It’s been four weeks since I landed in England, where half of my heart lives. It was so hard to say goodbye to my husband and three amazingly supportive children to make this journey, not knowing when I’ll be able to return to New Zealand. I talk to them via video calls most days and […]
It’s been a few quiet weeks at home for us, with the level 4 lockdown lasting for two weeks and then moving to level 3 on 1 September (basically level 4 with takeaways for us!). Tomorrow, on 8 September, we move down to level 2 with schools and hobbies resuming. Auckland remains in level 4, […]
On Tuesday night New Zealander’s got the news of one person in the Auckland community having tested positive for Covid-19 and that the entire population of New Zealand would got into a Level 4 lockdown at midnight. This was the first case in the community since February. With the more contagious Delta variant, recent outbreak […]
On occasions, like right now, I feel the need to dump down where we’re at on this old blog, which I started in 2003 (long before social media platforms came into play!). I often wonder why I keep this blog, but then my husband and I will start talking about some memory or other and […]
The Paekakariki Escarpment Track, north of Wellington on the Kapiti coast, otherwise known as ‘The Stairway to Heaven’, is a 9.6km walk, comprising of lots of steps (more than 400) climbing to 220m above sea level, a couple of 40m swing bridges and a narrow pathway with some steep drop offs (not for the faint […]
Patuna Chasm is a place I’ve been aware of for years and finally got around to visiting! Having admired photographs of Patuna Chasm for a while, and hearing rave reviews from anyone that’s ever visited, I was hoping my high expectations wouldn’t be let down. I had no need to worry! This incredible walk, through […]
Happy New Year! I have to say I’m feeling very fortunate to be living freely in New Zealand at the moment. Writing about all our freedoms seems a little unfair when so many people around the world are struggling with the Covid-19 Pandemic, facing lockdowns and huge restrictions on normal day to day activities. I […]
It’s been a whirlwind few weeks of events and I am so grateful that our ‘team of 5 million’ pulled together earlier in the year, with the 7 week lockdown, so that we can enjoy living a life of ‘relative’ normality now (things can always change!). Everyone I talk to is filled with gratitude and […]
Term 4 in New Zealand is always a short and fast one. My youngest daughter gleefully reminded me that Christmas Day is fast approaching – and there’s me thinking that surely we’re still in September – but one look at our dog, on pick up from his pre-summer groom, and there’s no denying the festive […]
‘HELLO!’ such a simple word. Five letters, two syllables. Spoken several times a day without much thought. Thrown out in passing, shouted across the street, as we enter a shop, greet someone in the local cafe, throw open the front door – ‘Hello’ we call out, ‘Anyone home?’. I never gave the word much thought, […]
With the global pandemic of Covid-19 raging on and New Zealand’s borders still shut the hashtag #DoSomethingNEWNewZealand is being banded about on social media. New Zealanders are exploring their own country more than ever before. As a family we’ve holidayed in the South Island of New Zealand on multiple occasions, particularly around Wanaka and Queenstown, […]
What a term it’s been! With so many parts of the world unable to function as normal due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we feel extremely blessed to be able to live pretty much as normal, for now! Most of New Zealand, with the exception of Auckland, has had a pretty normal school term, but a […]
In a time when international travel is off the radar I’m finding an increasing number of my friends posts on social media are nostalgically looking back on holidays from the past. One of our last trips overseas was in February this year, just before the pandemic forced borders around the world to close. We travelled […]
I miss her, Mum, even though she’s not gone. Still here, but not. I see a flash of her smile and hear her laugh. Drying dishes. Tears in my eyes, wishing for easy conversations. I move on. Wipe down the kitchen bench-top; my daughter has left hot glue gun remnants soldered onto the surface. I […]