Saturday 29 December 2007

New Zealand - part 3 - The Journey Home

So we left the rainbow gathering; I had 2 days to drive back to Christchurch and get to the flight, the plan was to stay the first night in Takaka (an hour from the rainbow carpark), then drive slowly down the east coast, stay a night in Kaikoura and then get to the airport in the morning.
Saying goodbye to the rainbow was hard,
50 With Emma
but Rapunzel will be back at our place in a month.
We had planned to camp with some of the rainbow people at a spot just out of Takaka, but in town I ran into the beautiful Angel, who was planning to stay in a hostel. it seemed like a great idea, and the hostel had a double room with a sofa for Littletree to sleep on.

There was a beautiful garden full of flowers, where we sat playing with Littletree and her big bag of M&Ms.
She spent the whole day sorting and re-sorting them, into colours, and then mixing the colours in different combinations.

First, Littletree sorted all the M&Ms into their colours, and pushed all the piles together to make what she called a "colour brain". Then she proceeded to pretend to be a kitten and eat them up off the floor.

57 MnMs Seq Eating
We had a great night's sleep in a soft warm bed, and it was, of course, nice to wake up to the beautiful Angel snuggling with me
59 Meta in the Morning
She even made me a fantastic breakfast!
65 Breakfast
We lazed around town for the morning, running into rainbows, before we finally hit the road, after lunch! (so much for an early start and a slow drive!)
We stopped at a supermarket, where I was excited to see this reserved space in the parking lot:
52 NZ Car Park
Seriously! that should be EVERYWHERE!
Littletree and I drove 6 hours, stopping several times on the way to play. At one beachside playground, we fed seagulls by had, they were flying so close! I could literally reach out and touch them! This pic was taken without zoom even:
71 Seagulls
more fantastic scenery later
77 scenery
we arrived in Kaikoura - a famous whale-watching resort town.
It took a bit of convincing to get a hostel that would let us check in for one night only on Christmas Eve, but we got a nice place, and hung out on the beach for a while.
82 Kaikoura
84 Kaikoura Flying
Christmas Morning we woke up early, packed the car and lounged around the kitchen for a leisurely breakfast. On the road again, we had time to spare, stopping a lot in small towns to have a quick play on the playgrounds, and to eat picnics - had to eat up all the fruit before getting back to Australia's quarantine.

We got into Christchurch in good time, but then spent ages driving around to find a petrol station to fill the car - everything was shut, being Xmas morning! We returned the car, but then had to walk the one kilometre to the airport terminal - a tough hike for Littletree.

Christchurch airport is awesome - they had comfy sofas instead of plastic seats, and a kids play area, and videos to watch in a free mini-theatre, as well as a TV for kids. The flight was long and boring, but we arrived safe and sound
87 Plane
With Purple to pick us up at the airport and bring us home :)

10 comments:

  1. Lovely Pictures. How did you get into the Rainbow group?
    Did you know the girl you spent the night with at the hostel?

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  2. I got into rainbow because it's my lifestyle and my family. It just made sense that I'd end up there. once you find a rainbow gathering, you're in :)
    It's pretty rare to meet someone who found their way to a gathering and didn't like it.
    Me, I got addicted. I go to them all the time.
    I did know the beautiful Angel. She was at the rainbow gathering.

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  3. Wow, what a lovely place. SO beautiful.

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  4. Yea Rainbow family :) We do have some of those expecting/parents with strollers parking..not many but they exist. I only ever notice them when I am one in need. :) I think mostly at grocery stores and children's stores (like Babies R Us)

    Thanks for sharing your lovely trip.

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  5. Loved the pics! I'm from the states but I really want to go to a rainbow gathering. Just have to figure out how to find the location.....;)

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  6. nina you can check www.welcomehome.org for links to rainbow gatherings in your area.

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  7. Enjoying your blog! How do you get your pics so big!??

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  8. jessica, I post pics either by clicking on "large" in the photo upload page, or by pasting the html of the flickr photo page directly into the post.

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  9. Hi mama...found your blog through the MDC dready thread. I'm loving reading about all your adventures. Such fun! :) I share many of your parenting/lifestyle ideals and it's always wonderful to find a kindred spirit. I've never been to a gathering, but it's on my "life list" of things to experience. Blessings!

    Sara (Delight)
    www.livelightlytour.com
    www.walkslowlylivewildly.com

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Thanks for your lovely words, witty banter and entertaining discussion :)