New Zealand trip with children - ALL ideas most welcome!

[indymum]

Hi. We are off to New Zealand in April to suss it out for possible emigration and are taking our dd (7) and ds (4)with us. Apart from the usual entertainment (new toys, books, music, colouring, blah blah) does anyone have any other ideas as to how to keep them occupied? On another note, does anyone have any ideas if there is a child-friendly sleeping pill on the market for on the flight for anxious/lively children?

I'm dreading doing this trip with kids tbh. BUT, some people say Medised is good (not a sleeping pill) but a mild sedative

Well, tbh I think every little helps and the prospect of going 24hours without sleep is terrifying! Someone mentioned antihistamines to me, but I don't know anything about them.

I was supposed to be taking a trip to NZ this year, but events have deemed otherwise so it will be next year when DS is 2+. I am not sure whether this is a good thing or a bad thing

A friend of mine who travels with children has a box (about the size of a small icecream tub) which she fills with new, small toys. Keeps them fascinated for ages apparently, and fits into her hand luggage. Throw some old familiar things in, and some things they haven't seen for a while.

I was advised to go along the medised route too FWIW.

Forgot to say - the sedative in medised is an antihistamine (I believe)

Many thanks for that Squarer - will look into it. Are you going to NZ permanently or just on holiday? Have you been before?

We're just going on a long holiday to visit the rellies this time round, although we will move permanently in a few years. This will be an easy thing to do for us, as all of DPs family are there and the kind of work I do is sought after in NZ. What draws you to it?

Oh, you know.....more laid back lifestyle, less people, nice place for kids to grow up and lots of things that the UK isn't!!! Got rellies in Auckland and Timaru but not close enough to warrant sponsorship unfortunately. Haven't done any immigration stuff yet, we're just waiting to see what we think of it first.

Are you going via Singapore? If so remember there is a swimming pool in terminal 1. Pack your swimsuits in your carry on luggage, the towels come as part of the entry price.

Try and get a flight that lands in the morning. Keep them awake for the first 12 hours, run them ragged at the changeover then into pj's, medicate and sleep for the second leg.

I flew over to UK on my own from NZ (I'm a kiwi)with lively 3 yr old ds
No drugs, it was fine, also highly recommend Singapore for stop overs even just for an hour or so refuelling stop, the facilities at the airport were fab 9 yrs ago so bet they're out of this world by now!
If you try such a sedtive as phenergan PLs test it out beforehand, we ere lucky we did as ds went hyperactive on it
On a plane for 30 hrs that would = hell
Enjoy your holiday its the best palce in the world bar none
Few favourite books, crayons, littel tpys, wipe clean little magna doodles etc they provide headphones and films usually too.

I flew over to UK on my own from NZ (I'm a kiwi)with lively 3 yr old ds
No drugs, it was fine, also highly recommend Singapore for stop overs even just for an hour or so refuelling stop, the facilities at the airport were fab 9 yrs ago so bet they're out of this world by now!
If you try such a sedtive as phenergan PLs test it out beforehand, we ere lucky we did as ds went hyperactive on it
On a plane for 30 hrs that would = hell
Enjoy your holiday its the best palce in the world bar none
Few favourite books, crayons, little toys, wipe clean little magna doodles etc they provide headphones and films usually too.

Joy rides (anti travel sickness pills from Boots) make my two very sleepy. Handy pink sweet form too.
If you have an ipod, download some children's stories. We have the Wind in the Willows, Just William, Just So Stories and Whale Rider (nice and topical) on ours. Download from i-tunes. Otherwise, take an old walkman and some story tapes.
Singapore airport has a good book shop with loads of sticker books which keep mine happy.

I too am about to do this trip - only via Hong Kong and Melbourne - 32 hours in total!!! with a 21 month year old (and no partner - he is staying behind with older two, what a darling!!). We leave at 7 pm so I am thinking that the leg to HK should be okay, normal sleep time etc. What I am concerned about is the next leg, after a 5 hour stop it will then be my ds's day time whilst we will be leaving HK their evening, so all on plane will fancy a kip and he will fancy a play, but then part of it might coincide with his nap?

One thing I can't remember from doing this with dd when she was similar age is if they will dish out large qty's of milk or should i take formula as back up? I have decided that the only way to cope/deal with the journey is to be very Zen about doing whatever he wants to do (within reason) as tyring to restrain will always provoke a reaction, so if he wants to march up and down the aisles then so be it! Lots of people have said 'dope him' but I have huge issues with that - lets see how they hold up on the return journey!?

Any of you got any 'must see' sights around Wellington as that is where we will be based?

We moved over to Auckland last August and the Gameboys were invaluable, also planes with TV's in back of seat were great. Where are you heading?

Sorry, just read 'Wellington' durgghhh!!

At 7 and 4, surely they will be okay with watching children's movies (Singapore airlines has best selection and you can start and stop on demand). Singapore airport has about 3 people in some of the areas when we were there and so you could have running races in a quiet section between flights to wear them out a bit.

wellington has heaps of stuff to do:

Te Papa
Museum of City and Sea
Cable Car
Frank Kitts park (right in city centre)
Ferry to a beach with 100 crabs under every stone
Train to Khandallah and walk up the big hill through the bus
Various zoos and wildlife parks
Parliament tour was an unlikely hit with ds (who is almost 3), they show you how the earthquake proofed it - and he loved that bit
Catching the yellow bus around the city
Capital E is a place for children and has various shows and exhibitions throughout the year. There is also an indoor play area, which is handy if the weather turns crap.

Enough for you?

Has been a while since I've been. Thanks all for your input. We are actually flying with a one night stopover in LA with Air New Zealand. Am getting less concerned about the flight now and more concerned about how we are going to fit everything in during the time we are there! SO excited but also quite stressed that hubby won't like it as much as me, ergo no move to NZ (I can feel some compromises coming)!!!

From Wellington hire a car and go to Staglands in the Wairapa. Fabulous outdoor park with animals and keas.