We enjoyed the Art Deco Car Parade and other events at the Art Deco Festival in Napier, New Zealand on Saturday, and knew we had one more event we couldn’t miss! After attending church on Sunday in Hawkes Bay, we returned to downtown Napier to watch the Soap Box Derby, where children and their fathers race their homemade boxcars down a hill! It is a VERY well-attended event, and we were lucky to get a even a tiny view at the very end...

One can be quickly overwhelmed when looking at all the offerings of the Art Deco Festival schedule for their yearly February event in Napier, New Zealand. This festival brings in tourists from all over the country (and in our case, beyond), and truly has something for everyone! While we wish we had booked in time to get our kids in a street-tour of the earthquake history, we ended up instead just enjoying the free entertainment offered...

One of our ABSOLUTE FAVORITE things about traveling is when we happen upon major celebrations or cultural events. Napier’s “Art Deco Festival” was one such event that we found out about simply by accident. When discussing our upcoming travel options with a landlord of one of our rentals in Central North Island, we mentioned that we’d likely head to the West Coast, rather than the East Coast next. He mentioned that...

One of the fun things about travel is comparing all of the differences between your home country and your destination of travel. When recently spending 3 months in NZ, we compiled a list of some of some of the New Zealand idiosyncrasies that stood out to our American family. Enjoy! 1. New Zealanders shorten names for everything 2. Holiday Parks are all the rage! 3. You may have to Google translate their English 4. Every hike has a Swing...

While spending time in Rotorua, we determined that we’d bite the bullet and purchase tickets for our family of 7 to visit the Tamaki Maori Village. With prices for adults at $120 and kids ranging from $25-$99, it was a spendy treat for our family to commit to this tour at full price! The tour price includes pickup downtown and transportation to the village outside of town (about 20+ minutes), however, since we had our transportation...

Rotorua is a hotspot for tourists exploring New Zealand. While there’s no shortage of high adventure activities for young 20-somethings, it’s sometimes hard to know what to do with the younger crowd. On our recent visit in February 2016, we found the activities for children to be plentiful! Here are some of our favorites:: 1. Kuirau Park  Kuirau Park is an eclectic public park in the middle of town—featuring both a...