About One Way New Zealand

So what's all this about then?

Hello, we are the Rays, Craig, Rachel and Myles our son. In September 2007 we started out on a trip / holiday of discovery to travel through New Zealand in order to find out more about the country, the people and its culture. After spending all our lives in the UK we are eager to find out if our lives could be better in another country? Is New Zealand somewhere we could emigrate to - we will endeavor to find this out along the way, and will record our thoughts and feelings of New Zealand and what we think it has to offer.

In the process of putting this blog together we have decided also to try and bring together lots of information on the different regions, towns and cities of New Zealand. Information on immigration, travel, places to stay etc. We also plan to produce a weekly podcast featuring some of the people we meet on our travels. All of this, in the hope that this site will become a valuable resource for others to find out more about New Zealand.

We booked our flights - made the trip of a lifetime and gathered our thoughts, feelings, photos and videos. Feel free to travel along with us!

Recent Comments

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Thanks honeys for your lovely comments - the sculpture is called Eden and the only way to look is up as it's sooo big!!! not sure what he thought though at the time!, and M is a whirl at getting involved in everything it's so great he's at the age where he takes part in what we do to make our family life here so special! "
- Rach

Lovely to see Myles getting up to so much fun. I love the sculpture he's staring at intently...I wonder what he was thinking????"
- Lys Roberts

Love the step by step 'how to build a bird table' with Myles in tow! He's a dab hand with a saw and just love the ingenious use of beer crates for balancing the wood - reckon I'll be round your place for a beer on Saturday before heading out on the town! Tee hee!"
- Sarah

Oh wow, you've been so busy! Looking great - and way to go Myles - very handy with that broom!"
- Sarah

Yum! Afternoon tea at your place soon me thinks! Go chef Myles!"
- Sarah

Amazing isn't it how you keep taking and taking photos, and then suddenly you realise how much you have done! Myles is growing so quickly!! xx"
- Marrisa

Erm....hang on!!! I see a wonderful creation happening, yet those beer bottles we gave you still with the tops on....oh don't make me tell Mr D!!!! Get supping!! xx"
- Marrisa

Wow you got to see the tiger so close up!! Thats amazing as we have only ever seen him hiding up in the bushes. Good to see you had fun xx"
- Marrisa

Awww....thx Lys, hope all's OK your end lovely to get a comment from 'home' - hugs Rx"
- Rach

Awww....thx Lys, hope all's OK your end lovely to get a comment from 'home' - hugs Rx"
- Rach

Useful things we travel with...

Chariot Carrier

Myles's chariot! What a fantastic piece of kit. Bought this in the US after seeing it in Canada. It's a stroller, an off road buggy with suspension, a cycle trailer and you can even put skis on it! Wouldn't go anywhere without it - You can find out more and see it in action here

Our Travel Insurance

Used World Nomads for our annual policy for quite a while - They were recommended by Lonely Planet and Rob (Our global travelling friend!) also uses them - Good enough for him then it's good enough for us! Not sure if they are the cheapest but you do get what you pay for.
Get a quote online

Canon Camera

We use a Canon Ixus camera for all the photos and videos on the site. The size and quality is unbeatable - a great travelling stills and video camera in one! We got ours from Amazon because of their good returns policy and the online reviews from other users-Amazon reviews on this camera

Car Hire Worldwide

We've used loads of car hire companies over the years and we keep on coming back to auto-europe. They are usually the cheapest worldwide and the price includes all insurance / CDW etc,
www.auto-europe.com

Leatherman Wave

Brilliant multi-tool. Built like a tank and small enough to fit anywhere. Wouldn't leave home without it - Got us out of a few 'sticky' situations.
We got ours from Ready To leave.com

215 Entries found for the date period of: Wednesday, July 01, 2009 to Saturday, August 01, 2009

Monday, 27 Apr 2009

Out n About with Myles

Sometimes our days just pass by in a blur! Here's just a selection of M and I just think it shows in a few pics of how much he crams into life!

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Sunday, 26 Apr 2009

The Bird Table!

This is the official first father and son build in our family of 3. Following a long tradition on self building and DIY in the Bignell/Ray families, it was about time that we set to build something of our own in NZ. Even though Craig is the IT/creative buff, he's also amazingly brilliant and making things and building too

And as we're all passionate about nature and the great outdoors we wanted in a small way to attract some wildlife to our garden - Here's a few pics of M and C in action!

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Friday, 24 Apr 2009

Wellington Zoo Take 2

Living so close to everything is just so great, and another successful trip to the zoo was enjoyed today!

We even got to feed the giraffes and as it was an overcast autumnal day most of the animals were really active and we got to see a lot of them up close on this trip.

It makes living here so special that within 10 minutes your options of how to spend an afternoon are numerous all with something that we all enjoy doing. It's really an exciting time for the zoo too as they are currently building a new animal hospital called The Nest which will bring enhanced care for the animals they have and also for wild animals rescued by the community. We are really beginning to feel connected to the community spirit of Wellington and are sure to be making numerous visits here in future. We even managed a quick visit to the playground just outside the zoo in Newtown Park. It seems you don't have to go very far in Wellington to find a great playground!

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Wednesday, 22 Apr 2009

Baking Day

Excusing the lack of preparation pics here of us actually mixing our ingredients as M tends to want to eat the mixture before it's cooked and I end up covered in it also!

But here is M's approach to cooking which is a joy of wearing the cake tins and then eating muffins like 3 seconds after they came out of the oven!!! Needless to say he enjoys our baking days and the muffins and shortbread don't last long in our house!

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Monday, 20 Apr 2009

Garden Update!

Following our efforts to create some kind of garden in our bare yard we're pleased to report that all plants and flowers are literally blooming. M adores gardening too and enjoys nothing more than checking up on the monarch caterpillars that are supposed to be on the swan plant - yes we know but the thought of impending butterflies in our garden is something that has to go in a kiwi garden so caterpillars and swan plants are a match made in heaven!

And yes M loves to sweep up and keep things tidy too!

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Sunday, 19 Apr 2009

Island Bay Marine Day

Every month the Island Bay Marine centre holds an open day to raise awareness of what lies just beneath the oceans surface. It is run and operated solely by volunteers and researchers who are on hand to educate and inform visitors of the fragility and wonder of the creatures of the seas.

This was the first time we'd been to one of these days and will not be the last - what an amazing experience and to be in awe and wonderment as much as your own child is such a special thing to share

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Thursday, 16 Apr 2009

Exploring at Te Papa

As the Easter holidays move along swiftly there's never a thought about what we could do when living here. As for Myles he adores going to Te Papa and as they've been holding special days for the holidays it seemed only natural to go and check out what was happening. Today there was a myriad of things to do all on the subject of being an explorer for the day.

So we travelled from Egypt to Antartica and back to New Zealand all in the space of the Inspiration Station a dedicated children's zone (one of four) in the museum that never ceases to entertain M. A great day topped off with M playing outdoors in the fossil sandpit using his socks to fill with sand - what else. Oh and yes his face is painted - we went from being a kiwi bird to a tiger and settled at a grizzly bear!!!

Following a busy day exploring what can you do but chill out in your undies!!! - at home of course

Another super day in Wellington!

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Tuesday, 14 Apr 2009

Puppet Show Capital E

After bumping into Sarah and her girls Charlotte and Sophie in the library cafe which is our Tuesday haunt following a morning of story time and reading there, we all set off for Capital E as Sarah had said they had a great puppet expo on and was sure M would love it too. Well how right she was of course! and we all enjoyed an amazing morning making puppets and watching puppeteers let us in on the wonders of puppetry and how to make a number of our own.

M just loved the whole experience so much, and spent ages experimenting with the shadow puppets and punch and judy style puppetry which was set out so well for children to explore. This visit has to be one of the highlights of the Easter school holidays. It's so wonderful when something unexpected comes your way and you are just in your element and in the moment of joy as we were on this morning. So thank you Sarah for your spot on suggestion we had a great time!

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Sunday, 12 Apr 2009

Easter Sunday

Myles lasted until 8.30am hence the PJ's before he could wait no longer to go on an egg hunt after the Easter bunny had visited. And so by 9am he was tucking into yes chocolate (think of how Homer in The Simpsons refers to this delicacy and you'll be close to knowing how M feels about it too!)

A truly fun packed day as following on from said hunt we trawled a few beaches as you do and the playground at Seatoun followed by a brisk walk that reminded us of Cornwall along Seatoun's coastal path to balance out for our sugar rushes and to prepare us for fun and frolics at Sarah and Dan's!

Another successful afternoon with Sarah being a total star and organising loads of Easter activities for the children, including another Easter egg hunt for M, who lost no time in filling up his basket and then donning bunny ears to munch his way through his bounty!

A totally super weekend of total fun even if it's autumn and not spring!!!

Topped off by a peek view of hot air balloons 'night lantern' display at the Basin Reserve on our way home from Sarah and Dan's!

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Saturday, 11 Apr 2009

The New Dowse Petone

Before our main outing we popped to the Botanical gardens for a stint of walking and relaxation! (see pics)

I'd wanted to visit this gallery for a while as had heard so much about it. It's a new gallery in Petone, which is about 20 minutes outside of central Wellington. It is an amazing space to experience art and very well curated. It gives great exposure to a number of different mediums and artists too.

At the time of our visit their was an amazing exhibition on dance and movement with costume displays from the NZ ballet. Not to my surprise we couldn't get M out of this exhibit especially as he adores ballet and any kind of dance and music. So following his numerous twirls and jumps whilst watching the flat screens showing ballet performances we headed onto the other exhibits all with their own magic to share.

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