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My mom (aka Po Po, or grandmother on your mother’s side in Cantonese) arrived on January 28th to visit us for 5 weeks! Yay! She brought us 2 full duffel bags full of goodies. We went on a 3 week road trip to the South Island in our old Toyota minivan. The van did great — the AC even still works! We mostly camped, except when we needed to dry out after backpacking, or rain was forecasted.

We had some long days in the car, spent mostly by playing Kiwi Car Pairs, where we had to spot certain things to gain points, or listening to The Hobbit, then Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets. Tomu also took photos with his new camera, which made Luz and Jade want to take photos too.

After a WINDY night in the tents at Fitzroy Beach Holiday park, our first adventure was a 3 day backpacking trip in Mount Taranaki National Park called the Pouakai Crossing. Mom hung out in The Camphouse, at the terminus of our hike, because her hip was bothering her so she couldn’t do the backpacking trip. Backpacking, or tramping, is so great in NZ because there are huts you can stay in, so you don’t need to bring tents or sleeping pads. It was a spectacular hike, though the last day it was very windy and rainy at the end. We got soaked — the last photo in the slideshow is us drying out our gear.

Next stop was Wellington, where we upgraded to the Cambridge Hotel from camping 45 minutes outside the city. We had delicious Asian food in Wellington! Dim sum, ramen, jian bing (Chinese street food crepe), thai, and bubble tea.

We also went to Te Papa, the National Museum of New Zealand, which was AMAZING, and also free!! Luz was underwhelmed by the colossal squid, “I thought it would be bigger”. The kids spent most of their time at Te Papa in front of a giant video game at Te Papa. And at Zealandia we saw lots of Kakas and 3 Tuatara (Tuatara are a rare reptile found only in New Zealand. They are the last survivors of an order of reptiles that thrived in the age of the dinosaurs.)

Also in Wellington, Tomu chipped his upper front tooth playing on the playground at 7 pm on a Saturday night. I got a dental appointment for 8:15 pm on Sunday, the following day. Dr. Lakshmi put a temporary filling in — for free! All accidents that occur in NZ are covered by the ACC (Accident Compensation Corporation), no matter if the person is a NZ citizen or not, and the treatment is completely free! Wow, what a gift! (Our friend Kate is a dentist in Paihia, and she put the permanent filling in when we got back to the boat).

We took the ferry to the South Island (3.5 hours, and the kids were thrilled about the movie room, where they watched Puss n’ Boots twice in a row), then camped at Marfells Beach for one night. Marfells Beach was a Department of Conservation campground at the edge of the world, or so it felt. It was windy again, but we blocked the tent with the van and secured many guy lines.

Next stop: Kaikoura. The kids were in heaven at the Top 10 Holiday Park campground because of the pool and the game room (ping pong, fuseball, and air hockey!) We visited a seal colony off the coast and saw really wild rocks. Riki and I did a hike on the peninsula, and Ma picked us up afterwards.

Our next stop was a campsite called Waihi Gorge, where we camped in a green field near a river. The kids got out of the car and went right to the river to play. We had a lovely evening. We each designed boats and had a race down the river.

Next we went to Mount Cook Village. We passed the gorgeous Lakes Tekapo and Pukaki en route, with their unreal turquoise color. We were lucky to have a sunny day. After dinner we did a day hike up Hooker Valley — the mountains were just stunning. The hike ended at Hooker Lake, where ice bergs floated in the lake below Aoraki (Mount Cook). That night it was so windy that the tent poles kept bending in towards Ma & the kids. The girls were so scared that they spent the rest of the night in the van. Riki got up at 3 am to add some more guy lines to the tent.

The next day was Chinese New Year, and we stayed in an AirBnb near Wanaka. We celebrated with chicken chow mein and steamed eggs with vermicelli noodles — it was delicious!

We visited Puzzling World in Wanaka, where we went to 6 rooms of illusions, then went through a maze. It took team Chin (Ma, Jade & I) about an hour, and team Bailey (Riki, Tomu & Luz) about 20 minutes longer. It was really fun!

Then, our last hike — in to Aspiring Hut, in Mount Aspiring National Park. The stone hut, built in 1949, was renovated last year, and is very fancy! There were several Keas congregating around the hut in the mornings. The kea is an alpine parrot, very smart, and very cheeky. I took a video of them trying to open the water faucet.

Then we started on our way back north. We stopped in Hobbiton and saw many adorable hobbit holes, went inside one hobbit hole, and had a drink at the Green Dragon Inn.

We stayed one night at our friend Dave’s house near Auckland. Ma & I made mushu pork and beef n’ beans for dinner. Dave skinned a possum and stretched the hide while we were there, as well as blew up a puffer fish that he had caught.

All in all, it was a really fun trip. Lots of adventures, beautiful scenery, and good times together. We ate enough ham, cheese, pickles, pickled jalapeño and mustard sandwiches to last a long time!!