Exploring Christchurch

Our flight from Brisbane landed in Christchurch. I had only booked us two nights here before we started our road trip around the South Island of New Zealand.

After only having one day to explore I now wish we had spent longer here. It is such a quaint city, even after all of the devastation of the 2011 earthquake, of which the city is yet to fully recover from.

After quite a bit of deliberation on choosing motels or caravan parks in the weeks leading up to our trip. I decided that we would go with the motel option for the vast majority of our accommodation in New Zealand. I am ever so thankful that I made that choice now.

We stayed at the Amross Court Motel, whilst in Christchurch. Our family of five always needed a two bedroom unit, with one child sleeping on a roll away or fold out sofa lounge in the living area. This worked well for us.

The motel was clean, comfortable and spacious. It was a good 15 minute walk from the CBD, but there were a small handful of stores close by.

After a good nights sleep we made the leisurely stroll into the CBD, wandering through parklands and along the Avon River.

Seeing wild daisies growing on the banks of the river was wonderful, they were everywhere. So small and delicate.

Of course we had to try our hand at blowing some of the little daisies as far as we could.

It is still painfully obvious that Christchurch has a way to go with rebuilding their beautiful city. Whilst there is a great deal of construction going on and new buildings dotted throughout the city. There are also several vacant blocks where buildings had to be demolished and of course the cathedral, that they are painstakingly rebuilding.

One of the larger vacant blocks is home to a market area of sorts, where the city has arranged art installations to occupy some of the space and pretty it up somewhat.

The CBD's main shopping and eating areas, the mall, are housed in the new ReStart area, with each store working from within a shipping container. It was a bustling hive of activity and the shipping container concept is a great one.

I do look forward to the day I can return to Christchurch and spend more time exploring everything it has to offer.

Happy Travels,
Kylie

Kean Pt ~ Kaikoura, New Zealand

Have you seen Fur Seals, in their natural habitat, doing what seals do?

Kean Point Kaikoura is a haven for wildlife and most importantly, at least for the tourists, are the New Zealand Fur Seals.

Kaikoura, being the small seaside town that it is, makes finding Point Kean relatively easy. A short drive from the town centre will see you at the point.

Along with many other tourists all searching for their up close and personal encounter with the seals. Although, the area is well signed and tourists are advised to stay at least 10 metres away, after all these are wild animals.

This was tricky for the kids though, keeping ones distance from a cute and cuddly baby seal is just so hard to do.

If you keep your eyes peeled there is all manner of bird life around the point. This Southern Black-backed Gull, decided to nest right on the main thoroughfare for the tourists heading out to get their glimpse of a seal or two.

He was continually on guard for random tourists that weren't looking where they were going to ensure they didn't step on the nest. We watched one tourist get the fright of his life, as he wasn't aware of the nest and the gull certainly let him know that it was there!

We visited Kaikoura over the New Year period, whilst it is often relatively windy out on the point, the days were glorious and it was certainly a lovely place to sit and be with nature....and to take silly family snapshots. I'm sure the seals have seen worse!

This was one of those moments where my daughter just could not resist sneaking up to get a closer look at the baby seal. Thankfully she chose to stay above and behind him on the rock, so he was completely oblivious to her even being there.

It certainly is a rare treat to see these beautiful animals in their natural environment simply doing what seals do.

Be sure to visit Kean Point several times during your Kaikoura stay and time your visits at different intervals, that way you are bound to see a variety of seals all behaving differently.

Whilst difficult for us to photograph, one of the highlights was visiting on high tide and whilst there were no gorgeous specimens sunning themselves as most of the point is covered in water, there were many seals, frolicking and swimming with each other right before our eyes.

It was truly magical to witness.

Whilst in Kaikoura, though be sure to take the short drive north to see the Ohau Seal Colony, whilst a different viewing environment than Point Kean, there are generally larger numbers at Ohau.

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Kaikoura is 180km north of Christchurch, a small seaside village, with a permanent resident population of approximately 2000, it is popular with both tourists and locals.

We loved or time with the seals, definitely a bucket list experience!

Happy Travels,
Kylie

The Best Of All Lookout ~ Springbrook

We spent the recent long weekend exploring one of our beautiful national parks here on the Gold Coasts hinterland. Springbrook National Park and what a treasure it is.

Of course when exploring we are always keen to see the local lookouts and the Springbrook area has no shortage of them.

We actually only noticed the signage to The Best Of All Lookout whilst driving to Canyon Lookout so on our return we decided to take the brief side tour to check it out.

Considering we did scoff at the name, I mean seriously, who names a lookout the best of all? So of course we needed to know if it really did live up to its name.

It was very close to dark on our first visit and the area was receiving wind gusts of up to 30km so we made a quick mad dash to the lookout, whilst we froze our tooshies off. We had a quick look, took a couple of snaps and vowed to return the following day to inspect the stunning little walk more closely.

We did just that and whilst the wind had died down the next day, the weather was overcast and showery, so it was very cold and dark.

However, it gave the 700 metre return walk a true magical rainforest feel. Low lying cloud cover ensured that there was plenty of mist through the forest.

We were not prepared clothing wise and whilst we did linger a little longer it still wasn't enough to truly enjoy everything this stunning little walk has to offer.

I absolutely wish to return but next time it will be with my tripod and my tracksuit!! The low light simply makes it too difficult not have photo's with some amount of camera shake.

New fern growth was emerging everywhere. I am always in awe of these stunning plants and could sit and look at them for ages.

My daughter and I noticed these tiny little orange fungi growing on a log on our first walk through, it took us a bit of back tracking to find them again on the second visit. Seriously, they were only a few milimeteres in diameter, what a treasure.

This truly is a fabulous walk for families, there is a car park right at the entrance, the path is bitumen the entire way. Absolutely no trudging through any over grown rainforest walks here. However you still have the feel and the experience of a true rainforest walk.

If you haven't done this, put it on your list. It really is so close to the gold coast, just follow the signs down Repeater Station road, off Springbrook Road.

The prize at the end of the walk is of course "The Best of All Lookout". It is rather stunning I must say. On a clear day you can see as far as Coolangatta.

Why not do some mountain spotting with the kids. Here you will find Mt Warning, the twin peaks of the Cougals, with Springbrook National park all laid out before you. If you are really lucky you may even see as far south as Byron Bay.

You know I think they may have come pretty darn close when choosing the name for this lookout.

Happy Travels,
Kylie

Bestbrook ~ The Setting

We've been out exploring South East Queenslands, Granite Belt Country. During our time out that way we stayed at Bestbrook Mountain Resort.

A stunning country setting, with rustic cabins, camping grounds, bunk house style accommodation and a large main coach house area with a bar, cafe and games room.

The rustic style cabins are scattered throughout the large property. Some having direct creek access and others further away on small hill tops over looking the entire farm stay area.

This gives you a good idea as to just how spread out things are here at Bestbrook, which is fabulous for some beautiful peace and quiet. Not once did we hear any noise from surrounding cabins or campers.

However to check out anything on the farm is a pretty decent walk and in all honesty we drove pretty much everywhere. The kids all had their push bikes, thanks to the generosity of a friend transporting them out there for us. So they peddled everywhere, with sore and tired muscles on every inch of their body by the end of the week.

A view from the deck of one of the cabins that has direct creek access. You can also see how far away your closest cabin actually is. Just across the creek is the camp ground. I suppose in busy times you would probably get some noise coming from there.

Each cabin has a fire pit of some description. You did need to take your own wood or purchase from the coach house. There is absolutely no fossicking for wood allowed on the property.

Jump across the creek, or drive around on the gravel road and you find the camp ground. This area is quite isolated from the main coach house area of the farm stay. But perfect for those just wanting to get away from it all.

There isn't much in the way of facilities over in the camp ground, apart from port a loo's (showers are further back up the hill) and a rustic outdoor covered area.

However there is plenty of room, mostly flat ground and several trees to grab some shade over your structure.

Gap Creek itself, which runs directly through Bestbrook is quaintly picturesque. We were told that it was very low during our stay and some areas were completely dry, but in others there still seemed to be quite a bit of water....enough for a spot of yabby fishing anyway.

Butterflies and Dragonflies proliferate the edges of the creek banks. They are such busy little creatures, getting a shot of one was certainly very trying. No point chasing them, it's definitely a case of sit still and wait for them to come to you.

Bestbrook has several horses and a hand full of farm animals. From my understanding this is not a working farm, but purely a tourist destination so apart from riding horses, they only have a handful of other farm animals.

The owners are also keen collectors of farming implements and there are several of these scattered around the main coach house area.

The main coach house sits atop the hill at the entrance to Bestbrook, and looks out over the property below.

The verandah area is a lovely spot to sit for an afternoon beverage or to enjoy some Eggs Benedict from the cafe inside at breakfast.

You can just see the kids in the pool from here too!

The pool is a great addition I think, as inviting as the creek was, all the kids found it rather chilly.

Inside the coach house you will find a well stocked bar, again decorated with all manner of farm implements and antique bits and pieces.

The coach house is a series of rooms, with seating available in each of them. With the very far room tucked away as a games room area.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Bestbrook Mountain Resort. All of the staff were extremely friendly and welcoming to both adults and children alike.

Happy Travels,
Kylie

High Tea @ Devon Pixies

Over the weekend my daughter and I were invited to celebrate her friends 12th Birthday with a High Tea lunch at Devon Pixies.

Devon Pixies is a quaint little tea room situated just outside the town of Logan Village on the south side of Brisbane.

Whilst they don't really offer the fanciness and elegance you would come to expect from an inner city tea room. Given the pricing it is a lovely little place to visit for an inviting lunch with friends.

As this was a 12th Birthday things were slightly different to your regular high tea option. The room was totally 'glammed' out  with all things pink and girly. It really looked very lovely and as you entered the building it was the first space your eye was drawn too.

As there were both adults and children in attendance they catered to both groups, which was rather lovely. The platters held a small array of hot food items, mixed sandwiches and sweets.

Now I'm a dessert lover but I have to say that the sweets here are beyond sweet. I'd love to see one of the options for the desserts to be just slightly less, well ..... sweet! Possibly a muffin or slice of cake, just to cut through the intense sugar filled choices.

Whilst the platters aren't brimming with food, no one left hungry, there was certainly enough to fill our tummy's for lunch.

This is my second visit here and I'd love to see the customer service getting a little make over, it's not that it is terrible but I do feel a little training could go a long way.

After lunch and a couple of games the girls got down and silly with all of the hats and dress up paraphernalia. They have a couple of large hat stands brimming with bits and pieces, the girls had a blast mucking about and taking silly pics.

Thanks again to our delightful friends for inviting us along, we had a lovely few hours together and the Birthday girl was all smiles so I think she was happy and that's what matters.

Location: Logan Village
Parking: Plentiful
Bookings: Yes you need to book in advance
Pricing: A standard high tea is $27
Website: Devon Pixies Tea Room

Happy Travels,
Kylie

** I was not compensated in anyway for this piece. Just sharing another little adventure with you.