This year Rosie and The Operator are spending Christmas ‘Up North’ and we are so excited to be travelling and seeing new sights in our own country of New Zealand! To be honest, we have seen so little of our own backyard and it will be the first time we have both traveled so far up North. The locals of a certain age shake their heads at Rosie and say they cannot believe we, who have traveled the world, have not experienced our own slice of paradise before? They then nod smugly, safe in their own countries travel knowledge and divulge that we will love it up there. As always, we are super excited! Bring on the legend that is the Winterless North.
Evening in Paihia
PS…..did Rosie mention that our whole family is going on this adventure? The stars have aligned and yes, our whole family of shift workers are all off work at the same time! It will be the first time we have all been together in about a decade and it will be super special being able to spend Christmas all together. PPS….. It is Rosie’s side of the family that are gathering and The Operator hopes we will all survive till the New Year!
Most of The Famz – Whangarei Falls
Rosie and The Operator are only away for one week in total. We will start with our Christmas celebrations at Poppy and Pansies, family friends who are generously hosting 12 of us, in Arapohue at their remote family holiday home in Northland called The Faraway.
Fun Times at The Faraway
We will then be basing ourselves in Paihia and day tripping out to the close by historic communities of – Waitangi, Russell and Kerikeri where the first Europeans cast anchor in the beautiful Bay of Islands a mere 220 years ago.
Paihia Harbour
Waitangi Treaty Grounds
Beautiful Kerikeri
Russell Harbour
Off we go, it’s Christmas Eve and Rosie and The Operator are flying from New Plymouth to Whangarei via Auckland with BJ & Gee…its their first time up North too and they are just as excited as us!
As we circle out of our home province we wave goodbye to Taranaki Maunga as she stands nice and clear in the dawn light! Our leisurely, five hour, two flight journey (including Koru Lounge breakfasts and flat whites) was so relaxingly worth it at this crazy time of the year.
By Bye Taranaki we are on our way!
The rest of The Taranaki Famz drove North a couple of days earlier at 3.00am in the morning. Undertaking the 8 hour drive with ute trays packed with camping gear and back seats loaded with sleeping nieces and a nephew. The early start was to take advantage of the empty roads and get a jump on the holiday traffic, plus they wanted to hit Auckland for 0900am and the starting gun of the Saturday morning Auckland 5km fun run! What a mad but great way to stretch your legs after the long drive! Congrats Team you all did awesome!
In Convoy on the road to The Faraway
The Taupo Famz were also driving from the middle of the island and opted for a more chilled drive with an overnight stop over in Auckland before forging onto The Faraway, another 2.5 hour drive from Auckland.
We all arrived safe and sound, with Rosie, The Operator , BJ and Gee arriving last of all to a finely tuned and well running campsite with freshly mowen lawns, new guttering on Pansies Picnic Palace and all traps freshly baited and waiting for dusk.
Oh, and The CRO was sitting in an emergency dentist an hours drive away, on Christmas Eve, after cracking a molar in half after crunching down on a rogue shotgun pellet undetected in the previous dinners freshly caught, plucked and crumbed wild turkey schnitzel. Family holidays are never perfect right? Or, is it just ours?
The Faraway
Check out our adventures tomorrow at The Faraway, they include, hunting, swimming in The Dam, lazing on the deck, exploring the local landscape and games on the lawn. The Faraway is paradise and we all had a ball!
