Beaches, Parks and all things kiwi!

First impressions of NZ....amazing, beautiful, spacious and incredible for children. The jetlag wasn't too bad although Rosie and I both had bizarre floaty/vertiginous feelings for the first week. I'm not too sure about the children but they certainly seemed to cope better than we did!

It was amazing to be able to land and stay with Paul, Laura and Gracie without having to worry about food, water and a place to sleep for the first few weeks. They were also brilliant tour guides and showed us loads of the "must see" stuff in Auckland.

One of the first places that we visited was St Helier's, Kohi and Mission Bay. These are situated just next to downtown Auckland and are absolutely stunning. Perfect for children and adults alike. One of our favourite things to do is take the children's bikes and walk round from Kohi beach to St Helier's while the children cycle. We have been introduced to the Kahve experience at St Helier's and have often had fantastic "Full English or French toast" brunches. We obviously could justify this after a twenty minute walk!

During the first few weeks we were struck by how child centred New Zealand is. The parks are brilliant and not covered with cigarettes/graffiti/litter. The beaches and coastline are equally well looked after and respected. Here are just a few pictures of the fun!