Queenstown - April 2025

 We've just come back from 5 days in Queenstown. 

We had the best time exploring the town and surrounding areas and having fun with some thrill seeking adventures. We stayed in The Rees Hotel a few minutes out of town which had amazing views over the lake and mountains. It was stunning to wake up and see snow on the top of the mountains.

We enjoyed the crisp, chilly weather. It was a nice change from the endless Sydney heat and humidity.

One day we drove to Arrowtown and enjoyed the gorgeous scenery and quaint little town. 

The leaves and foliage everywhere were stunning! The autumn colours were so beautiful.

The boys loved the cutest sweet shop with delicious fudge.

We then continued on to Cardrona and had lunch in front of the fire at the pub. 

Another day we took the Queenstown gondola up to the top of the mountain so the boys could ride the luge. The views up the top were stunning! The boys loved the luge and had so much fun dodging everyone and seeing how fast they could go.

The Shotover Jet was another adventure on our list that we ticked off. High speeds and spins on the river really got our hearts pumping. Highly recommend!

On our last day we drove to Glenorchy which was another stunning drive. The little town was so pretty and was a perfect end to our trip and our appreciation of New Zealand and all it's amazing scenery.

It was so lovely to have this time together exploring a new place x

Visual Diary - Hawaii May 2022

2 years ago we had a family holiday booked for Hawaii. Obviously Covid and lockdown had us cancelling our plans and looking forward to the time when we could book our holiday in the sun again.

Well that time came last week when we arrived in Waikiki. The trip was a dream and Hawaii was as beautiful as I had remembered. We were blessed with perfect weather and it was everything we had hoped for.

We stayed at our favourite hotel the Moana Surfrider right on Waikiki Beach. We have stayed here on our last 2 trips. We just love the vibe and the location and view can't be beaten!

We stayed in a Tower Suite Ocean view room and the view from our 2 balconies was absolutely stunning!

It just didn't seem real. The beach, the water, the palm trees and Diamond Head, everything was so beautiful!

We had a relaxing week of swimming, floating at Waikiki (buy your float from the ABC stores, they pump it up for you too), lunch by the pool, shaved ice in the afternoons and cocktails while watching the sunset.

We stuck to the main strip, Kalakaua Ave for dinner. It was also nice to have a walk and browse in the shops after dinner. You can also pop in for a drink at the other hotels along the beach. I always love to stop in to the Royal Hawaiian. The pink palace is so glamourous and old world.

We also spent an afternoon browsing the shops at the Ala Moana Centre. The boys especially loved Sugar, Sugar a candy shop with oversized candy from different countries.

We swam with the turtles each day. It was such a thrill to spot their heads popping up nearby.

We were also spoilt with amazing firework displays on a couple of the nights.

We then spent a couple of nights at the Disney resort Aulani. Noah didn't really remember coming here so it was fun for him to do the character breakfast and ride the water slides and lazy river.

They also got to snorkel in the reef with the fish. It was a lovely end to our family holiday.

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We had the best time and were so grateful that we got to have our family holiday.

It felt good to be travelling again and making plans. xx