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For the final international stop during our Family Gap Year, we settled into a small town right outside of Wellington called Petone.

Petone is a seaside town, and we lived in a tiny bungalow one block from the ocean. We sent our boys to a forest school every day from 9:30am-2:30pm.

Highs

My absolute favorite thing about living in this area was my daily walks along the ocean, collecting sea glass. I also loved that the walkability extended to the grocery store, library, and awesome restaurants (just like our last long-term stay in New Zealand).

I also loved visiting New Zealand’s largest Montessori school. I just can’t get … Read More

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I honestly can’t remember what was going through my mind when I planned only a one-week road trip around the North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand nearly a year ago (to take place in April 2023).

On the one hand, I’m patting myself on the back for only planning a week of “fast travel” at this point in our trip. It’s tiring to travel constantly and to feel untethered from a home base.

On the other hand, it was so hard to soak in the beauty and magic of the North Island in only a week.

Highs

Luckily, my internet-friend-turned-real-life-friend basically planned the itinerary for me, and we loved … Read More

Description

We lived in Richmond, New Zealand for three months. Richmond is approximately 15 minutes away from Nelson at the north of the South Island. We picked this area because it reportedly has some of the best weather in the whole country (lots of sunshine!). It also has easy access to the ocean and mountains.

We ended up in Richmond—a suburb of Nelson—because the housing was more affordable (although still expensive). We specifically wanted to be near a larger city, so the boys would have access to activities like fencing and ninja classes.

Knowing the area better now, we might have picked to live in Motueka, which is a rural … Read More