April 2023
April has been a fun month! Quicker than we expected, we are off on our next adventure.
Harriet and I both wanted to travel together, but with the pandemic, and Harriet’s job having limited scope for extended time away, we had put off a big trip. Jack arrived in November of last year, so Harriet’s maternity leave seemed like a good opportunity to get to New Zealand. It’d be fun for us, and great for Jack to meet both of our family who live out here. It’s also a chance for us to spend time just the three of us as a family without the distractions of work and home. I think both of us feel very lucky to be able to take this trip.
I’ll be writing longer journal entries copied from my paper notes and photos when I get home in June. If I have time, I might put up some drafts with phone-processed JPGs before then. I’m regularly putting photos up on Instagram and on my micro.blog.
I also celebrated my 40th birthday this month. It was lovely to spend it with Harriet and Jack, doing some things that I love. I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate my life so far than with the people who will make up my future.
Anyway, in lieu of a proper update, here are some photos:
We spent two days in Sydney, getting over the jetlag and visiting a few tourist spots. One of the highlights was seeing the colony of flying fox bats in Centennial Park. We then spent a couple more days in Wellington where we briefly crossed paths with Harriet’s parents.
We took the Interislander to Picton and drove down the east coast to Kaikoura. The beaches there were stunning, and it was great to see the wildlife at the seal colonies.
We drove over to Lake Tekapo, stopping a night in Christchurch. The last time I was there it was snowing, and there was no view at all. This time we had clear skies and a beautiful view of the lake and the mountains. I tried some star photography, and the next day we did a short hike - Jack’s first!
We then arrived in Cromwell/Bannockburn where we stayed in an Airbnb at the Calvert Vineyard with Harriet’s family. We visited her brother James at work at Felton Road winery.
I celebrated my 40th hiking near Wanaka.
After a week in Bannockburn we drove down to Te Anau. I love the drive from Queenstown to Te Anau, such amazing views. We hiked on the Kepler track, Rakatu wetlands and visited the bird sanctuary.
On our last day in Te Anau we drove up to Milford Sound for a cruise. We spotted dolphins and took in the spectacular scenery.
We’ve ended up back near Wanaka for a few days, staying in an Airbnb in Lake Hāwea. We’ve yet to decide where to go next - it looks like we are in for a lot of rain!
Until next month 👋
