration and a hangi feast.

7. Rainbow Springs Nature Park

Rainbow Springs has quite a bit to offer–aviaries, bird shows, wildlife encounters, a great playground, well manicured and labeled gardens/forests, and a “Big Splash” ride. It’s a mild enough ride to not frighten the little ones, but fun enough that your bigger kids may beg you to ride over and over. The very best use of your money, however, will be buying the extra admission ticket to their Kiwi Conservation Center. We truly enjoyed going on the small tour of their Kiwi Experience, where we got to learn about their efforts to protect and hatch Kiwi eggs and nurture the babies until they’re strong enough to released in the wild. All this is done with the goal to protect the species from extinction–and they are doing a top-notch job! Your kids will learn a great deal about conservation efforts and the Kiwi bird heritage that is an integral part of New Zealand culture!

#8 Watch Rafters on Okere Falls

Only children 10+ years old may raft over Okere Falls–the highest commercially rafted falls in the world–but children of all ages will enjoy watching others take the plunge!

A short walk on a nice wide trail will deposit you at a beautiful vantage point to watch the rafters falling over the edge of the falls (some even capsizing) while the company photographer snaps photos over your head.

Our kids enjoyed walking down the narrow steps cut into the side of the mountain to get a closer view of the rafters.

Possible Bonus #9: Chinese New Year Celebration

If you happen to be town during Chinese New Year (sometime between Jan 21st and Feb 20th)–don’t miss the official CNY celebrations downtown. You’re in store for a full street of food vendors, Chinese dragons, and dance performances!

If your family is visiting New Zealand’s North Island—Rotorua is a MUST SEE. There’s simply too much to do in just a few day’s time—you could spend weeks there!  \

Our family will forever call Rotorua “the stinky town”…because…well…IT. STINKS.

The whole town rests on top of the Rotorual caldera, which is the source of all of its thermal activity. Geysers, hot mud pools, and the oft-persistant smell of sulfer in the air——->you’re in Rotorua!

My name is Alisa, and I love traveling the world with my adventurous husband and rambunctious 5 small children. I am passionate about gorgeous scenery, meeting new people, and I’m a certified salad nut. Most of all, I love making memories with my family, and I enjoy sharing our travels with others!

When we departed Waitomo, New Zealand, we set out on Highway 30 for our next stop–Rotorua (2 hrs 15 minutes away). We chose this Southern Route because we thought it was would be more scenic than tracking back up North from the way we had come. Going along Highway 30 also allowed us to swing right past Pureora Forest Park–offering a beautiful spot to take a lunch break and get out and hike!

We found a great online brochure on the Pureora Forest Park, which showed us that an easily accessible walk was located just South of the Highway. We pulled off at Maraeroa Road, and followed the signs to the Totara Walk.

The brochure explains: “This easy loop walk winds its way among the awe inspiring giant trees for which Pureora is famous. Ferns grow in abundance and if you are lucky, you may hear or see native birds such as tūī, fantails, tomtits, wax-eyes, kererū/kūkū or kākā. Glow worms can be seen at night. (The Timber Trail starts beside the Totara Walk—see C1 over page.)”

The Timber Trail that it refers to is a 1-2 day cycling trail, so we watched cyclers coming and going with their gear–from the same shared parking lot.

We pulled out some sarongs, pulled out a picnic of hummus and kiwi fruit (we are in New Zealand, after all), and the kids did some sword/stick-fighting while I nursed the baby.

On the trail, we found a densely forested walk that was pure lush green. It was easy/flat enough that we could have used a stroller.

There were informational placards along the way that identified plants, trees and insects. We learned that around 18,000 insects are found only in New Zealand–and much like the kiwi bird–many of them don’t fly! For every type of bird in New Zealand there are about 200 kinds of insects.

The terrain was covered in these fern trees–which I find fascinating! The trunk is a giant conglomerate of tree-like ferns that grow to the top and then spread out into a huge canopy.

Green, green and GREEN–That’s a New Zealand forest in a nutshell!

There’s green growth everywhere! Off the sides of trees, on branches, etc. A carpet of green covers the entire landscape and tempts you to touch nearly every branch you pass.

Some of my kids even decided to wear the greenery…

Other people in our family simply wear babies (i.e. me)…

Do your kids drag branches and dead limbs around?

Yeah? Whew. Mine, too…

After the 30 minute walk (which is always decidedly longer with children), we tried to follow the map and make our way to The Buried Forest (or Forest Tower or Vintage Steam Hauler and Tractor) that was nearby, but we were unable to locate any signs pointing us the right direction. After driving for 20 minutes along unmarked roads in the park, we opted to hightail it out of there and get on our way to Rotorua!

Visiting The Pureora Forest Park was the perfect way to break up our drive, as well as experience some of the national park. The Totara Walk trail was easily accessible, and very quiet (unlike the Timber Train next door, which had lots of activity). For those that are looking for cycling in New Zealand, the Pureora Forst Park is a highly reviewed area on the North Island! You can even rent huts for overnight use, at very affordable prices ($5/adult, $2.50/youth).

My name is Alisa, and I love traveling the world with my adventurous husband and rambunctious 5 small children. I am passionate about gorgeous scenery, meeting new people, and I’m a certified salad nut. Most of all, I love making memories with my family, and I enjoy sharing our travels with others!

While spending time in Rotorua, we determined that we’d bite the bullet and purchase tickets for our family of 7 to visit the Tamaki Maori Village. With prices for adults at $120 and kids ranging from $25-$99, it was a spendy treat for our family to commit to this tour at full price! The tour price includes pickup downtown and transportation to the village outside of town (about 20+ minutes), however, since we had our transportation and didn’t want to transfer kids and carseats unnecessarily, we consulted with the office and learned we could simply meet them at the village. Unfortunately, what we didn’t realize at that point was that the tour experience starts at the pickup downtown, and is counted in the tour time. The 3 1/2 hour tour includes the 40+ minutes of transportation, so our tour was cut much shorter by meeting them at the village.

Upon arriving at the Village at the same time as the buses, we were all coaxed inside to wait at the entrance for a presentation that quickly started with the performers/Maori Warriors rowing themselves to the front entrance.

The chief came out and greeted the selected “chiefs” from our tour group in the traditional Maori way (clearly, the tour’s “chiefs” must have been selected on the buses…but…as mentioned…we missed that!)

The warriors welcomed us with a fabulous ceremony. We were told not to smile or laugh during this portion—as it was very serious.

The warriors strutted their stuff to our chiefs!

Would you mess with this guy?

After that was complete, they ushered us through the village gates and into the wooded village. Sunny hot day? No problem–you’re well-shaded in the village!

The village consists of various little huts all within a short distance from each other. They broke us all into smaller groups, and cycled us through the various huts/stations where they explained various parts of Maori culture. Volunteers were often selected to learn or participate in various activities, and I was selected to learn how to use a poi. Pois are essentially a fluffy ball on a tasseled rope that is used for dancing or performance. Not as easy as it looks!

Jared learned how to do a bit of the haka

One station showed us village games. This one players each holding an upright stick, and then letting it go and getting to the other person’s stick before it falls! The group starts larger and keeps dwindling down to the last man standing.

Ella was selected to run through a horizontal ladder that was laid on the ground—you have to go fast, and it’s hard to keep your footing!

Not all stations were interactive. For example, at some we were taught about the meaning of the Maori tattoos, and another we were told about traditional Maori crafts.

The staff was great about offering photo opps for visitors!

Next, we were brought into a small outdoor theater where staff explained and demonstrated the traditional Hāngi method of cooking using heated stones buried in a pit oven. Baskets of food are put on top of the heated stones and they are covered for several hours before being lifted out.

While our dinner buffet was being prepared, we were taken into an indoor theater where the performers did a beautiful cultural performance of song and dance.

The harmonized singing really was lovely (and that’s coming from a singing snob)!

Lastly, we were taken to a large dining hall where tables were excused a few at a time to go through the buffet line. Dinner was the New Zealand standard—steamed veggies (potatoes, carrots, kumara/NZ sweet potato), with simple meats and a little side of gravy. My kids were thrilled that the dinner was topped off with a nice serving of pavlova, which is now their preferred dessert (which we haven’t had since leaving NZ…booo hooo)!!!  Pavlova is a meringue-based dessert with a crisp crust and soft, light inside. It’s usually topped with some sweetened cream and various fruits. It’s is DELICIOUS, and there’s really nothing like it on the other side of the globe!!!

Overall, Tamaki Maori Village was a very memorable experience and we’re glad we did it! While we were admittedly disappointed that that the tour was significantly shorter than we thought it would be, we understand that few tourists would opt to meet at the village, and so it’s unlikely that most others will have that same experience. It is our own fault that we shorted ourselves by insisting on doing the tour in a way that was more convenient for our family!

I felt this was a great way to get a more hands-on feel for the Maori culture, and it helped to round out our cultural experience an in New Zealand!

My name is Alisa, and I love traveling the world with my adventurous husband and rambunctious 5 small children. I am passionate about gorgeous scenery, meeting new people, and I’m a certified salad nut. Most of all, I love making memories with my family, and I enjoy sharing our travels with others!

One of the fun things about travel is comparing all of the differences between your home country and your destination of travel. When recently spending 3 months in NZ, we compiled a list of some of some of the New Zealand idiosyncrasies that stood out to our American family. Enjoy!

1. New Zealanders shorten names for everything

With names like the above (officially the longest place name), who can blame them? While it’s no wonder they shorten this one to Taumata, another one took us by surprise as locals called one of our destinations”Para-param” instead of its given name: “Paraparaumu”.

2. Holiday Parks are all the rage!

No good-sized NZ town is complete without its own “Holiday Park” that boasts individual cabins/homes with the essentials–a bed to sleep in, and an optional kitchen, bathroom, and maybe even a bedroom or two! They also feature public laundry facilities, campsites, and a playground for children. I wish America would adopt these!!

3. You may have to Google translate their English

I need what? Can you please translate??  Jandals=Flip-flops, Togs=Swimsuits, Stone fruit=fruit with pits (apricots, peaches, etc), Jutter Bar=Speed Bump

4. Every hike has a Swing Bridge

What NZ hike would be complete without its accompanying swing bridge?

5. Cyclists wear construction reflector jackets

Do not let the construction cones confuse you. These typical cyclists just happen to be riding their bikes through a construction zone. It is clearly the common apparel for bikers, and I found myself constantly thinking that construction workers must all bike to work.

6. Their outlets have switches

Turn the outlet on and off—a power-saving method that I support! However, it can be a pain if you plug in your device to charge and FORGET to turn the switch to turn ON the outlet. Especially when hours later you realize your time has been wasted!

7. Stainless steel counters

2020 or 1980? I can’t decide. These countertops are a pretty common site in many NZ homes and/or holiday homes!

8. They have a love affair with Kumara

Thought you didn’t like sweet potatoes? Think again…this NZ variety is different, and had our kids begging to eat more and more and more (I still can’t get them to touch a sweet potato in the US).

9. Entertaining Signage

New Zealanders have a healthy sense of humor!

10. Cheese is not dyed, and flavors are limited

Which cheese would you choose? We decided “tasty” sounded the tastiest…

11. Camper vans are almost as common as most road vehicles

Tourism is one of the biggest industries in New Zealand and thankfully they are very accommodating to camper vans!

12. Grocery Shopping Carts are family-friendly

A random perk that we ended up using a lot!

13. Official “Rubbish” bags  

Most cities have official trash bags, and if you want your trash picked up, you better purchase the correct bag and leave it on the curb on the correct day!

14. Driving on the left side (and steering on the right)

Left-sided driving was left to my husband to conquer, as I found it hard enough to simply remember to open the door to the correct left-side passenger seat!

15. Fried foods served on blank newsprint

Order some fried goods, and they will be delivered to you wrapped in blank newsprint (and in huge quantities)!

16. Women’s Hygienic product’s disposal

The tricky part is figuring out how to open the space-age disposal canisters…

17. Bad carpets or plywood floors

We saw plywood floors at many holiday homes, and sometimes if they had carpet–we wished they had plywood instead!

18. A “bach” is a Holiday Home

You can skip homeaway.com and airbnb.com when in NZ. Your best bet for finding a cheap holiday rental home is https://www.bookabach.co.nz/. It makes sense as soon as you realize that “bach” is the New Zealand word for a Holiday Home! And for your music-lovers, don’t be fooled…”bach” is not pronounced like the composer, it is pronounced like batch without the t.

19. Shoeless People

No, they’re not homeless. Shoes just aren’t their “thing”. My husband kept daring our whole family to walk in shoeless to a grocery store like the locals (once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, right?!), but I just couldn’t get over the grossness of it! Meanwhile…it wasn’t uncommon for locals to shed their shoes anywhere and everywhere. Kids were shoeless at parks, and we often saw school children walking home barefoot with their shoes dangling from their fingers.

20. Shark teeth at grocery stores

Don’t even think about trying to go out the same way you came in!

 21. Electric blankets

A heater may not be available–but you are almost guaranteed your bed will be equipped with a mattress pad that is heated! They heat you from beneath!

22. They speak English…but it’s different

How would you pronounce these NZ city names? Would you believe me if I told you that “WH” is pronounced as an “F” ??!!

23. Stainless steel shower floors

An aluminum basin is a common bottom of many shower stalls we used in holiday homes and rentals.

24. Best playground equipment ever!

Seriously…the US can simply not compete when it comes to awesome (and sometimes dangerous) playground equipment like this!

25. Misplaced mirrors and towel racks

It quickly became clear that not a lot of thought goes into design and placement of mirrors and towel racks. Of the many, many homes we stayed in…very few had both right where you would expect them!

26. Windows don’t have screens

Windows simply don’t have screens in most NZ homes. Some say it’s because NZ doesn’t have the buying power to design screens and import them at a reasonable price. However, I think the real problem lies in their basic window design. When you open your window with a lever and push through the open window to open it, it presents a real crisis if you want to try to add a screen!

27. Real fruit ice cream

Small produce and pick-your-own fruit joints are very common in NZ, and they usually feature “Real Fruit Ice cream” which is exactly as delicious as it sounds!

28. Separate hot and cold faucets

You wouldn’t expect this would be an issue…until you simply want to wash your face with water that isn’t scalding and/or freezing cold…

29. Pole Tennis for Kids:

It’s a pretty cool marriage of tetherball and tennis for kids, I tell ‘ya!

30. Checkout is at 10:00am

You tell me…what kind of vacation has a 10am checkout???!!!!!!!!!!!!

31. Honey flavors abound

I used to think I didn’t like the taste of honey, but Huka Honey Hive introduced me to the nuances of flavor offered by honey that is collected from different varieties of plants. NZ features large selections of honey flavors on their grocery shelves! My personal preference–the whiter the honey, the better! Yum!

32. Spring-free trampolines

Supposedly safer, these “spring-free” trampolines are admittedly very cool!

33. “Give way” instead of stop signs

Traffic flows well with many “give way” signs instead of stop signs.

34. Immaculately manicured trails and boardwalks

What’s not to love about their picture-perfect trails with traction wire laid over the boardwalk, and everything?

35. Scenic reserve signs and hiking trails everywhere

You may begin feeling like you’re in a never-ending National Park when you notice these signs indicating walking and hiking trails just about everywhere you go.

36. Slow internet=no streaming

We haven’t walked into a video rental store in the past decade, either. But since internet speeds are so dismal in NZ, old-fashioned video rental stores are the only way to go…

37. One-Lane bridges

I guess they just don’t feel that its worth the money to make bridges a little wider to accommodate two cars at the same time. One-way bridges are simply the way they do it in in NZ!

38. No shoulders on the road

Pray you don’t have to pull over!

39. Tractors pull boats

A humorous quirk of beachside towns is that you can hear when someone is hauling their boat to the beach…because their tractor is chugging down the street with it!

40. Pies are the NZ Fast Food

Traditional Fast-food is hard to locate in NZ, but stop in any convenience store, and you’ll find an assortment of fresh meat pies to satisfy your hunger!

41. Hummus Flavors are to die for

I’m still dreaming of NZ Hummus flavors. I typically think hummus is “alright”…nothing spectacular. But in New Zealand I could eat their hummus with a spoon! Carrot/honey with a dash of ginger is my favorite!

42. No ceiling fans or A/C

How do you take photos of something that isn’t there? They don’t typically have ceiling fans or AC, which means that if you visit during a record-breaking heat summer (like us), you may be astonished at the lack of air flow through a hot, humid room. We picked up a box fan and carted it all through NZ–and didn’t regret the extra baggage for a second!

43. “Sweet As”…as what?!

Not to be confused with the American swear-word, a Kiwi’s use of “Sweet As” simply means “Awesome!” Other great slang includes, “Good on ya”=well done, “Choice”=Awesome, and my favorite: “Yeh-Yeh-Yeh”=the response to nearly anything and everything!

44. Linen Fees at Rentals

It’s very common for rental houses or holiday parks (“baches”) to have a “Linen Fee” for each bed used, so if you don’t bring your own bedding it could cost an extra $125 for linens if you’re requiring a queen and 3 twins for a traveling family. When you start adding up all of the added linen fees for the various legs of your trip,  you could possibly save yourself a ton of money by picking up some used linens at an “Op Shop” (second hand store)!

And some other runner-ups?

Pet food is in the refrigerated section (don’t mistake that for sausage meat!)

“Honest Boxes” are at un-manned roadside stands for honest people to leave money behind for their goods.

Roundabouts have special turn signaling (Yes, there is a Kiwi method for using your lights to indicate your intentions in a roundabout–LEARN IT)

No turning on a red light (Don’t even think about it)

Water pressure (It’s out-of-control! Turn it on, and BLAST OFF!)

Terrible indoor lighting (I thought only houses in the 1970’s expected a single bulb to fill a whole room…but apparently it’s still an ongoing thing in NZ!)

We were tickled pink when we were able to find a last-minute vacation/”bach” rental in Hastings, NZ become available during the nearby Napier Art Deco Festival that attracts visitors from all over to enjoy their 125+ events over a February weekend!

It turned out to be a superb location–perched on the edge of a vineyard, and in a quiet location without traffic or noise. The host was amazing, and let our kids help feed her chickens. As with many NZ properties–they also had lambs that they were raising for butchering.

It’s here that we were introduced to our first ever Springfree trampoline which passed the scrutiny of our gymnast in tow. Very cool!!

The rental vehicle van we drove through NZ was the perfect fit for us…and we loved private holiday “baches” for traveling around the islands!

After enjoying some relaxing time at Birdwoods Gallery and their delectable sweet shop (DANGEROUS, I tell ya!!), we drove out of town by way of a detour to Te Mata Peak. We climbed up and up and up and were rewarded with a beautiful view of Hawkes Bay (the water bay, as well as the town) and were surprised to see how much this area reminded us of Eastern Oregon/Washington! Such a stark difference from other areas of the North Island which feature rich, tropical vegetation! No wonder this area is known for its orchards and vineyards—it shares a similar climate to some of the Pacific Northwest that looks so similar!

We really enjoyed Hastings! It was the perfect landing spot to participate in the Art Deco festivities, and also go to the nearby Splash Planet waterpark.  Hastings/Havelock North is an unassuming area…quiet, with fresh produce galore, and really kind people!

In fact, when we attended church on Sunday we discovered that the listing on lds.org was incorrect, and we arrived at the tail-end of a Sacrament meeting for a foreign-speaking ward (Tongan or Samoan…I can’t remember which). We waited in the lobby to confirm the mistake, and as the people exited someone spoke to us about the mixup. The Stake President then came out, and invited us into the chapel where they offered our family the opportunity to take the sacrament. What a blessing! He then directed us to a nearby meetinghouse where an English-speaking service was taking place. We drove there and jumped into Primary/Sunday School. A while into Sunday School, we were pulled briefly from class—because the the Stake President from the other building had driven over to this building to find us and invite us to his home for Family Home Evening (FHE…a common LDS activity evening for families to spend together) and dinner the next evening! On Monday we enjoyed FHE and a typical meet/potatoes NZ meal with his family and missionaries!  Sweet, welcoming people!!

My name is Alisa, and I love traveling the world with my adventurous husband and rambunctious 5 small children. I am passionate about gorgeous scenery, meeting new people, and I’m a certified salad nut. Most of all, I love making memories with my family, and I enjoy sharing our travels with others!

The post Enjoying Life on the Farm in Hastings, New Zealand appeared first on Living Outside of the Box.

While driving through Hamilton, New Zealand, on the way South to Waitomo—we drove right past the LDS Hamilton New Zealand temple! It stands on a big hill on the outskirts of town…seemingly in the middle of nowhere. It overlooks 86 acres that it shares with the former Church College of New Zealand (a Church-operated school for 12-18 yr old students that permanently closed in 2009). The friends we were traveling with offered to stop and take some photos of our family in front of the temple. We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and besides attending weekly church in meetinghouses throughout the world, we also love the opportunity to worship in temples. Temples are different from meetinghouses/chapels in that extra preparation and dedication is needed to enter them. As Mormon.org explains: “Literally a house of God, the temple is where members of the Church go to commune with Heavenly Father, feel His presence, and make covenants with Him that have eternal significance.”

It’s true–we didn’t take any spectacular photos of the outside of the temple—only family photos—shame on me! Here’s a photo that belongs to someone else:

© 2005, Trudy Osborne.

We didn’t have a lot of time to spare, so I just ran into the Visitor’s Center quickly to use the restroom. And what an amazing visitor’s center it is!! There is a replica of the Christus statue, interactive displays, and comfy seating available for those who are visiting. I wish we had time to explore the various displays here—but alas—on we went!

Want to know some random facts? The Hamilton temple has a sister building—the Bern Switzerland Temple! We missed seeing that one when we were in Bern…but I guess we can *almost* check it off the list, now! Ha! Also, it was the 11th operating temple, and the first temple built in the Southern Hemisphere. Next time…we’ll have to plan enough time to be able to actually stop at the Visitor’s Center, at a minimum!

My name is Alisa, and I love traveling the world with my adventurous husband and rambunctious 5 small children. I am passionate about gorgeous scenery, meeting new people, and I’m a certified salad nut. Most of all, I love making memories with my family, and I enjoy sharing our travels with others!

The post Hamilton New Zealand LDS Temple appeared first on Living Outside of the Box.

Did you try do read that out loud? If not–I dare you to try!!

Paraparaumu!!!

Need some help? Here goes: Par-uh-par-uh-ooo-moo

Simple, right? Kinda catchy, even! Well…we spotted it on the map, and decided we were headed to the Paraparaumu region after our visit to Taupo, and then Napier’s Art Deco Festival.

When telling locals our plans, we were a bit confused when instead of saying Paraparaumu, they used the name “Paraparam” (Pair-ah-pah-ram). Wha–what?!! Oooooooooh…we realized…it’s that *thing* New Zealander’s do…you know…where they have nicknames for everything?!!! Sooo….off we went.

We ended up finding an affordable Beach House rental at Otaki Beach, just north of “Paraparam”. The weather was overcast when we arrived—and it was actually the only day we even looked at the beach in Otaki, which was basically just up the street from our house. Oh well—you can’t do it all!

We appreciated the fact that the beach wasn’t clogged with houses taking up all of the views. Instead–there was a vast stretch of beach, some meadows next to those, and then houses.

I really love these kids!  And they were HAPPY to get out of the car!

Ella must leap wherever she goes…

We wanted some down-time, and so the following days we simply vegged and only took trips to the simple playground in Otaki.

It may have been “simple”…but how cool is this equipment?!!

The next day we met up with our friends, the Pearce’s, and went to one of the most amazing playgrounds we’ve EVER been to in Levin, New Zealand.

Adventure Park has some fantastic, unique equipment—including a free mini train (when running) and courts for various sports.

Kids busied themselves, and we had some time to catch up with the Pearce family!

Have you ever tried a hamster wheel?

Next, we went to an “Unschooling Conference” next to Foxton Beach. It was a bit of a disappointment, as their “Conference” was not much more than a very loosely-organized get-together with unschoolers from around the island. Nevertheless, we met a few fun families living “outside of the box” in New Zealand!

Pole Tennis. It’s. the. thing. We saw it in people’s front yards with little toddlers and kids playing with it. A brilliant, less-demanding version of tetherball, right?!!  I think we need to bring this to the US!

The kids mostly played in the woods and and created a “store” to sell their pinecone-wares.

Around sunset we decided to head home, but not before catching a beautiful sunset at Foxton Beach.

I love the speed limit signs on the beach

(Original visit January 24th-28th, 2016)

My name is Alisa, and I love traveling the world with my adventurous husband and rambunctious 5 small children. I am passionate about gorgeous scenery, meeting new people, and I’m a certified salad nut. Most of all, I love making memories with my family, and I enjoy sharing our travels with others!

The post Visiting Paraparaumu with Kids appeared first on Living Outside of the Box.

After a 3 1/2 hour ferry crossing from the Southern Point of New Zealand’s North Island (Wellington) to the Northern tip of the South Island (Picton), we sought out a fun destination that would reward the kids for good behavior on the ferry, as well as fill some extra time before a long drive to Nelson. Picton is a small town with a population of only 4,000-ish residents, and although it gets a lot of through-traffic, it isn’t typically thought of as a destination for tourists to New Zealand.

You have to admit, this port town has a sweet little spot on the water!

There goes the ferry!

On TripAdvisor I spotted the Edwin Fox Maritime Museum in Picton, and immediately found myself fascinated and wanting to visit. The Edwin Fox is a boat that was built in 1853 in India, and was the last of her type (made exclusively from teak and saul timber). She has quite a history–first being a cargo ship, then transporting troops for the Crimean war, and then again carrying civilian passengers and cargo. It also spent time carrying indentured servants from Southeast Asia and China to Cuba, where they worked in cane fields. In 1858 she was chartered by the British Government to transport convicts to Western Australia, and then in 1873 it was charted by the Shaw Savill Company to carry immigrants from New Zealand to England. This especially piqued my interested…because I am a “Saville” (also sometimes shorted to “Savill”), and I’m almost certain there is a relation, although I have yet to track down c0-owner Walter Savill in my genealogy research. The Edwin Fox did 4 voyages carrying a total of 751 passengers to the new colony in New Zealand (the longest emigration route in the world), and then she was repurposed as a freezer hulk to support the booming sheep business on the South Island. She reached her final resting place in Picton in 1897, where she remained as a freezer ship, then a coal hulk. The Edwin Fox society purchased her in 1965 (for one shilling) and after many delayed efforts they finally got her on a dry dock in 1999 where they have preserved her as a tourist attraction.

We started our visit in the upper room of the museum that showed an informational documentary about the ship’s history. The kids didn’t find it too interesting, but while the adults tried to watch the kids happily occupied themselves with the dress-up bin!

The room had great displays with artifacts, placards and many photos. When we had our fill, we headed down to the ship itself!

Since it also had dress-up, the kids’ fun continued!

We tried to teach the kids what it would be like to sleep in Steerage Class in these replica bunks. “Steerage Class was the cheapest accommodation, with the world food & conditions. Each “unit” was for a family of up to 6 people-Dad, Mum and up to 4 children. Imagine 3 people sleeping “top and tail” on each level, in dark, damp, smelly spaces, on a straw filled mattress, for a 12 to 14 week voyage!”

There was a great deal of sickness in Steerage Class—as it was often crawling with ticks, cockroaches and rats. There were outbreaks of serious diseases such as measles, diptheria, scarlet fever, typhoid, small pox and tuberculosis.”

Next we went below-decks where a great expanse of open boat was available for exploration…

and make-believe…

Eli (2 1/2 years old) mainly just watched his older, silly siblings!

All-in-all, the Edwin Fox Maritime Museum is somewhat small, but well-done and a fun break after/before a long ferry ride! I think it was also helpful in educating us and providing us perspective regarding the conditions the British emigrants had to face on their long journey to New Zealand!  Now…if only I can figure out my relation to Walter Savill, the co-owner of the Shaw Savill Company who last owned this boat…then I will be fully-satisfied!

My name is Alisa, and I love traveling the world with my adventurous husband and rambunctious 5 small children. I am passionate about gorgeous scenery, meeting new people, and I’m a certified salad nut. Most of all, I love making memories with my family, and I enjoy sharing our travels with others!

The post Keeping Kids Entertained on the Edwin Fox in Picton, New Zealand appeared first on Living Outside of the Box.