Travels in New Zealand and beyond, going back to 2003!
We followed the riddles all across Wellington, from sea level in Kilbirnie and Central Park in Brooklyn to a couple of hidden gardens in Wellington city and Mount Victoria. We visited the Botanical Gardens and the dizzy heights of Te Ahumairangi Hill, on a mission of discovery. The apprentice gardeners of Wellington City Council have been busy…
One day we are tucked up indoors playing LEGO, reading, baking and making toy boats to float on the bath tub, the next we are walking in the sunshine, picking sweat-peas, and paddling our toes in the sea. We are definitely ‘going with the flow’ this spring in Wellington (not to mention keeping sane with…
We nipped away to Martinborough this Saturday and Sunday. The winter weather wasn’t too harsh, milder than it has been, but there were still plenty of showers between the sunny moments. The lambs in the fields and rainbows in the sky definitely hinted a change in the seasons. Spring is coming… (just hurry up already!)….
This is the garden of our home in Martinborough, where we escape to as often as time allows. It’s our weekend retreat in the countryside, where the climate is frequently several degrees warmer than our place in Wellington – on the beautiful, but often wild and rugged south coast of the North Island of New…
I used to think blue was my favourite colour, like the ocean and a perfect summer’s sky, but more and more it is green that really rocks me. I love all the contrasting shades of green in nature, and the vibrancy of trees after a heavy rain. I love the inviting canopy of a lush,…
The biggest gift my parents bestowed to me was a love of nature. No matter where I am, what my life’s circumstances are, there is always nature to marvel and amaze. As a young girl the mantra, ‘No matter the weather, we’ll have a good time,’ was drummed into my subconscious. We would wrap up…
It’s nearly Spring Festival time in Wellington’s Botanical Garden and the tulips are as glorious as ever. It’s impossible not to smile when faced with all this joyful colour – from bright sunshine gold… To carpets of pinks… They always surprise me with their resilience against the seasonal spring battering of Wellington wind and intermittent heavy…
I love gardens and the Botanical Garden in Wellington is very dear to my heart. I’ve walked through the gardens frequently in the fourteen years or so I’ve lived here. I lived across the road from them for a year and was fortunate to work in an office in the heart of the gardens for…
Couldn’t resist combining these two, as I LOVE the varied GRASSES of New Zealand. So many colours and such varied textures – from coarse and spiky, to fine and wispy. In my back garden we have a steep bank, where nothing much else would grow successfully, and the native grasses that carpet the surface of the…
When nature reveals its beauty in such a way, my mind cannot possibly comprehend what my eyes see. It is miraculous, beautiful, incredible, literally breathtaking. A child cannot help but want to reach out and touch – as if to convince their mind that what they see is in-fact real. I almost have to pinch…
Sunday 1 April signals the end of daylight saving in New Zealand. Clocks wind back one hour and night will fall around 6.30pm. So, one week before the nights draw in, we went to the Botanical Garden in Wellington for some music and grooving as dusk drew in. Eagles tribute music from ‘Life In The…
It has been a week of celebrating the beauty of nature. ♥ Loved learning of New Zealand’s native trees and the amazing variety of different trees the world over. ♥ Loved identifying different tree species in our garden at home and in Wellington’s Botanical Garden with Sophie and Alice. Sophie worked so enthusiastically and wrote…
A visitor to my garden on Monday marked the start of a new school year and the end of the summer holidays. I have a special affection for Monarch butterflies. To me they are spiritual guardians, carrying messages from loved ones. After Charlotte set off happily to school on Monday the butterfly soared into the…
Sometimes it’s so nice not to have to be anyway or even want to go anywhere. It’s great to have a home and garden that we enjoy ambling around in. This Sunday was just one of those that called for some home-time chilling. My view from the sofa… Though Dan did need to take our…