After an amazing week in Disneyland California with our friend Frances, visiting from New Zealand, we returned back to our temporary home in Santa Barbara.We made a pit stop at Universal Studios Hollywood – where it was great to see New Zealand spinning on the globe outside the park – and gave Frances a chance […]
Holidays
The Photo Gallery | Happy – Finding ‘Happy’ at Disneyland California!
Guess where we are? Known as ‘The Happiest Place on Earth’! Disneyland! This visit I am the happiest I’ve been visiting Disneyland California, and it’s not just because of the dashing man by my side (though of course he is a big part of the reason!). It’s also because our Miss 4 has finally reached the […]
Loving turning Forty in Santa Monica!
My Facebook feed was flooded with lovely messages of ‘welcome to the club’ and ‘forties are the best’ this weekend. It’s been like reliving turning eighteen again, as I’ve watched friends slightly older than me party into their forties and then, last weekend, it was my turn. It was a fabulous weekend away in Santa […]
Away to the Peak District & pause for thought | Part 3
Every since I became a parent I felt grateful; grateful because as a couple we could afford for me to stay at home and be with our children in their early childhood. I have loved it, appreciated it, immersed myself in their world and learned so much from it. On the flip side – I’ve […]
LA to UK for 4 days, sans children. A once in a decade trip! Part 1
It was my first trip away in ten years, without wearing my mother and wife ‘hats’. An old University friend in the UK was the carrot and after ten years of at home parenting (mostly as an expat in New Zealand), with only one night away (ever; and that was when I had two daughters, […]
Disneyland & California Adventures all decked up for Christmas
We visited Disneyland and California Adventure Park at the end of November, everything was decked out for Christmas. We stayed at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and it was breathtakingly decorated for the season. We holidayed with wonderful friends; our neighbours from New Zealand flew over to join us! They landed in LA, after some 14 hours of travelling […]
Snowplanet – where the weather doesn’t stop the action!
On our trip to Auckland and the winter-less north, we found one place where it snows all year round – ‘Snowplanet‘. We’d been before, over three years ago (when Alice was just a few months old, bundled in a front pack and a snow suit). This time round Alice was old enough to have a […]
Country Kids go to Brick Bay Vineyard Sculpture Trail!
Less than an hour’s drive north of New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland, is a stunning sculpture trail at the Brick Bay Vineyard. Nature and art combine to make a beautiful and fascinating walk. The sculptures entranced even the youngest of our tribe, Miss 3 – Alice, so that she happily walked most of the two […]
LOVED… Luge riding, in Queenstown, New Zealand
Before we even got our helmets on for luging, we had the thrill of a ride in the Skyline Gondola to the top of the hill overlooking picturesque Queenstown, in the South Island of New Zealand. The views from the gondola ride were beautiful – but we were in for a lot more excitement. The […]
LOVED… Puzzling World & playing on the shores of Lake Wanaka
A highlight of our holiday was ‘Puzzling World‘ in Wanaka. Dan and I had visited it over ten years ago, when the original maze was there, but since then an amazing array of attractions have been added. The maze is challenging, with 1.5km of passages. I’m sure I saw a sign saying ‘On average a […]
Silent Sunday
Chasing Gold | Kawarau Gorge Mining Centre
The Goldfields Mining Centre, located on the banks of the spectacular Kawarau Gorge, treated us to a fascinating morning of history. We stepped back in time and walked paths to mine shafts and tunnels, where the land had been laid bare by ground slicing, and through the old Chinese Village. We learned about the life […]
Loving – waking to scenery that takes my breath away
The scenery here in the South Island of New Zealand is breathtakingly beautiful. We’ve been staying in Queenstown, overlooking Lake Wakatipu, where the scenery is fluid with the weather, the season, the time of day. Waking to see beautiful sunrises and watching in awe as the colours on the mountains change as the sunsets. It’s […]
The Breathing Lake | Prose for Thought
Take me with your every breath, let me ride on your canoe, hide me from the dark shadows, and bath in your filtered light. Paint on my skin, like the sun, dipped in a heavenly palette. Caress my shoulders with air – that folds like a cloak around. I want to feel every sigh, the […]