Travels in New Zealand and beyond, going back to 2003!
It’s the day after I bid farewell to my dearest parents. As I write they are winging their way back to the UK, on the long-haul flights from New Zealand to the UK, via Singapore. A big part of me feels empty and numb, trying to stay focused and busy with my three daughters (in…
We visited Lake Ferry, on the south coast of the Wairarapa, over the New Year. It’s a place of incredible wild, rugged beauty and only a half hour drive from Martinborough. The small beach village, on the shores of Lake Onoke, is known for its fishing, particularly ‘white bait’, where Lake Onoke meets the sea….
A short drive north of Masterton, is the Pukaha Mount Bruce National Wildlife Centre. I visited with my folks, from the UK, and my youngest daughter, age five, over the Christmas/New Year hols. It was a gorgeous day when we visited and after a cuppa on the deck of the cafe – with a surprise…
It’s been well over a month since I last blogged, but Instagram has been a constant online ‘fix’ and brought back a few memories from the year with the ‘Best of nine’! The end of 2015 came around so quickly, with our three daughters finishing a great school year in early December (in a flurry…
On a glorious spring day in the school hols we spent a day of thrills in Rotorua, just under a one hour drive from where we were staying in Taupo. Rotorua is well known for its smoking fumaroles, geysers, natural mineral spa and mud pools, all of which we’ve visited on previous trips to this…
Strictly speaking, we simply did the riding – not the driving – but I can assure you – it was WILD (erm, thanks – *I think* – to Jeremy, our guide). I didn’t really comprehend the adrenalin rush that the Huka Falls Jet Boat would give me, until I tried to stand up straight –…
After eight sleeps away on business, the man of the house is back! He was away in the UK and flew the long haul to LA, and on to Auckland, before the ‘hop’ down to Taupo to meet up with us on Sunday. Taupo Airport is a gorgeous place to hang out, especially in the…
What a road trip (in a good way)! I was dreading it many ways (5 hours driving with three children), but also quietly confident (as they’d been incredibly awesome for me all week – whilst their Daddy was working away overseas). We left our home in Wellington at 9.30am on a Saturday morning, trying to…
Whilst on a sunshine holiday, in the midst of New Zealand’s winter, we enjoyed a fantastic day-trip to Singapore Zoo, along with Chinese Grandma and Granddad, who flew in from the UK to meet us for a holiday. The Zoo is set in a rainforest (so take an umbrella!), though there are a vast array…
Three weeks back in New Zealand and I am already lusting after the heat of our Singapore holiday. It seems so much longer since I was stood by the side of the Singapore river, holding an umbrella for shade from the sun, feeling the thirst for water as my body responded to the constant heat…
Gardens by the Bay, in Singapore, opened to the public in 2011. It is an amazing development, which brings to life a vision of creating a City in a Garden, as described in detail on the Gardens by the Bay website. Towering over the gardens is the ‘Supertree Grove‘, which made me think of the…
Coming from a New Zealand winter the heat and humidity of Singapore was both welcoming and – at times – exhausting. However, plentiful air conditioned spaces and a great apartment to sleep in meant we were given respite from the heat – failing that we simply sought out water; by way of drinking it, playing…
Singapore, halfway between the UK and NZ, or thereabouts. A guaranteed warm destination to break up our NZ winter. A couple of weeks by the pool with plenty of entertainment to please everyone in our group – from the children (aged 5, 9 and 12) to the parents (myself and hubby) and the grandparents (who…
It’s been over ten years since I last visited Singapore, in 2005. That visit was accompanying my hubby on business, with our first born daughter (at 19 months of age). I’d also travelled before children, back in 2002 (which was an entirely different experience!). On Sunday night I will be flying to Singapore again, with hubby…