Hi Dawn,
Wellington is a great place, loads to do with the kids. Unfortunately, the weather is generally awful. We spent a week there over christmas. The rest of NZ basked in glorious weather - we were frozen, wet and windswept. It's great for a visit, but we couldn't live there just because of the weather.
We spent five months on the road in NZ 'cos we shipped our campervan from the UK. Spent two months in it across Europe before that. We settled in Chch but keep doing little bits. Haven't been to Akaroa yet, which is only an hour away because there's so much to do in Chch.
A flying fox is a zip wire ride. They have them in playgrounds all over, but they're usually fairly timid. The one at Motueka is about 700m long and runs down a blooming great big hill - about 200m high I think. You sit in a metal capsule a bit like the cockpit from a plane and get winched up to the top. Then they let you go.......... You rattle down getting faster and faster until you make a splash landing on water at the end.
Of course, the bigger the riders, the faster it goes!
There are loads of horse trekking places in the Bay of Islands. Try this link for some ideas
TrueNZ Guide to Northland horse trekking and riding. Horse treks and rides in New Zealand. Haven't been though - our eldest lad is allergic to horses - even had to be rushed to the Mickey Mouse Hospital during the Wild West Rodeo show at Disney!