What Lizzy's Family Loved on a Long Weekend Away

It can often feel like so much effort to arrange time away from home, but those three days together were such a lovely chance to spend time playing board games, reading our books, and exploring in nature that I immediately want to book another trip away. It was also amazing to stay in Ohakune so I'll share a bit more about the town itself below too in case you're looking to visit somewhere new.

First off all I was more than a little daunted about 4+ hours trapped in a small car with a rather loud four year old who, don't get me wrong, is the light of my life and absolute wonder of the universe but also likes to be entertained constantly. Add to that that I get car sick if I'm not looking out the windows permanently and this wasn't the part I was looking forward to most. Before we left I spotted the VTech Dora's More to Explore Learning Laptop which was on a ridiculously good special. I nabbed one and surprised her with it on the morning we left home and did it keep her entertained for the entire four hours? No, of course not. But it was a life saver and saved me having to play make believe games with her for hours on end.Tilly is busy learning lots of letters at the moment and loved the learning mode on the laptop which got her spotting letters on the keyboard and then seeing the differences between the capital and the lower case. I know it will be a toy she uses a lot - she loves pretending to 'work' while I'm busy typing on my laptop on the odd occasion the work comes home with me. I'm eyeing up the Dora Backpack next! 

It was so nice going away from home and spending some time together playing games. Together with Tilly we played some classics like 'Guess Who' and the 'Uno K-Pop Demon Hunters' which she is picking up faster than I thought! I'm loving this age where she is just managing to grasp more game concepts and can't wait to introduce more as she gets older! 

The real board game highlight comes thanks to the team who had recommended me 'Sea Salt & Paper' to play together with my husband Edd. It's an incredibly clever and quick to learn game combining card combinations with a little dash of betting too. I may well lose almost every time (a common outcome for me when playing any game requiring more than pure luck) but I absolutely love this one regardless and we've already cracked into the small but awesome expansion too. Highly recommend this as an excellent and beautifully illustrated two player game to have in your collection which can work for up to 4 players.

We all know I took far too many books away, a whole bag full in fact. And yet the ones I actually read ended up only being two because rather than flitting between 7 different reads I couldn't put these ones down. 

'The Tainted Cup' by Robert Jackson Smith was a book my husband chose for me to read, knowing that I would absolutely love it. An incredible, unique, combination of a murder mystery with an eccentric detective a la Sherlock Holmes, alongside a high fantasy setting with tall walls, deadly leviathans, and a botanical murder weapon - I was hooked. After devouring that, I then picked up 'No Prisoners' by Kiwi author Ellis Blake. This was an atmospheric neo-crime novel about a woman on the hunt for her husband alongside a detective who has his own secrets he's managing, and a son who is just trying to complete his science project. I also couldn't ignore the chance to take a photo of this book against it's perfect backdrop which Edd found more than a little ridiculous. I take book content VERY SERIOUSLY.

Meanwhile, Edd was busy reading one of my favourites. 'I Who Have Never Known Men' by Jacqueline Harpman. This strange and quietly unsettling novel is a dystopian picture of life where men have up and left, and a community of women face the unknown together. 

For Tilly the books included a nightly Fancy Nancy story from our 5 Minute Fancy Nancy Stories collection which we all love, along with 'Monkey Puzzle' by Julia Donaldson - one of our all time favourite children authors. I even found a giant copy of Monkey Puzzle at an Op Shop that I had to buy because you just can't find those giant books anywhere anymore and I love them for big group reading sessions (or awkwardly ungainly one on one reading sessions as pictured). Our other fave picture book at the moment is the beautifully illustrated and slightly silly book, 'Have you seen Elephant' by David Barrow and published by the incredible folks at Gecko Press.

Lastly, let me make a quick case for why you should visit Ohakune with the whānau. We spent one whole day exploring the maunga - with the Tongariro National Park right behind the town itself and the beautiful mountains rising high above the streets. The snow field is well worth a visit - with plenty of options even if you, like us, are not experts at skiing or snowboarding. There were options to go sledding, or to just explore the mountain itself with a sightseeing pass to go up the chairlifts (this part was surprisingly terrifying for both us and the four year old even though she managed it like a champ. Worth it for the views though). As well as the mountain and the snow, there are amazing bush walks through the National Park with waterfalls and native plants and spectacular sounds of wildlife all around. 

I also loved visiting the hilariously weirdly NZ Carrot Park, a free spot that we probably could have spent all day at with it's giant vegetable statues, huge pirate ship playground, and amazing obstacle course. It was by far Tilly's highlight. Lastly, one more reason you should go, Ohakune is famous for their HUGE $5 chocolate eclairs. Enough said. We will absolutely be back to Ohakune again soon, having only scratched the surface of the small but wonderful spot in our country.

 This time away was a reminder of how important it is to schedule in exciting things for the family, to have time together exploring new places and trying new things. I can't wait to find out where we're going to go next, and to also remember that we can incorporate more of those family game nights and collaborative puzzle moments throughout our usual weeknights and weekends in the mean time!