Travels in New Zealand and beyond, going back to 2003!
After our epic holiday in Canada, enjoying plenty of snow action, we were definitely acclimatised to northern hemisphere temperatures by the time we landed in England on the 18th December. It was the first time – in nearly twenty years – that we’d be in England for Christmas and the first time, ever, for our…
We landed back in New Zealand on the 16th January, after an incredible six weeks of travel. The first part of our adventures started in snowy Canada, which were simply magical and so much fun. We landed in Vancouver, on 7 December, and drove north-east, straight to Sun Peaks, some 407km / 235 miles. It…
My youngest daughter and I flew down to Queenstown, in September 2018, to visit a friend and support her with an art exhibition. It was a wonderfully long weekend of fun in the snow, sight-seeing, great food, wine, company and art! A few days before our visit my hubby had flown down with our oldest…
The higher altitude suits my mood at least for a day or two I’m not missing the ocean or the salty sea breeze there is a clarity to the air here I feel high on its vibe gliding down the snow cloaked slopes riding the volcano with a smile from my heart I feel so…
Autumn is rolling into winter fast here in New Zealand, with snow falling heavily on the mountains of the north and south island. Whilst the deciduous trees have lost most of their leaves, the wide selection of native evergreens keep the land looking green (check out the New Zealand native plants guide on the Department…
Easter weekend coincided with the first days of April and our clocks winding back an hour in New Zealand. Thankfully the warm weather, that has been blessing our days all spring and summer, is continuing on into early autumn. (I just need to adjust to wearing my head torch for night runs!). Temperatures are in…
A 10km walk through vineyards, raising funds for a local school (Martinborough School), with a lovely group of ladies and drink stations serving wine along the way… yes please! On 17 March I headed over the hill from Wellington, with a couple of friends, and spent the night prior to the ‘Martinborough Round the Vines‘…
I signed up for the Xterra West Wind 18km trail run on a post period high whim (hormones making me feel invincible and able to do anything!). I’d not ran much more than 10km in a while and my hill training consisted of walks on the trails around my home, along with my four legged…
Wanaka is great in all seasons and after our wonderful winter holiday in 2017 we decided to revisit Wanaka – but in the summer time with my folks, visiting all the way from the UK! We had a week’s stay in Wanaka and needed activities to keep a mix of ages, abilities and personalities happy…
This is the first year we’ve entered the ‘XRACE‘ and really enjoyed the experience. My hubby teamed up with our youngest, 8 year old Alice, whilst I teamed up with our 12 year old, Sophie. All we knew about the race was that we’d be covering nearly 4km of ground with 10 challenges to complete…
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…
The drive from Wanaka to the Blue Pools Track, in Mount Aspiring National Park, is stunning. There are so many perfect photo stop opportunities. We just had a day to explore and that teaser made me want to revisit for a lot longer, to enjoy the many walking opportunities. To get to Blue Pools, we took State Highway…
We’ve all enjoyed some amazing learning experiences this week (as well as watching the last week of the Winter Olympics!). Here’s some snapshots from our two home educated learners and our school going daughter… Science I enjoyed an amazing experience at Victoria University’s science labs this week, with my 12 year old daughter. We went to…
What a great week! We’ve celebrated hubby’s 45th Birthday, our youngest daughter’s 8th Birthday and felt the love on Valentine’s Day, appreciating the amazing community of friends and neighbours that we and our children are blessed to have in our lives. Valentine’s Day fell on a Wednesday this year, which is my favourite day of…