SOLD UP AND TRAVELLED AOTEAROA

When 2019 rolled around, Kowhai Noble Te Kira had no idea that by the end of January she and her husband Tremaine would decide to sell their home, all their belongings and buy a caravan to travel the length of New Zealand with their two children.

“It just kind of happened,” Kowhai laughs.s. “We went on a holiday in our caravan at the startt of the year and we loved it. And my sister said, ‘Whyhy don’t you do it full-time for a bit?’ It was a brilliantt idea.”

Pretty swiftly, the family home in Christchurch hurch was sold. Kowhai, 33, quit her job as a sport coordinator and secondary school dance teacher, cher, Tremaine, 36, handed in notice at his job as a Maori health provider, and the kids, Cairo, six, and Echo, four, were pulled out of daycare and school.

“And we upgraded to a more spacious caravan,” ravan,” Kowhai adds. The family have been on the road oad since June, stopping every few days at any spot pot that takes their fancy between Christchurch and Cape Reinga.

“The kids are at a great age to do this right ht now,” Kowhai explains. “They love every dayy as it’s such an adventure!”

The highlight for the Te Kira family has definitely efinitely been spending time with – and in some caseses meeting for the first time – extended whanau all around the country.

“There’ll always be a job or a house or money to make,” says Kowhai. “But sometimes you just have to go do that once-in-a-lifetime thing, and 2019 was our year to do just that!”