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Lovewells vs The World
The drive from Dunedin to Hanmer was always going to be a big one, so we got going early and decided to be active in the morning then just blob in the car for the day.
We started with a brisk walk in Woodnaugh Gardens, for our first of 3 Kiwi Guardians challenges. We nearly got lost in the forest, so we did a Bear Grylls and headed to water then followed the stream to get back on track - phew! After a quick play at the palyground, we moved on.
We took a quick ride in the car up and down Baldwin Street just because we could, but mum wussed out and took photos instead. Then we carried on to Orakanui Ecosanctuary. It was so misty we couldn't see where we were going, and the road was narrow and hilly and windy - a good early morning challenge for Dad, lucky he had had coffee. We got to the sancturay eventually, but truly couldn't see anything in the thick fog. But at least we could hear the birds, and the people there were really friendly and helpful. They are doing a lot of good things to help our wildlife.
We had to keep moving on so we went next to the Huriawa Peninsula north of Dunedin and explored our final KG challenge - we met another family doing it too. It was a really interesting walk, especailly as we went the wrong way first. It had lots of history, and even an ancient rubbish site!
Then we got stuck into a bit of dirving for a while, until we reacher Moeraki Boulders. We had heard a lot about these, and we weren't disappointed! We got to clamber all over the boulders, and see ones that had split apart. They look like Geodes on the inside. Nici and Baby Jaguar took lots of posey selfies with the boulders. Daniel found the most enormous piece of seaweed so we used it for a skipping rope. Then we decorated a smaller boulder and turned it into a pet rock... it was a work of art!
Our next stop wasn't until Timaru, where we found a bakery because we had run out of snacks. The U Bake bakery could be the best bakery in NZ - it was so delicious! We had filled croissants and fresh home made cinnamon rolls with pink icing and jam inside, and fresh fruit as well. If you are ever in Timaru, you should go there!
After that we carried straight on up to Hanmer Springs. It was a good drive and it went fast because kids slept and grown ups chatted. And we all counted lots of horses! When we arrived we found our motel was great, the room was huge, we could walk to everything, and it had sky tv, yay!
We headed to the hot pools so Dad could have a nice relax after all that driving, and the kids had a great play in the waterpark. Gemma loved the whirlpool slide that sort of sucked you down the plughole, while Daniel loved the not-so-lazy river. We all went in the stinky suplhur pools at the end, until we had to get out becuase we were too hot.
Then we went looking for food, everywhere was really busy but we managed to get into Fire and Ice, and it was yum! We all devoured our big meals in record time while the rain started outside. Afterwards we walked around the corner back to our motel, where we were very happy to find our other favourite programme, The Science of Stupid was on. We watched it until our eyes drooped, then rolled into our beds. It was so quiet and we slept like sloths.
It's amazing what you can pack in to a day...We loved it!
We started with a brisk walk in Woodnaugh Gardens, for our first of 3 Kiwi Guardians challenges. We nearly got lost in the forest, so we did a Bear Grylls and headed to water then followed the stream to get back on track - phew! After a quick play at the palyground, we moved on.
We took a quick ride in the car up and down Baldwin Street just because we could, but mum wussed out and took photos instead. Then we carried on to Orakanui Ecosanctuary. It was so misty we couldn't see where we were going, and the road was narrow and hilly and windy - a good early morning challenge for Dad, lucky he had had coffee. We got to the sancturay eventually, but truly couldn't see anything in the thick fog. But at least we could hear the birds, and the people there were really friendly and helpful. They are doing a lot of good things to help our wildlife.
We had to keep moving on so we went next to the Huriawa Peninsula north of Dunedin and explored our final KG challenge - we met another family doing it too. It was a really interesting walk, especailly as we went the wrong way first. It had lots of history, and even an ancient rubbish site!
Then we got stuck into a bit of dirving for a while, until we reacher Moeraki Boulders. We had heard a lot about these, and we weren't disappointed! We got to clamber all over the boulders, and see ones that had split apart. They look like Geodes on the inside. Nici and Baby Jaguar took lots of posey selfies with the boulders. Daniel found the most enormous piece of seaweed so we used it for a skipping rope. Then we decorated a smaller boulder and turned it into a pet rock... it was a work of art!
Our next stop wasn't until Timaru, where we found a bakery because we had run out of snacks. The U Bake bakery could be the best bakery in NZ - it was so delicious! We had filled croissants and fresh home made cinnamon rolls with pink icing and jam inside, and fresh fruit as well. If you are ever in Timaru, you should go there!
After that we carried straight on up to Hanmer Springs. It was a good drive and it went fast because kids slept and grown ups chatted. And we all counted lots of horses! When we arrived we found our motel was great, the room was huge, we could walk to everything, and it had sky tv, yay!
We headed to the hot pools so Dad could have a nice relax after all that driving, and the kids had a great play in the waterpark. Gemma loved the whirlpool slide that sort of sucked you down the plughole, while Daniel loved the not-so-lazy river. We all went in the stinky suplhur pools at the end, until we had to get out becuase we were too hot.
Then we went looking for food, everywhere was really busy but we managed to get into Fire and Ice, and it was yum! We all devoured our big meals in record time while the rain started outside. Afterwards we walked around the corner back to our motel, where we were very happy to find our other favourite programme, The Science of Stupid was on. We watched it until our eyes drooped, then rolled into our beds. It was so quiet and we slept like sloths.
It's amazing what you can pack in to a day...We loved it!
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