Embarking on a Family Adventure: Holiday in New Zealand with Kids

We are eagerly anticipating our family holiday in New Zealand with kids! Our scheduled time of departure is 02:00 PM, with our first destination being Bangkok. Everything is packed and checked in, leaving us time to relax with a nice glass of wine while we wait to board the plane. Our journey includes four stretches: from Amsterdam to Bangkok, Bangkok to Taipei, Taipei to Brisbane, and finally, Brisbane to Auckland. Here’s to a very special family trip!

Our First Days in New Zealand with Kids

Finally, we are all settled in our mobile home for the coming four weeks, marking the official start of our holiday in New Zealand with kids. With a nice cup of coffee, I made some time to write my blogs for you. There’s so much to share! Let’s start with the journey to get here. Despite the long flight, everything went well. The first stretch, Amsterdam to Bangkok, was the hardest as the kids couldn’t immediately sleep, even though it was in the middle of the night.

We had to leave the plane when we landed in Bangkok and had to take all our hand luggage with us. We concluded we definitely carried too much hand luggage and decided to check in some extra luggage when we would leave Taipei. Luckily, we didn’t have to check in our suitcases again. They were labelled all the way through to Auckland.

The flight from Bangkok to Taipei was only 3.5 hours. As the plane was all empty, we could get some sleep, having a whole row to ourselves. We landed after a nice three-hour nap in Taipei. We had a 10-hour stop here and booked ourselves a hotel for the day. Marcel and the kids enjoyed the pool and we all took some extra hours of sleep. Around 08:30 PM, the taxi took us to the airport again. The flight from Taipei to Brisbane took us 9 hours. In Brisbane, we only had a 1-hour stop before boarding our plane to Auckland. Our last stretch! The kids were so tired they slept before takeoff and didn’t wake up till after the landing. We arrived in Auckland at 07:00 PM.

As we booked the transfer from the airport to the hotel in advance, we didn’t have to wait for a taxi. Our hotel is located on Queensstreet, in the centre of the city. We had a little snack at McDonald’s and went to bed. The next day, we explored Auckland, visiting the Skytower and were stunned by the view. In the evening, we had dinner at the hotel. At ten o’clock, we were all sound asleep, until 01:00 AM… what a jetlag. We watched Diego and Dora till 05:00 before falling asleep again.

Exploring New Zealand in Our Big RV!

Our transfer from the hotel to the RV arrived after breakfast. The RV is BIG, really BIG! I have never tried camping in my life before. I really need some time to get used to this and to our huge vehicle. When we drive, you hear the pots and pans tickle. The fact that you definitely need to clear away everything before you start driving has the big advantage your RV will be tidy and clean at all times.

Our first stop is Coromandel. It’s so beautiful over here! The mountains, little islands, the water, all stunning. Somehow it keeps on raining. It’s hard to keep the RV clean and dry when everything outside is wet and muddy. The car seats aren’t what we are used to back home. The kids fly from one side to the other when we make a turn, not very safe. We decide to put them in the regular seat belts.

Today, we made a wonderful train ride through the Coromandel mountains. The views are absolutely magnificent. Our kids loved the train ride. Luckily for them, we run into several playgrounds as well, where they can enjoy themselves. Good to see they don’t care about the rain at all. Tonight, we had a BBQ and ate everything in the “family room”. This is a living room on the campground, for everyone to use. Most campgrounds also have a family bathroom, comes in very handy when the kids can’t shower by themselves. Tomorrow, we are visiting Rotarua, looking forward to it! Hopefully with less rain. Now it’s time for our beds again, fingers crossed we will sleep all night.

First impression of New Zealand with kids: beautiful, stunning, friendly people, a little too much rain ;).

TO BE CONTINUED..

Tips & Tricks for a New Zealand Holiday with Kids

• It can rain a lot in New Zealand, make sure you have the appropriate gear (rain suit, rain boots) with you or buy them over there.
• The train ride is a must-do for the kids.
• If the possibility is there, book night flights, it enhances the chance your kids will sleep through the flight.
• Don’t take too many hand luggage when you have to switch planes.

New Zealand with kids: Marcel, Thije, and Hidde in the plane.