I’ve held it together for the day. In a strange house, with my three children, whilst hubbie had his first day in a new office. I’ve answered all the questions. I’ve calmed all the nerves. I’ve been a strong Mamma. I kissed my husband goodbye with a smile. I worked out the washer and did…
Author: BritMumInNZ
Our adventure in California has begun!
Some might say, ‘Start out as you mean to go on,’ when they see the pics of us in a stretch limo driving from Los Angeles airport to Anaheim for a few days at Disneyland and California Adventures. But really, it was just a nice distraction from the reality ahead. We’ve left behind all we…
Silent Sunday
The Photo Gallery | Play
They play so easily, these two friends. Ideas roll, with fluid simplicity. They talk in a language of their own. Perfectly balanced, like a well crafted bridge. Let’s hope the ocean, that now divides them – Is to them but a stream, to step over. In their imaginations, they can be – Free to fly,…
Stepping out the door for the last time
There was the smell of spring in the air, when I stepped out the door to feed the cat, even though it’s the last month of winter. Birds were singing with the vigour of mating, my bare feet didn’t curl back on themselves, wishing for shoes before stepping out. I consciously inhaled the fresh air,…
Playing out the last weeks, Kiwi style.
The past few weeks have been filled with impromptu meet-ups and casually arranged gatherings with friends. It is very indicative of the way we’ve lived our lives here in New Zealand – a very relaxed, unstructured, casual, ‘go with the flow’, ‘she’ll be right, mate!’ kind of way. I still vividly remember having to adjust…
The beginning of a new chapter
Three sleeps to go! On Wednesday 7 August, my British husband and I, along with our three children, shall be boarding a plane to a new adventure, living in Santa Barbara, California, USA. We’ll be leaving our home of some fifteen years, Wellington, New Zealand. The place where our adventure began, when we started out…
Farewell for a while – going off-line
This will be my last blog-post from here for a while. We only have eleven sleeps before we fly to the USA, from our wonderful home in Wellington, New Zealand. I will set up a new blog when we are settled over there, and keep this one to look back on (maybe come back to…
Snowplanet – where the weather doesn’t stop the action!
On our trip to Auckland and the winter-less north, we found one place where it snows all year round – ‘Snowplanet‘. We’d been before, over three years ago (when Alice was just a few months old, bundled in a front pack and a snow suit). This time round Alice was old enough to have a…
Wardrobe Wednesday – just because I have a new blue dress!
I haven’t joined in with this linky in a while, but today the sun is smiling and there’s a hint of spring in the air here in Wellington, New Zealand. The rumbles and shakes from the earthquakes over the weekend seem to be subsiding (touch wood!) and it’s a day for smiling (despite the thought…
Prose for Thought | In Transition – Preparing for an international move (whilst the ground shakes beneath us!)
It’s pretty crazy in beautiful New Zealand right now. We’ve had some big wobbles in the shaky isles, which have been rather unnerving – but that goes with the territory here! This map, from GeoNet, shows all the quakes from Friday 21 July up until earlier today (Tuesday)… Pretty crazy amount of activity. We live…
Country Kids go to Brick Bay Vineyard Sculpture Trail!
Less than an hour’s drive north of New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland, is a stunning sculpture trail at the Brick Bay Vineyard. Nature and art combine to make a beautiful and fascinating walk. The sculptures entranced even the youngest of our tribe, Miss 3 – Alice, so that she happily walked most of the two…
Silent Sunday
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Things I’m Loving
In less than three weeks we fly away from our home of some fifteen years, New Zealand, to start an adventure living in Santa Barbara, CA, USA. Our new adventure may be for just a year, three years, or possibly more. In this past week we flew up to Auckland, from our home in Wellington,…