The Nomadic Four

​It’s incredible to think that our five-month journey has come to an end. We spent the past few days in New Zealand going through a range of mixed emotions; we felt all the feels between sad to be leaving and excited to be going home. We’ve also been reflecting on the highlights, favourite memories and best meals. We’re all feeling extremely grateful and appreciative of this unique experience and all the work that went into planning it. Here is a recap of our last week or so.  We capped off our trip to the South Island at Abel Tasman National Park, one of New Zealand’s most popular parks. We stayed in a very chill campground that had a real backpackers vibe. We played beach volleyball, ping pong and threw darts in between cooking in one of the communal kitchens and exploring the natural landscape at our doorstep.  We hiked along the coast to a deserted beach one day.  Theo found a really cool starfish. We couldn’t tell if it was dead or alive.  And we were visited by...

We spent three nights on the shores of Lake Takepo, an incredible turquoise lake surrounded by snow-capped mountains and lupins.  We hiked to the top of Mount John, from where we had a great view of the lake and town below.   We visited a night sky museum and learned about the sun and the stars in the Southern Hemisphere and their connection to the Māori culture.   Later that night, we were able to see the stars we had learned about. Here, Orion’s Belt is upside down, and there is a way to follow the stars to the South Pole rather than the North Pole. Here are the kids with the replica sun.  This is the full moon rising over the mountains. It’s so bright it looks light out, but it’s actually dark at 10pm.  We took a day trip to the base of Mount Cook and Lake Tasman where we saw icebergs floating on the lake from the melting glacier.  We’ve settled into living out of our RV and find it so convenient to have a house on wheels everywhere we go. We love being ...

After arriving on the South Island, we looked around and realized we were in Malborough, New Zealand’s wine country. It was hot and dry and felt just like the Okanagan Valley. So we seized the moment and stopped in at a lovely winery called Cloudy Bay in Blenheim, where we sampled some Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir while the kids ran off some energy on the picturesque property. We kept heading south to Kaikoura, where we settled in for three nights at a campground right by the beach. We had a lovely spot overlooking the ocean and were treated to a gorgeous sunset on our second night. While in Kaikoura, the kids played at the campground’s zip line between homeschool sessions and they befriended the local cat, which they nicknamed Witty. We also played mini golf and wandered about the town. We went on a hike around the peninsula, where we saw tons of seals, including an adorable pup. We sampled some local seafood including blue cod and crayfish, which is very similar to lobs...