Looks like one of Santa’s elves borrowed our laundry to wash his suit after helping Santa deliver presents to all the little girls and boys this Christmas.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a fun time seeing in the New Year. Happy 2012! Due to zero chance of getting a babysitter on NYE, we stayed home, had a glass of high quality bollinger and watched Pirates of the Carribean 4. Leo woke at 11.30pm and would not resettle. Of course he knew it was almost midnight so we kept him up to watch the Sydney fireworks and then he happily went back to sleep for the rest of the night!

I was a bit sentimental saying goodbye to 2011 – as our first year with our little boy and the year he was born in.

NZ never fails to deliver on gorgeous scenery and friendly people. There are so many beautiful and varied regions across the country that you really need to do several trips or make an extended visit to really appreciate it. Lots of tourists think they can see the whole country in a short time but that just doesn’t do it justice.

In the first week, we explored the top of the country above Auckland. First stop was the Bay of Islands where we took a boat trip, seeing frolicking dolphins in the sparkling blue water. The boat navigated through a hole in a rocky outcrop carved out by the pounding waves and visited an island where we relaxed on the grass by the peaceful beach.

We also visited the site where the Waitangi treaty was signed between Maori chiefs and European settlers in 1840, a significant event in NZ’s history. We watched a cultural performance there and Andrew’s attempt at the haka was very impressive (see the photos)!

We spent the next few days travelling in a loop via Cape Reinga at the tip where the Pacific ocean and Tasman Sea meet then back down the West coast of Northland to Auckland. We stayed in some gorgeous cottages, attached to private houses. A highlight for me was a serene cottage overlooking secluded Coopers Beach where we enjoyed renowned fish and chips and enormous, succulent oysters from local Mangonui though it didn’t score many points with Andrew because there was no gluten free option – he had to cook his own fish back at the accommodation!

Other highlights were seeing the huge sand dunes on the west coast of Northland and people tobogganing down them, as well as our stay at tiny Kohukohu. The cabin there was decorated in retro style and looked out onto lush greenery. The next day we caught a vehicle ferry across the river to continue on our way south.

From Auckland we flew to Wellington and had a great catch-up with family. We stayed right in the city which was very convenient.

Our second week was spent travelling through the top of the South Island. We caught the ferry across Cook Strait as we did last time but the opposite way. It was a little delayed which was the source of a bit of stress that day as we arrived at our accommodation at Blenheim late and realised we had misunderstood the description and the place didn’t have any cooking facilities. When the baby is wailing because he is tired and hungry, this isn’t the easiest travelling situation. Andrew saved the day by getting Indian take-away and single-handedly wiping out about 30 mosquitos which were buzzing around the room. Despite this rough start, we did enjoy our brief stay there. The owner had provided a baby bath (her grandson’s) and it was nice to give Leo a bath as the rest of the trip we showered him with one of us.

We could tell straight away we were in the South Island as the scenery was much more mountainous. It reinforced to me that this is the type of scenery that I’m so fond of in NZ. I particularly love the wide frosty blue rivers flanked by grey smooth stones which we just do not see in Australia.

We visited 3 Marlborough wineries, a beautiful area. The first was the well-known Cloudy Bay. It was so nice to recline on bean bag chairs on an expanse of green grass overlooking the vines with mountain peaks behind. We concluded that we’re not great fans of sauvignon blanc but did enjoy a pinot and a bubbly.

We stayed at a rather run-down holiday park at Murchison on the way to the West coast, not memorable. Our next stop was Greymouth where, in character, it was raining. We did manage to put a bet on the Melbourne Cup there though (no joy though).

We drove to Hanmer Springs via Lewis Pass, a magnificent drive and comparable to Arthurs Pass which we so enjoyed last trip. Bathing in the thermal springs at Hanmer Springs was very relaxing. We hired our own private pool for half an hour which was easier with Leo (he sat in his pram at the side) and then took turns in the communal pools. It was a great way to unwind near the end of our trip.

Our final leg was to Christchurch where we had a lot of fun catching up with family. We saw a lot of damage in the city areas from the earthquakes when we were driving through, the skeleton of an old church and empty lots where buildings once stood. It was sad to see.

We just love our neighbour “across the ditch” – it is such a beautiful country and after two extensive trips, I feel that there’s so much we can go back for.

See some of our favourite photos from our 2011 NZ trip

I find it’s actually easier to get out and about than stay at home all day. Leo tends to get grizzly and grumpy when we do that as he’s not overly fond of sleeping during the day in his cot. When we’re out he will sleep in the pram and he likes to look around and smile at anyone we meet.

Last Friday, we caught the train in to visit Cook’s Cottage in the Fitzroy Gardens in the city. It is the cottage of Captain Cook’s parents which was donated to Melbourne and shipped over here in pieces! It is a small brick cottage with the rooms set up as they would have been at the time, a large vegetable garden and a display about Captain Cook’s voyages. It is quite amazing how much of the world he explored.

As usual Leo attracted a fair bit of attention. A Thai tourist took photos of him and one of the staff who was dressed up in olden day costume came over for a chat!

Afterwards we met Andrew and caught a lift home as taking a pram in the train at peak hour is a challenge that I try to avoid!

Every day is now full of delightful moments, whether it is amusement at Leo’s funny little expressions and noises (raspberries, gurgles, wind-breaking etc), making him laugh when we’re changing him or watching him kick his legs up and grab the toys on his activity mat. It’s a real thrill when he meets a new milestone (he’s almost sitting up by himself now) and to see how he’s filling out and growing longer.

There have been difficult bits too of course – we had some issues getting his feeding right early on and I wouldn’t say he’s the best day-time sleeper. He’s more of a cat-napper and often takes a while to settle with a fair amount of crying. And in the last couple of weeks he has gone back to waking every 3 hours at night which is hard to take when he was sleeping 12 hours a night for a while. But that’s all in a day’s work and I know it won’t last forever.

Life has definitely changed with the addition of Leo but it’s a wonderful journey that we wouldn’t give up for a second.

There were a number of new houses that had been built and lots of green growth on the trees where the bushfire went through. There were also a lot of trees with no new growth, just bare black trunks which was sad to see. The surrounds of Steavensons Falls looks very different compared to prior to the fire.

We didn’t notice a lot of change to the town itself since last year – the same two cafes are still there and there is a small shopping centre. I always feel sad when I look at the site where the big old Cumberland hotel stood. We visited it before the fire and had planned to stay there sometime. It was surrounded by a lot of trees and lush greenery.

We stayed at the lovely and very reasonably priced Yarra Glen B&B. We ate breakfast on the wide verandah with a beautiful outlook over the garden and farmland. The room was nicely renovated and decorated and it is very close to the amenities of Yarra Glen. We had two enjoyable meals at the Hargreaves Hill micro-brewery and the Yarra Glen Grand Hotel in town.

A highlight was the Brett Whitely exhibition at the Tarrawara Estate Gallery followed by a sumptous meal at the restaurant there (my corn-fed roast chicken was succulent). We only visited one other winery this time, Fergusson, where Andrew bought a couple of bottles of red. As I wasn’t drinking due to being 38 weeks pregnant, visting wineries was not much fun for me!