Paddy & Jen Adventures

We have had this NZ trip planned for over a year and we were all really looking forward to our family holiday. Tom and Sarah did an amazing job collating our requests and put together the Itinerary for us all. Paddy was relieved that for the first time in his life it was not him organising us!!! In both Islands we hired two cars and stayed at Airbnbs to accomodate the 7 of us. We stayed in some incredible places, experienced some amazing sights and took on some new adventures. It was such a special trip for our family and one we will always cherish.

Paddy and I left from Adelaide and the rest of the fam left from Melbourne. We arrived in the North Island on 15th February and spent the next 6 days exploring as much as we could. We were fortunate to see and do so much, including the Waitomo Caves, Lake Taupo, Rotorua Mud baths (don’t recommend as you and all your clothes stink of sulphur for weeks!!), a Maori experience in Rotorua, Hobbiton, Mount Manganui and Auckland.

We had a lovely catch up with some of our NZ family. It was so wonderful to spend time with Kiri, Yamilla, Bridie, Hannah, Evie and Otto. It was a well overdue visit by us to their homes, after so many visits by them to Melbourne. Sadly we missed catching up with the rest of the NZ McKenna clan as we did not get down to Wellington. Next time!

We then flew to the South Island where we spent 9 days. We had a lot of fun in/around Queenstown – hiking, Luge rides (until Tom fell off!), bike rides, golf (for Josh!), visiting wineries (for Lach/Em!!), Onsen hot pools (for Sarah), Arrowtown & Glenorchy. We stayed in Wanaka, Lake Tekapo & completed the magnificent Hooker Valley Track at Mt Cook. Last 2 nights in Queenstown gave us a chance to catch our breath, play cards/boardgame and finish our 15 day trip feeling grateful.

We acknowledge Paddy’s beautiful parents, Carmel and Des, without their generosity this trip would not have been possible. We referred to our trip as the C&D Tour, we talked of them often, we sat and remembered them as we were surrounded by so much beauty. We often repeated a favourite saying of Grandpa Des’s – “Ah, the wonder of it all.” NZ is a stunning country and I highly recommend a visit if you can get over there.