Summer 2013-2014 holidays

For the past two years, my family has taken to our house bus to holiday in. During the christmas holidays (start of December - end of January) we leave cold Dunedin for central Otago, and meet up with some of our friends in their motor homes. 

This year, after major maintenance on our bus, we visited my grans for christmas. We only spent three days there before returning home to restock and pick up anything we forgot to take. 

I have to admit, the idea of spending over a week and a half with my four other family members and our dog wasn't that exciting. It would always be noisy and you couldn't escape to have time to yourself. I was dreading leaving but, of course, we did leave on the 27th of December in hopes of finding nice warm weather in whatever 'exotic' place we would find. As it turned out, my parents had already decided where we were going to stay (usually they just went with the flow like they didn't even know how to plan anything.) We arrived at Pinders Pond a 10 minute bike ride from Roxburgh. My brother and sister took great delight to naming the area Piddlers Pond, as did our family friend Drew, who was camping with her family in their bus by the pond. In a matter of time, Dad and expertly parked the bus next to the Sopers, and we were standing in the hot sun catching up with Drew and Bailey, the Sopers daughters. At this point I was beginning to enjoy the holiday. We were parked right next to a huge pond and a bike track which my father was adamant we would complete the next day. 

This is the view from the rocks across the pond.

We all went for a swim after we unpacked the deck chairs and such. The water was much colder than I had expected but it was a nice way to cool off from the unusually warm day. After our swim, our family friends the Balentines turned up in their campervan and we created a circle or vehicles. 

All three families in our mini campsite.

One thing I do enjoy about our bus, from camping all the years before we got our bus, is the comfort of living in a mini house. Inside we have a toilet, shower, kitchen, oven, fridge and beds. Through our holiday we did encounter people that were tenting or staying in small caravans and I was very thankful for our motor home. 

The next day, Dad, Robbie, Ellee and I biked to Roxburg which was 10km there and back. It was nice to be on a bike track than on a fast road and you couldn't get lost. I also enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere of the track that ran through the forest and next to the Clutha river. We made it to Roxburgh and stopped for an ice block and picked up some food from the super market. My mothers auntie and cousin live in Roxburgh so I had visited before but it was nice to have the freedom to just walk around and take in the small town. Every day that we went it, it was always a hive of activity.

We came back and hung out around the pond just playing in the water. My whole family biked to Roxburgh the next day, and I remembered to take my camera. It was stinking hot, that you sighed in relief when you biked under a tree's shade every few minutes. There was this pool next to the river that on our way there, Dad promiced we could swim in on our way back. He claimed the water would be warm because of the sun heating the rocks and how it was cut off from the river.

The pool.

After Pinders pond we stayed in Clyde and Cromwell (during the end of 2013). We went boating around the Clutha river and Dad had a water ski. I was allowed to drive the boat, towing the lake snake and the double biscuits. On a particularly windy day, Ryan and Sam wanted to go out on the biscuits. I agreed and as we left slowly the wind got stronger until we were driving over white caps. But to get back I had to go a certain speed to keep moving and Ryan kept falling off. He fell three times before wanting back in the boat, claiming that I was purposely making him fall out and it didn't help that Dad and I were laughing. As it turned out, Sam had just wedged himself into the biscuit than Ryan and was fine all the way back to the bus (although he was getting some air of the waves!)
After Cromwell we visited my aunty Donna who lives in Kurow. On the way there we stopped at the Benmore Dam which was spilling excess into the river. It was amazing to watch, I'd never seen anything like it. We ate dinner watching the man made 'waterfall' and soon the sun hit the water and you could see a rainbow.

We made it to my aunties that night and Morgan and their dog Bella had fun running around the lawn before we went to bed. One thing I like about Kurow is that its quiet. Sometimes too quiet, not many people live there at all, but it's very different to Dunedin. 

The next day we biked over the Kurow Bridge which is going to be replaced by a bigger, better one. It was amazing to see how fast the river was moving with all of the extra water it was holding. 

Then we left, meeting Ryan and the cousins at a beach just out of Oamaru. It was so windy that we just sat inside the bus while Ryan and the boys dug a huge hole in the sand.

The landscape and hole that was abandoned after 30 centimetres of digging.

Dad standing on the sand dunes.

We left Ryan at my cousins, Jackson and Angus who both look up to him, and started on our way home. We didn't get very far (maybe that was Dad's was of lengthening the holiday) and arrived at a campsite in Herbert near Oamaru. It was lovely, an old forest that had spaces for campers to stay and tent sites as well. There were toilets and showers and a kitchen, not that we needed it but it was really nice. That afternoon we walked down to the river that ran right past where we were staying. The water was warm and Morgan even voluntarily swam in the water. 

Morgan standing on a rock after a quick swim before returning to the water

In parts the water was moving a bit and it was hilarious watching Morgan as she tried to swim against the current. But the majority of the river was shallow enough that she could walk instead of swim. Dad spotted a Tui, bigger than the one that lives in the trees at home, and told me to take a photo of it. Except it flew away before I could even get up camera out. 

This is me in the river, being the pack horse (carrying camera bag, shoes and Morgans lead)

The walk back up to the campsite was steep but short and Morgan started barking at a huge fallen tree on the track. She wouldn't go near it, fearing that it would eat her or something. 

This was the track, I found the mini pinecones so fascinating.

It was the most tranquil place we had stayed at over the whole holiday, but maybe I was just glad we would be going home the next day. The next day we made it home and I was so grateful to be back. Also I had at least ten Big Brother Australia episodes that I had to catch up on (call me petty but it's a riveting show). 

So that was my holiday away for the Christmas holidays, and I'm glad I could post it on here so I can remember it.