Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach, Coromandel Peninsula, North Island, New Zealand (January, 2015)

After we had completed our loop north of Auckland, it was time to head south and begin our southern loop.  Our friends, the Kemps had planned to meet up with us and the meeting point was to be Cathedral Cove or Hot Water Beach in the Coromandel Peninsula of the North Island of New Zealand.  Cody's brother, Kip, was living in Hamilton, New Zealand at the time so they met us in various stops along the trip.  

We started out by meeting Kip, Emily, and Cy at Cathedral Cove, which is a beautiful beach a little bit off the beaten path.  The girls hiked down to the beach while Cody and Kip paddled the gear across on an ocean kayak.  The beach was beautiful, there was a beautiful beach cave that split the beach in two parts and a natural waterfall spilling right onto the beach.  There were also some great cliffs...great scenery all around.

Eliza and Cody paddled the sea kayak a couple of miles off shore to the nearest island and made a circle around it.  Cody did some cliff jumping, and the kids had a great time playing on the beach, in the cave, and in the waterfall.  It was a hot day and this was a great place to play and relax.

Cody, doing a gainer off the cliffs at Cathedral Cove.

Video of Cody's gainer off the cliffs at Cathedral Cove.

 The kids playing in the waterfall at the beach.

 Zander and Cy, reunited and enjoying lunch together on the beach.

 Looking through the beach cave.

 The kids playing at the entrance to the beach cave.

 Sawyer, playing in the shallow water on the beach.

 Sawyer and Ryder hiking back up from Cathedral Cove.

Zander, playing with the kayak.

After Cathedral Cove, we headed over to Hot Water Beach to meet the Kemps. Hot Water Beach is the combination of geothermal hot springs that come up right on the beach, so when the cold ocean water mixes with the hot springs, it makes warm baths.  People come from all around at low tide with their shovels to dig bathtubs in the sand and relax in the warm water and take in the views. You have to pick your spots quite carefully, because the hot springs are really hot...I mean SCALDING hot, so you need to pick a spot that has enough cold ocean water flowing into the pool.  Sometimes you will come across a nicely dug bath that is completely deserted...don't be fooled, it is likely that this "bath" is too hot, which we found out many times by stepping into scalding hot water.

 Our group, relaxing in the hot baths at Hot Water Beach.

 It's not exactly a deserted beach, but it is a pretty awesome natural phenomenon.

Chilling in the hot baths.

Opononi and Kauri Trees, North Island, New Zealand (January, 2015)

After Tutukaka, we headed north and west to Opononi and the Waipoua Forest to experience the Kauri trees, which are some of the largest trees around.  We took a few short hikes to see some of the trees, and, as always in New Zealand, we loved taking in the scenery.

Tane Mahuto, the king of the forest.

 Ryder and Daddy on the Hike to Tane Mahuto.

 The tree had some sort of disease and looked like it was dying.

Nash is our little boy that loves to give out kisses.

Tutukaka, Matapouri, and Poor Knights Island, North Island, New Zealand (January, 2015)

After Whangarei, we headed north to Tutukaka and Matapouri and decided to take a full day cruise out to Poor Knights Island with "Perfect Day Ocean Cruises."  It was a bit pricey, but we had a great time.  We did some snorkeling (which was a bit difficult for the kids given the cold temperature of the water), went through a huge ocean cave, did paddle boarding and swimming, and enjoyed the beautiful scenery around us.

Daddy, Nash, and Ryder paddle boarding around Poor Knights Island.

Daddy and Nash, paddle boarding along the cliffs and through the caves.

Nash's and Daddy's first paddle boarding experience.

 Zander with Mommy and Daddy at the front of the boat.

 Captain Zander.

 Nash was loving every minute of the paddle boarding.

Sawyer's answer to "Do you want to go snorkeling again?"

Underwater video of Ryder snorkeling at Poor Knight's Island.

Whangarei, North Island, New Zealand (January, 2015)

We took a 2 week vacation on the North Island of New Zealand.  We were able to redeem 20,000 American Airlines Miles + $125.80 tax each x 6 people = 120,000 American Airlines + $754.80 tax for roundtrip flights between Perth, Australia and Auckland, New Zealand.  We rented motorhomes and were able to travel around the North Island, staying in caravan parks and taking in the sights for 14 days.  We decided to head north of Auckland and do a loop before hitting some of the more popular destinations south of Auckland.  Our first stop was Whangarei (pronounced "Fangarei").  We were able to do a small hike to the Whangarei Falls, which were beautiful.

A view of the Whangarei Falls from the top.

The kids below the Whangarei Falls.

Sawyer, demonstrating her photography skills, taking a picture of mom and dad below the falls.

Sawyer and Zander, relaxing after a bit of a hike.

We woke up the next day and headed out to do a ropes course with the kids (Adventure Forest).  This was definitely one of the highlights of the entire trip.  Everything was completely safe.  They had a pretty innovative system where the kids could do everything on their own and even though they were clipping in and out and connecting and disconnecting to different ropes, there was always a safety line that couldn't come off.  They were also able to learn some good skills and became quite adept at maneuvering the courses.  There were about 10 different courses and depending on the kids' height, they could go on different ones.  Zander was able to do about 3 of the 10, which was sufficient.  The 3rd course was challenging and a bit scary for him, so that's just about as far as he wanted to go.  We spent a good 5 hours at the course, climbing, zip lining, and enjoying ourselves.  We were definitely exhausted, but it was a very fulfilling day.

Nash, navigating his way across the rope web.

Zander, conquering the hanging rope bridge.

Zander on the rope web.

Ryder and Nash, best buds.

Moore River, Western Australia (January, 2015)

We headed out on a hot Saturday in January with the Kemps to Moore River to do some sand boarding.  There are huge sand dunes that go straight into the river so you can sand board and splash down into the water to see how far across the river you can go. We packed up our rafts and canoes and loaded our chairs and beach tents to paddle across the river to the dunes.  It was a fun day.  Cody face planted hard and got a bloody nose, but everyone had a good time.

 Cody, going down face first.

 Spashing into the river.

 Eliza with her friends.

 Eliza giving Nash a ride.

 Eliza and Nash coming back after splashing into the river.

 Ryder, canoeing with his mates.

 Our setup next to the river.

Hiking up the big sand dune.

Hopman Cup in the Rio Tinto Box, Perth, Australia (January, 2015)

Cody scored box seats from Rio Tinto for the Hopman Cup professional tennis match in Perth, Australia and we were able to take 6 of our friends with us in the box and enjoy free food and drinks. Serena Williams' match was the highlight of the night and may have been one of the best matches of the entire tournament.

 Serena Williams, serving.

 View from our box seats.

 Serena Williams.

She's a bit of a diva and gave it to the umpire a few times, which was entertaining to watch.

Sydney, Australia (December, 2014)

Barrick Gold flew our family in business class on Qantas from Perth, Australia to Santiago, Chile to check out what could potentially be our new home city.  We stopped over in Sydney, Australia for about 24 hours before heading over to Chile, staying in the Hilton.  While we were there, we went to an escape room (Escape Hunt) with the kids. We did manage to get out with 7 minutes to spare, but we needed 2 clues.

 Whippermans at Escape Hunt in Sydney, Australia.

Sawyer, our little sleuth.

Wedge Island, Western Australia, Boxing Day (December, 2014)

For Boxing Day (the day after Christmas), we headed to Wedge Island with our great friends the Kemps and Bollards.  Wedge Island is great because you can drive your car all the way along the beach.  It's a shallow beach with turquoise water and soft white sand.  It is one of our favorite spots in Western Australia.  We had a great time playing beach cricket, throwing the football, and just hanging out on a beautiful day with friends.

 Ryder and Tate, playing in the ocean.

 Addy and Zander are inseparable.

 Always together.

 Always laughing.

 Beach cricket...Cody bowling.

 Small dune for the kids to sandbar.

 Sawyer and Paige playing in the sand.

 Throwing the football around.

 A beautiful beach.

Our setup.