Travel Interview – Chloe Watts from Blueberry + Co does New Zealand
- Jenna van Bentum
- May 6, 2016
- 4 min read
I’d like to introduce you to Chloe who has taken the time to share some great stories about an amazing sounding trip to New Zealand. Chloe is also the founder of Blueberry + Co and has created the most beautiful monochrome baby book which includes a special section just for baby’s travels!
Enjoy this great read and the special offer for all The World And Kids readers…
Tell us a bit about yourself and your family –
My name is Chloe Watts, and I’m a wife to Dave, mum to Rosie and the Designer behind two businesses – Blueberry + Co and Rata Landscape Consultants. I’m trained as a Landscape Architect, so seeing the world and being observant of other cultures and cities is a huge part of my job. My husband and I are also massive fans of the “enjoy your life” mantra, and we work hard to create businesses that can support us to live in the place we love and travel to places we want to explore. I am definitely a travel lover. My husband and I have travelled all over the world before we had our daughter, and we were certain that we wouldn’t change (what you say before children hey!!??). I think we’ve kept it up, but we haven’t gone too far, but that’s mainly a financial choice.
What is a recent or favourite trip you’ve been on with your family?
In October 2015 we went on a 3-week holiday to the Coromandel Peninsula and then travelling down to Wellington via Taupo and Nelson, in the North Island of New Zealand. It’s such an amazing landscape with beautiful beaches, rugged terrain and green rolling hills. We spent the first 12 days in the Coromandel, staying in Coromandel Town and Little Bay (a small bay about 45 mins drive north-east of Coromandel Town along a very windy dirt road). The west coast of the Coromandel Peninsula faces into the Hauraki Gulf while the east coast faces out into the Pacific Ocean, and in between there are amazing beaches, bays and harbours all waiting to be explored. We spent those few days going on walks and fishing with our then 8 month old, luckily we had our trusty MacPac baby carrier. We picked oysters and mussels off the rocks and ate freshly caught fish for dinner most nights and walked to some of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to. We lived the kiwi dream with a bub in tow!
What type of accomodation did you stay in?
We stayed in rented baches (kiwi for holiday house) on the Coromandel leg of the journey (www.bookabach.co.nz) which made it very comfortable. We could cook our own food and have enough to pack lunches every day. Some days we were pretty remote, no shops within a couple hours drive, so that was essential. It also allowed us to stay in some amazing locations. On our trip down to Wellington we stayed in Motels, which suited us as we were only staying one or two nights and didn’t intend to cook etc. I have to admit, after 2 weeks of getting dirty adventuring, the massive spa bath in our motel in Wellington was one of the best baths I’ve had!
Share a travel tip for your destination –
There are so many. Book a holiday house. Get one with an amazing view and a fire place, its worth it. Be prepared to drive a lot on slow windy roads, but the places you’ll see along the way will make it worth it. Pack food for a whole day, because you’ll probably get sidetracked at some remote abandoned beach right on lunch time and the kids need to eat, even if the sea breezes will sustain you.
What is a memorable moment on that trip?
We went exploring one day up on the north end of the Coromandel Peninsula to Port Charles, and decided to drive along a coastal road to try and get Rosie to sleep. 15 mins of windy dirt road later and she wasn’t asleep but we had rounded a headland to enter Stoney Bay, which is one of the most beautiful bays I’ve ever seen. Pebble beach, mountains in the background, a grassy valley and crystal clear blue water. My husband decided it looked fishy so we packed Rosie into her carrier backpack, got all the fishing gear, baby accessories, lunch AND the pram just incase Rosie wanted to sleep (not a small mount of equipment), and we scrambled out to a rock platform to throw a line in. It took a while to get out there, and Rosie loved it, but was definitely getting tired. Another hour later, lunch had been eaten, no fish caught and Rosie was still awake and getting grumpy, so we set off back to the car. Its lucky we left then, because the tide had come up more than we’d anticipated, so we waded through waist-deep troughs we’d previously walked through, and climbed carefully up ledges. After all of that Rosie fell asleep in the carrier and missed the whole thing!! Needless to say, we arrived back at the car, with wet pants and shoes but a sleeping baby so it was a pretty nice afternoon.
Show us your favourite photo from the trip –
What tips do you have for families that want to travel?
Chloe mentions that they used both a stroller and their MacPac baby carrier when trekking around. Sounds like the perfect combo for an adventure holiday!
Where to next?
We love to travel and are heading to Christchurch next week for 2 weeks to visit family and take a bit of time out.
We also want to help you document your adventures with your wee one, which is why we’ve offered all The World And Kids readers a 15% discount on our Monochrome Baby Book! We’ve included a special section for you to document all your travels, with plenty of room for photos and notes.
Website: www.blueberryco.com.au
Special Offer for The World And Kids readers: 15% off The Monochrome Baby Book
Simply enter the code TRAVEL15 when checking out.
Thanks Chloe and have a great trip!
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