Amy and Steven's Endless Summer.

Written 23rd July 2013.

I did say that I was going to make a post about the best things that we took traveling with us so here is a list.

The number 1 thing I would definitely take is a silk sleeping bag liner. Soak it in pyrethrum before you go which will kill bugs. It is a sanity saver when you are staying in places that may have bed bugs (which really can be anywhere). You can get these from lots of travel places.

And they are light and fold up small into a little bag. They are also good when you are staying in a hot climate with no air conditioning where you can't have a blanket on but you still like to have a sheet over you to feel snuggly (in Indonesia most places did not provide a top sheet).

Take a power plug adaptor. This one changes NZ plugs to Europen/Asian plugs.

This handy little toilet bag from Kathmandu was great. The design is really good so you can put all the things you need in there and it hangs up on hooks in showers etc. (You know some are a bit scummy and you don't want to put anything on the ground).

See the handy little hook.

A micro fibre towel. These travel towels feel a bit weird on your skin but they do save space. Since we were spending a lot of time at the beach we had two each (one for salt water/sand, one for the shower) Kathmandu's largest size (extra large) is about the size of a regular towel (this was the one we used for the beach) the blue one is size large and is about half the size of a normal towel. We used these for showering - they dry you but you can't wrap it around you. We always took the opportunity to use a real towel if there was one provided.

Buy a sarong along the way or get one before you leave. Very handy for impromptu clothing, something to sit on, a shade shelter, a desert face protector etc.

A head lamp. Very handy for doing anything in the dark when you need to use your hands (which is quite a lot of things). Also handy for walking through scary forests in the dark although it helps to have a spare battery on hand too...

These are THE BEST. If you only take 2 things from this list I would take the sleeping bag liner and these packing cells. I got this set from kathmandu and one for Steve too of course and they were FANTASTIC! I can not recommend them enough if you don't want to have a mental breakdown every time you want to find something in your pack. We used the small cell for electrical equipment etc. The medium one for medical stuff and the big one for clothes. I got these on sale and they were quite cheep. I think it was only $15 for all 3 but it was a clearance sale so was about 70% off. Pick some up next time Kathmandu has a sale. You won't regret it.

They pack neatly into your bag and you can instantly find anything you want whenever you need it. I would not travel without them now I have had them.

Travel padlocks.

Make a travel business card to give to friends you meet along the way. That way you never have to find a pen and paper to write down you email for people. I made these for free on www.vista print.co.nz and included this blog as well as our email addresses and NZ mobile numbers.

Pack safe lock. This goes around your pack like a big metal net and you can then lock your pack to something that cannot me moved/dismantled such as a bunk bed, metal fixtures etc to stop anyone from getting into your stuff. Good for backpackers or dodgy countries when you have valuables with you but don't want to (or can't) lug them around with you constantly.

A dry bag to keep stuff safe in watery places.

A travel cushion if you find it tricky to sleep sitting up. This one is inflatable so you can flatten it right down if you're not using it.

And a universal plug comes in handy if you ever need to wash anything in a sink weather it is dishes or your undies or your face. Great for campsites in Europe which have sinks to wash dishes but no plugs.

A travel clothesline is fantastic if you need to wash and dry your own clothes and you don't want to use a dryer. These ones can stretch out, so can fit in different sized gaps. They come with suction cups on both ends and little clippy things which are super handy. You don't necessarily need pegs, as you can push the clothes through the little elastic twists. I bought these from Kathmandu.

For women, instead of lugging tampons around the world (they are not available everywhere), you might consider taking a menstral cup. Not only are they better for the environment, they are better for your body and wallet too. Plus you only need one for your whole trip/the next 10 years. If you don't know what they are - google it.

And of course a backpack and day bag (preferably ones that go together so they can be clipped together). These ones from Kathmandu are good because the day bag can attach to the back of the pack if you want or more handily to the straps of the pack so it hangs in front of you. This is how I always carried it when I had my pack on. It is handy for 2 reasons. 1, your valuables are right in front of your eyes where you can keep them safe. 2, you are more balanced - if I had the day bag on the back of the pack I would have toppled over backwards for sure!

I hope that information is helpful for any of you going traveling soon.

xoxo Amy

Written 23 July 2013

We had an outstanding end to our Endless Summer.

Here are a few snippets of what we got up to.

We took Jonny out fishing and saw dolphins.

And got a good haul of kai moana (sea food) too.

I finally finished Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea which I started in Bangkok when we returned there from Indonesia. Needless to say it didn't really have me riveted as I can normally digest at least a book a week if I want to and this one is not that long...

We took Leanne and Tim out on the boat and visited the seals on Oaia island.

We ate more yummy food at a cousins Christmas get together.

And read some terrible christmas cracker jokes.

We spent Christmas morning with my family at Gemma's house.

And Christmas lunch with Steve's family at Leanne and Malcolm's house.

I had baked a pavalova for the occasion. And let four little helpers lick the spoons.

Bethell opened her present from Ronda. (It was a cat brush like Tish's one if you are wondering.)

On my birthday (28th December) we did more fishing.

With Steve's Uncle Wayne and cousin Sam.

Then had Bec and Tim and my sisters over for some a spot of afternoon tea.

The next day I had a surprise delivered to me when we were about to go away.

Chris had baked my a yummy gluten free chocolate. Yummy! What a nice surprise! Thanks Chris!

We picked up Bec and Tim and Mango (their dog - he's in the boot) and headed off on an adventure up north.

When we arrived at Ahipara we let Mango out to bound up the beach.

We drove round the points and found a place to freedom camp.

What a lovely spot! You can see there is a surf break in the background.

We had a nice campfire to keep us warm on the cool evenings. And Dan and Sam had come up too so we had even more fun friends.

The boys did some diving.

And we got to have yummy paua for tea.

Mmmmm, creamed paua. Looks green. Tastes delicious!

We got some fun surfs in.

Look how beautiful it is there!

Our campsite.

Jabin and Laura came to join us too and then we had even MORE fun friends!

One day we drove over to the east coast and went for a surf there.

We had a fun surf.

And played on Steve's new skim board too.

Then ate more paua back at camp.

The boys prepared it.

While Mango and Hurley (Jabin's dog) watched Bec eat corn all the while dribbling like fiends.

Laura with two doggy feet warmers.

And this is New Years night. Spent telling yarns around the campfire.

This innocent looking labrador is actually a terrible food scavenger.

He ripped a hole in Chris' tent to get to the gluten free bread inside!!!

We went on another fishing trip.

We had some fun waves right out in front of camp.

There was no access to a toilet or shower since we were freedom camping. For a loo tim had doug us a long drop (aka a hole in the ground) which we would fill in a little after each use. It was rather nice to use at night so you got an uninterrupted view of the starts glimmering overhead.

For a bath however there was this handy puddle which was a result of a nearby cheek that ran down to the sea but pooled in this depression in the road.

It was lovely fresh, clean water. So one day when everyone was out we had a lovely skinny din in there complete with shampoo, conditioner and body wash!

When they returned from their walk Bec and Tim said that in the distance they had seen two hippies having a bath in the puddle but they didn't realise we were in the nude haha.

We went for another east coast mission for a surf.

And climbed the hill at camp to admire the view and collect some fire wood from the ground.

I carried this log all the way down from the hill and it was heavy!

Steve cut up the wood and flashed us all his but crack!

The next day it was time to pack up and head home.

It was a bit a squish to fit everything in the car in one go to get back around the points!

Tim and Chris had to hold onto the sides of the truck and Mango had to run.

When we arrived back at Jill and John's (Adam's parents who let us store the boat with them) we packed everything from the car back into the boat.

On the way home we visited my mum's (Ani) grave at Waimate North Cemetery. It's very peaceful there.

We also stopped off at the Hundedwasser toilets in Kawakawa.

Some time after that we did some more boating at Mangawhai.

Here's the Hen island cloaked in the early morning light.

We did some diving.

Steve shot a snapper with his spear gun.

And they got some crayfish too.

Steve also shot a kingfish which half got eaten by a shark! The bit that was left was 9 kgs!

Liam got one too.

I spent some time visiting with Bethell and taking her for walks.

And was keen to get building on my dollhouse again.

We walked out to the gannets at Maori Bay.

I sent the photo of Steve and the kingfish in to The New Zealand Herald for a photo competition and they ended up writing a story about it (although half of it was completely unrelated to the photo).

We did some more boating!

And I set up my class room.

Steve and Chris got my doll house out of storage so I could keep working on it. Yay!

We were excited that our friends Bron and Ryan who we travelled with for some of our trip in Laos and Cambodia came to visit us on Waitangi Day! So we took them for fish and chips at Maori Bay, went to see the gannets (where are bee stung me under my arm and I cried in front of everyone because I'm allergic to them and it REALLY hurt!) Then we drove up Muriwai beach for fun. It was so cool to see you guys again!