A few months ago we took ourselves off to Nice for a week of some warming winter sun.This was a family holiday which saw relatives fly over from Canada and us from a less glamorous Liverpool. The idea was to reunite the Rutter family who don’t always get quality time together being so wide spread across the globe, celebrate a special birthday and find some time to relax.

It didn’t start so well because we forgot that we had only paid for 2 items of checked in luggage which meant we had a £60 sting straight away! Then our relatives had the journey from hell with Air France strikes meaning that it took over 2 days for them to arrive already eating into the 7 day trip.

However when we checked into our rooftop apartment we pretty much felt at home straight away. Barbara found the apartment through a letting agency and we were met on cue by our host who showed us around. We managed to make the apartment as Frank friendly as  we could shifting furniture around and hiding the sharp edges. Before long we were nicely settled and enjoying the views over the city as we welcomed the warmth.

It was a hot week, we had temperatures of up to 30 degrees and more which was a nice surprise though we were really careful with Frank making sure we weren’t outdoors during the heat of the day. This worked well though because Nice has lots of museums, galleries and shady streets to explore. Plus he was still napping more then so having the apartment was great as we could just head back for his sleeps or grab a bite to eat. This is the luxury of having self-catering accommodation when you travel with children, especially so for our first trip overseas.

Some things that really stood out for us on this trip:

- Going for an early morning run and cooling dip into the sea before buying fresh croissant from one of the well-known bakeries – always go for the one’s with the queues! It’s nice to have a Grandma to hand to do the morning shift so Dave and I could have this time together.

- Playing and having a picnic around the Promenade du Paillon fountiain Zone. There is so much fun to be had here from giant dinosaur climbing frames, to swings to fountains, even the dogs love it!

- Walking up to and visiting the Matisse Museum, amazing views from the top over Nice and then a fine collection of Matisse drawings, paintings and paper collages from his early days through to the end. An inspiring collection and a wonderfully designed building.

- A trip to the Museum of Modern Art, which was welcomed on a very hot afternoon by the 3 of us. The collections here point out the work of The New Realists, and New York Pop Artists predominantly from the 1970′s which means there are lots of conceptual works that Frank seemed to be able to engage with. The rooftop terraces are considered panorama points where we were able to look out across the city over a 360 degree spectrum. The terraces are inspired by the works of Yves Klein and there are various sculptures which offer alternative viewpoints.

Both museums were free! Always a bonus!

We also took in few sporting events in the form of a triathlon series and one stage of the Extreme World Sailing Series, so there was always something going on to keep us entertained. Always nice to do some creative event photography.

 A day trip to Antibes was really lovely too, oh the list goes on! The only thing that we wouldn’t really recommend with a crawling 9 month old is a trip to Monaco. The streets aren’t very baby friendly and the parks aren’t exactly the most welcoming either with sloping grass and pathways filled with Cruise-ship tourists. We did however enjoy a visit to the Oceanographic Museum which is a pretty spectacular building built onto the rocks overlooking the sea. The Museum has an archive of historic collections as well as a very exciting Aquarium, Frank always loves a trip to an aquarium….and so do we! The rooftop has a pretty cool play area too and views looking out across the ocean.

We went at the start of October and it was still hot then, much hotter than anticipated but having everything within walking distance made this holiday easy for us to enjoy. The laid back cosmopolitain lifestyle is pretty addictive, with a cafe culture that oozes out of every street corner.

So whilst I sit here writing this post and the snow is coming down past the window I am already planning our next trip away although I’m sure we will return to Nice again with flights from Liverpool so cheap it would be rude not to. Plus we really want to get into those mountains next time.

(All images copyright to Roscoe Rutter Ltd shot with Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, Zeiss 18mm f4 and Nikon D600 with 35mm f1.8)

Leaving our simple DOC campsite we drove towards the Kauri Coast our destination for our four wheeled home was to be Trounson forest DOC which according to the info has hot showers. Whilst on our road-trip for the day we stopped off via Opononi and Omopere to take a look at the huge sand dunes which you can dune surf on if you so desire. We just missed the trip so we decided not to hang around and wait to see if there would be another. Some wandering around on the beach was a windy experience.

Not far from the Trounson DOC site we stopped in Waipoai forest to see New Zealand’s largest tree (a Kauri tree). It’s pretty large with a thick trunk, but when you have seen the redwoods of West Coast America, its hard to get all that excited, sorry New Zealand. We did meet “Pretty Girl” a travelling cockatiel perched on her owner Glen’s shoulder who are both on a 9 month tour of the north island.

After a 16km dirt track/rough road disaster at the DOC camp site, no hot water and a mediocre kitchen! We thought better than to pay $9 each and find somewhere better. We headed back towards the Waipoai Forests information area and located 200m behind is a nice little area for overnight accommodation called Waipoai Campground, from tent pitches to large dorm buildings, bathrooms and kitchen are nice and clean and both had hot water, we parked up and cooked ourselves some dinner. We got chatting to a local logger for an hour or so about all manner of topics from the Rugby World Cup to Hunting in the woods.

After a sunny morning it was time for yet more driving, but this time back towards the ocean and Muriwai Beach via Helensville which has some historic/colonial style buildings. These were few and far between so we decided to wander around the little town along the river towards the local museum. The museum is closed on a Tuesday so we walked around the outside buildings before heading back to where we parked the van for a cold drink and some cake at The Parlour.

Arriving at Muriwai Beach we checked into the Muriwai Beach Motor Camp at $14 each and went for a walk along the black sandy beach to see the Gannets nesting and raising their young. There were thousands of adults and quite a few chicks too. It is quite funny to see the relationships between the monogamous birds when they find each other after a days fishing trip as they greet each other with lots of face/beak rubbing. The campsite is located right next to the beach and has some very good facilities and after dinner we went back to see the sunset and more Gannet watching.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)