Back in 2022, we took a three‑month sabbatical from New Zealand to reconnect with family, explore Europe, and show our kids the places that I grew up.
Finding Spino
“It’s Spinosaurus!!” yelled Alex excitedly, running off ahead, his little legs hardly keeping up with his eagerly pointing arms at the 20-foot figure of his favourite Dino.
We were a couple of hours into our time at Rooar Dinosaur Adventure Park near Norwich or better known as “Dino land” as the kids called it, and apart from the mini cinema movie, about a troublesome Spinosaurus, we had not seen a Spino figure until now. It had clearly made Alex’s day.
Dino Land was one of the highlights of our epic three-month trip to Europe, to escape the wet NZ Winter of 2022.
Returning to the UK after three years
I had decided to leave my job and the opportunity of going overseas presented itself, so we grabbed it, arriving at Gatwick airport in the UK, to the hottest summer on record, reaching a boiling forty degrees.
After an absence of three years, it was natural to see how things had changed and how we felt about being back, comparing to our life in New Zealand.
By the time we reached Suffolk, after several serious traffic hold ups on the roads, our total door-to-door time had been a whopping thirty-eight hours, and we were exhausted. Seeing family again was an instant pick up.
Sofia and Alex now much older at six and three, were now able to interact with Grandma and Grandad and their uncles much more than on our previous visit.
The first week or two were a complete write-off as we recovered from the flight.
Several day trips around the beautiful Suffolk countryside and coast kept us entertained, as did several shopping trips.
When we first migrated to NZ, we found it hard to adjust to the lack of choice. Coming back and needing to buy clothes for the kids, we were now overwhelmed by the choice. How do people cope in this country with so many options!?
It was soon apparent that spending three months was going to give us much more time to enjoy ourselves rather than the usual three-week rush around to fit everything and everyone in. This was just what we needed after an eight-year slog of work and bringing up demanding young kids.
Feeling nostalgic
I started to feel like a child again.
I had spent most of my childhood holidays in Suffolk and driving around the narrow lanes, often visiting places buried deep in my memory brought back warm happy memories of a delightful childhood – travelling, visiting places, activities – the classics of the Suffolk coast – sticks of rock, crabbing, mini golf, amusement arcades, windbreakers, piers, fish and chips, ice creams.
I was now living my own youth through my own kids’ eyes. It was a heart-warming experience.
The only clear difference with my kids and me was our kids constantly showed their true kiwi nature by going everywhere in bare feet, with socks and trainers discarded at every opportunity.
Driving around the winding country lanes, the sights and smells of farmers’ fields took me back to my youth, growing up in a small-town England, whether it be the animal manure on the fields or the combine harvesters, I kept feeling like a child.
The overgrown green of the hedgerows hanging in the roads, blackberry bushes, stinging nettles – all classic memories of a childhood running around fields, woods and footpaths.
Seeing the kids connecting with nature the way that I had when growing up with was a joy to watch.
The challenge of navigating London with kids
Several weeks into our trip we went into London for a night out, just the two of us.
Living in NZ, we rarely get a night out, even if we do get a baby-sitter, we never stay out for the night. But we managed it, we had a night away partying and eating!
We went back again two weeks after, this time with the kids. Having lived in London together, pre kids, we thought we knew London well.
What a difference having two kids in tow makes. We found London an absolute nightmare to travel around.
Big, noisy, absolutely tiring with all the travelling by train/tube. But it was also amazingly wonderful.
The buildings, the sights, the sheer number of options for everything! – it was an epic couple of trips, and the kids loved it.
Hamley’s, the world’s largest toy shop, was the highlight, where we spent what felt like twenty-nine hours in one afternoon trapsing up and down its seven floors.
London was incredible — but also exhausting. After years in a very relaxed NZ, the constant announcements and rules did feel a bit suffocating.
The big road trip to the theme parks
Before we left for this trip, we had three big side trips we wanted to make sure we covered off.
The first was a mini trip around the south west of England to visit several theme parks. During our research, we once again became overwhelmed with the choice.
NZ only really has one theme park. The UK must have over a hundred!
We narrowed it down to a certain region and ended up on an incredible road trip starting at Legoland, visiting Cheddar Gorge, driving past Stonehenge, visiting Longleat safari park, the New Forest and Peppa Pig World.
We happened to be at Legoland on the hottest day ever recorded in the UK that reached over forty degrees. Queuing isn’t something we do too much of in NZ – having to do it for thirty minutes just to ride a Lego Dino roller coaster for thirty seconds in forty-degree heat, was enough to test anyone’s patience. But we survived the two days.
The highlight of the trip was the cheeky monkeys climbing on the car at Longleat on the self-drive safari, pulling at the wiper blades, and running all over the roof and windscreen.
This made the other two cheeky monkeys in the back of the car chuckle about it all week.
Heading to Europe
The second was a trip into Europe, visiting friends in Dresden, Germany and friends from NZ who had recently migrated to Croatia.
Deciding how to combine meeting the two groups of friends on one trip was easily solved by looking at a map of Europe.
Having travelled around Slovenia several times before, and being one of my favourite spots in Europe, being located between Croatia and Dresden, we flew into Slovenia.
We would get a car and drive to Dresden through the Austrian lakes and back meeting our Crotian Kiwi friends at the stunning Lake Bled, Slovenia.
It was an epic trip and again such an experience for the kids, as they crossed several borders, taking in stunning Austrian lakes, Pizza ‘for lunch’ in Italy, cooking marshmallows on the fire in Dresden, and witnessing the beauty of historical Lake Bled.
The smells, language, culture, sights of Europe and the ability to cross borders at will, were a reminder of just how remote we are in NZ and how much we miss travelling to different cultures so easily.
The final trip we had to make, and the most important but also the most logistically challenging was meeting Anya’s dad. With all of Western Europe blocking any direct flights to Russia, our easiest option was to meet in Turkey – in the guise of an all-inclusive holiday.
Whilst there was no immediate appeal being tied to one location, as we usually like to explore.
But as the food was all included and we just fancied kicking back not doing much, it did have some appeal. The beach was half decent and the kids loved the pool.
Being the only non-Russian in the whole hotel, I seemed to fit in well, although I drew the line at wearing tight fitting speedos and taking part in the daily aquarobics in the pool.
It turned out to be a great seven days just cruising, even if the food was a bit monotonous, we still ate far too much. The main thing was some quality time with Anya’s dad and the kids getting to know “Dedushka’’ better.
The emotional farewell
Our three months were soon up, just as the weather was starting to cool in the UK.
We would be heading back to Spring in NZ. Saying goodbye is always tearful, but this time, Sofia, was much more conscious of what goodbye meant, and as soon as she started blubbing, it set us all off. It had really been a truly once in a lifetime trip.
I don’t usually use that phrase as I always believe there’s another trip to come but this was unique in that the kids will not be at these ages again.
This was my fourth sabbatical, and to have the joy of travelling through their eyes, was truly an incredible experience.
And so back home to face the music – some huge decisions face us ahead – but there are exciting times to come too. Plans already underway to do another trip like this when the kids are older – let’s hope Spino is still waiting for us again.
Let us know in the comments if you have had a sabbatical with your kids and where you went, what you done, we would love to hear from you.
