A long time between drinks - the von Yarralls are on the move again!

Over five years have passed since we last posted here, but we're starting up the blog again having moved to another new country!

A potted history of the past five years so the next posts make sense:

• we moved back from London to New Zealand in October 2017
• baby number 2 arrived in early 2018
• we bought a house in Wellington, we had jobs, we made friends, we had hobbies, we raised kids, we survived pandemics and lockdowns and working with toddlers

Then we got itchy feet, and in January 2023 we moved our family to the Cook Islands where Dean has a job for a couple of years. It's a chance to immerse ourselves in a different culture (English and Cook Islands Maori are both spoken) and a different way of living as a family for a bit.

For our readers outside of NZ or Australia, the Cook Islands is a country comprising 15 islands a four hour flight from NZ. The largest island, Rarotonga, is where we're now living. It has a population of around 11,000 and takes 40 minutes to drive right around. Tourism is by far the country's main earner, and the next posts will illustrate why - picture white sandy beaches, crystal clear water, tropical warmth, and a gorgeously simple, slow pace of life.

Follow us for updates about island life, and please come and visit!

Dean, Lou, J and E x

                                                    Lou, E, Dean and J in winter 2022 in New Zealand

San Sebastian, Spain

Dean’s folks and one of his sisters paid us a visit in May/June, so we joined them for a week in San Sebastian, in Spain’s Basque country. It’s a foodie paradise, with more Michelin star restaurants than anywhere in the world. So yes, we ate!

We stayed in a fabulous big apartment right on Zurriola beach and I think one of Mini-Yazza’s highlights was running around in that, he’s not used to so much space, sadly.

Other highlights included days on the beach (the nude beach is perfect for swimming with little ones, and it’s fine to get them nude too!), eating icecreams, wandering the old town with its gorgeous churches, enjoying the aquarium on a rainy day, exploring the famous La Concha beach and walking up to the top of Urgull hill to take in the views from the 12m tall statue of Jesus. For mini, the highlight was going on a tourist train (‘Car! Car!’), stuffing a whole plate of fresh tuna in his gob, stealing my entire icecream when I offered him a lick, and having so much quality time with family.

Spot the stowaway

Bliss.

 

Fly: Easyjet to Biarritz in France, then it’s a 30-40 minute car trip. We arranged a van for the 5 of us, including a car seat for mini at £120 each way which was a bargain.

 

Stay: Hollywood Zurriola – can’t recommend this place enough, 4 huge double bedrooms, a well-equipped kitchen and loads of space. The bakery/café downstairs has the most friendly staff (Mini got loads of kisses) and just a block to the beach. Also plenty of outdoor playgrounds in the neighbourhood and a supermarket a couple of blocks away.

 

Eat: The in-laws became regulars at Bodega Donostiarra around the corner from our apartment which was busy every evening with locals. We also ate plenty of churros and plates of pinxtos as we wandered the old town, including a highlight of beef cheeks at Atari Gastroteka in the Old Town.

The view from our apartment

Weekend in Prague

Prague had long been on our list of must-visits, so we cashed in some frequent flyer miles to get there in May for two nights. It was the ideal city break with a Mini-Yazz – everywhere was easily walkable, the food was cheap and tasty and often eaten in beer gardens with play equipment for little ones, and most of the sights were free and outdoors.

 

In two days, we covered pretty thoroughly the old town and related sites, including the famous clock tower, the Charles bridge, and castle. Top tip: You can actually access much of the castle without paying entry, you still need to join the queue for a bag search, then you’re in the castle grounds where you can admire the outside of buildings and get into both church foyers. It’s only once you’re in that you have the option of buying a ticket to access some of the areas, so don’t be put off by the queue.

Lots of steps to the castle

 We also took the funicular to the top of Petrin Hill for an explore and enjoyed the walk back down through lovely gardens.

View from the Castle

Stay: Royal PragueCity Apartments – spacious with a kitchenette and supermarket down the road

Eat: Trdelník or Chimney cake – you see these everywhere roadside, cylinders of pastry rolled in cinnamon and stuffed with cream or icecream.

French fancies

We were lucky to have Lou’s mum visit in springtime and to be invited to join Lou’s Switzerland-based sister and her kids on holiday on the coast in France.

Cousins exploring

It was a week filled with cousin fun, French pastries, BBQs, sunshine and the beach. The Easter bunny discovered where to find us, so the kids enjoyed an Easter egg hunt too.

Oh yeah, and plenty of French wine with these lovelies

Mini-Yazz especially enjoyed being strapped onto the back of a bike (so much so he fell sound asleep one day) and boisterously jumping on the trampoline with his bigger cousins.

Dean tried his hand at sea kayaking while Lou wiped out on the bodyboard. Another tremendous time with family to remember.

Trampolining fun for the big kids too

Christmas in Suffolk

A few photos from our week in Suffolk with Lou’s bro and family just after Christmas 2016.

We were lucky to find a huge house for hire with plenty of space for the three kids to play in the village of Southwold, with loads of toys and activities to keep them entertained and lovely shops for the Mums to peruse. It was a low-key week with lots of wanders along the beach and through the pretty little town, and a boozy grown up New Year's Eve. The Two magpies bakery was a regular stop for delicious nibbles and even did fab pizzas on Saturday nights. A great get-away within an easy drive from London.

Happy New Year!

Rhodes relaxation

September saw us spend a week at a Mark Warner resort in Levante, Rhodes. The priority in our search was somewhere with childcare, as living in the UK without much extended family meant in almost a year we hadn’t really had a break and as much as we love Mini-Yazz, we were dying for some quiet time poolside!

Friends had recommended this particular Mark Warner, and having booked early we were upgraded to a family room which meant we didn’t even need to share with Mini, double win.

It’s a gorgeous resort, still fairly new so in great shape. Each day we’d gorge on breakfast before playing in or around the pool with Mini, who also enjoyed time in the small playground and on the beach. After his lunchtime nap, we’d drop him off at the excellent childcare facility for 3 hours of fun. This was our first time leaving him with strangers and in a nursery-type environment so we weren’t sure how he’d manage but apart from turning on the tears when we’d drop him off, by all accounts he had a blast. The team of nannies (all UK-trained) were friendly and confident, and clearly formed a bond with all the kids in their care. This resort did a kids meal at 5pm, so Mini could eat while we enjoyed a G&T before delivering him back to the childcare facility where he could sleep. While we  extra paid for each afternoon of childcare, this evening care is a free benefit available to all families at the resort. Mini wasn’t great at falling asleep there though so we only did this a couple of times, but it was fab to eat alone and pretend we were grown ups again.

 On our free afternoons, we made the most of the hotel facilities, trying paddle boarding, sailing and kayaking, a game of water polo, and even a couple of open-air pump classes. Dean took part in the resort mini-triathlon one evening, rocking into second place alongside some much more serious competitors. Proud wife and son moment.

We hired a car one day to explore the old town in Rhodes city which is an ancient walled town boasting cobbled lanes and a lovely, strollable harbour – the site of the legendary Colossus of Rhodes statue, destroyed in an earthquake more than 2000 years ago. That means we’ve been to 3/7 ancient wonders of the world – Rhodes, Ephesus and Giza. Still a few to tick off the list then!

All up, just what the Doctor ordered. Mini-Yazz charmed the pants off the nursery staff, who awarded him the Robin Hood award for stealing the nannies’ hearts, and so we all returned rested, and ready to face the London autumn.

 

Cottage life in Slovakia

What luck that our friends from Sydney, Marcel and Kate, were visiting Marcel's family in Slovakia for a few months over summer with their boys, and that we hadn't yet been to Slovakia. Another country for the list*!

We enjoyed an absolutely fun-filled, chilled out few days with them in a holiday cottage really in the middle of nowhere, near a tiny town called Ilava, about 90 minutes from Bratislava.

Sampling the local food and drink

With three boys under three, we spent a lot of time mooching at home juggling nap times and chasing naked boys around the property and in and out of the paddling pool. Mini Yazz thrived on the experience of being around other kids constantly, and loved being able to crawl around in the nud.

Our cottage

Slovakia is full of thermal areas too, so we spent a lovely day at nearby Zelena Zaba thermal pools. Mini proved he's fearless when it comes to water (a good thing or a bad thing?) throwing himself around and especially enjoying a rather fast and crowded whirlpool feature. We also spent a morning exploring the castle and cobbled streets of nearby Trencin. And on our way from Vienna (the best flight option for us was from London to Vienna, where we spent a night in a hotel at the airport before hiring a car to drive to Slovakia) we popped in to Bratislava, waltzing across a bridge spanning the Danube and exploring the old town there too.

View from Trencin castle

All up, exactly the break away we needed, with plenty of sunshine, top-class company, food and booze. A heartfelt thank you to Kate and Marcel for being locals and arranging everything including goulash and Slovakian 'tea'. Blog post to come on the realities of traveling with babies though!

Mini-Yazz trying to break free

*A timely reminder to do a list of countries visited since moving to the UK before we lose track: Abu Dhabi (Dean), America, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Canada, Croatia, Denmark (Lou), Dubai (Dean), Egypt, England, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India (Dean) Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Luxemburg, Malaysia, Malta, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Scotland, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Singapore, South Africa, Wales.
And before we made the move: Australia, Hong Kong, New Caledonia, Rarotonga (Dean)