Wellington celebrated the Chinese New Year with a wonderful parade yesterday. Dragons, firecrackers and ornate costumes proceeded through the streets and along the waterfront. We started off the day with chocolate all round for Valentine’s Day (any excuse!). The shops are now laden with chocolate from November through to April, what with Christmas, Valentine’s Day…
Author: BritMumInNZ
There’s a Birthday in the house!
But it’s not baby. Looks like Dan has his special day safely to himself – unless I have a very sudden surprise within the next hour! He went in late this morning so he could enjoy opening his pressies and came home a little early for a Birthday tea laden with sugar treats, which the…
One week till due date
Where has this week gone? We’re back in the old routines of school and kindi and slowly adjusting. The girls have mostly been good for me in the morning; so I haven’t had too many drill sergeant major moments, but I do feel a little on edge with a rapid change in hormones. I’ve been…
Bon Voyage Granddad
We sadly bid farewell to Granddad last night. We have enjoyed the most incredible time together and we were all a little teary saying goodbye. We have promised to take good care of Grandma and will be sure to give her lots of big cuddles. Unfortunately he has to return to work and we know…
The last two day’s of our Wairarapa weekend…
were extremely wet! Our hopes of visiting Riversdale Beach were completely washed away when the rain set in on Sunday morning and didn’t stop till midday Monday. Thankfully, Masterton has a brilliant swimming pool, complete with hydro-slide and lazy river (and a nice spa pool for the adults) so we soaked up the water in…
First day, first term, new year
I was having ‘going back to school’ dreams this week, apprehensive of how the girls would react after nearly seven week’s of freedom. But I needn’t have worried. They were super good for me getting out the door and bounded into school and kindi with great excitement. Charli ran on ahead and into her new…
Legend, history, remarkable rocks & sandy beaches…
all come together at Castlepoint, where we spent the second day of our weekend away in the Wairarapa. Only a 12 minute drive from our holiday cottage on Tinui Station we packed up the car and set off. We’ve lived in Wellington for over ten year’s but have never made it to Castlepoint. We’ve heard…
Over the hill and not so far away…
lies the sweeping rural beauty of the Wairarapa. We left on Friday in the most glorious sunshine. Our destination Poplar Cottage on the historic 19th Century Tinui Station, on the Castlepoint Road from Masterton. Enroute we stopped at Kaitoke Regional Park to stretch our legs, test out the swing bridge and watch numerous folk bravely…
Sunshine and Fog
On Tuesday we headed out to the Botanical Gardens in gloriously, hot sunshine. We parked at the top of the cable car, with a plan to walk all down hill, via the playground, duck pond, Sound Shell, Rose Gardens and into the city, before riding the cable car back up. However, poor Sophie had a…
Fun at the Races & Blueberry Stuffing!
On Monday, Wellington Anniversary Day, we headed over to Trentham Race Course for the family day. We’d never been before, but thought the girls would enjoy it and there was so much free entertainment for children. Adults cost $10, children free and all the activities were free! So they had a fabulous time on the…
Bubbles, horses & fun on the farm
I read in the newspaper last week that when there’s lots of moisture in the air it’s perfect for making bubbles, as Alan McKay demonstrated in Wellington on Friday. On Sunday morning the girls raced out the kitchen door into the garden and delighted in bubbles sticking to plants, the walls of the house and…
An amazing few days
It is absolutely incredible to have Grandma and Granddad here! This week we’ve been blessed with warm weather and even the showers on Wednesday morning and Thursday weren’t enough to dampen our spirits. In fact we spent Thursday at Zealandia (previously known as Karori Wildlife Sanctuary) where we walked for over three hour’s through the…
They’ve arrived!
Monday morning and we woke to fog. We were full of excitement at greeting Grandma and Granddad off their flight… but delays were to be expected. Thankfully, we only had to wait an hour and the fog lifted to reveal an absolute pearler of a day. It’s been two, long year’s since we last saw…
One wet summer Saturday
What to do on a wet and windy summer Saturday? Get out the paints and get messy! We spent two hour’s on Saturday morning stepping in plates of paint and then soaking our feet in buckets of warm, soapy water to create a huge ‘Welcome’ banner for Grandma and Granddad’s arrival from the UK tomorrow…