School finished on the Thursday before Easter with a very touching Easter Service in the Wellington Cathedral, especially as our oldest daughter sang in the ‘Choral’ and our youngest with the ‘Princess Singers’ choir. I popped into my youngest daughter’s classroom afterwards and saw this beautiful nature arrangement. Good Friday morning was a relaxed start […]
The Greater Wellington BreWDay, held in Martinborough, was a wonderful combination good food, music and a jovial crowd of all ages, enjoying some fine craft brews in a rural setting. Close to the heart of Martinborough – more known for its wines and olive groves – locals and visitors (mostly from the Hutt and Wellington) […]
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. […]
The weather in Wellington this summer school holidays has so far been very kind to us and it’s been perfect for getting outdoors and exploring the copious number of regional parks, town belts walks and nature centres. Having my parents to visit, all the way from the UK, has been an extra motivator to get […]
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 […]
The new ‘Meet The Locals‘ area at Wellington Zoo is a lovely space for children and families. The natural landscape has been planted with lots of native tree saplings and vegetation, with the first ‘locals’ to meet being the little blue penguins that populate Wellington’s rocky shores. There is a slide to speed through, a […]
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 […]
Everyone is well in the family again and all the girls have been back at school for a good week and a half. It was brilliant to get some sunshine this weekend to really keep those feel good vibes swinging! We headed out to Worser Bay to take our puppy for an off lead gallop on […]
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!). […]
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 […]
The rain wasn’t going to stop us getting to Martinborough’s Mid-Winter Affair. We set off at midday on Saturday, picking up our friend Cyndi (aka ‘Latte Junkie‘) on the way. Traveling over the Rimutaka Hill the children in the back-seat played spot the waterfalls in the mist (of which there were many – albeit small […]
The past couple of weekends have given us some calm, sunshine weather to get out and enjoy the outdoors, despite it being the onset of winter here in New Zealand. We live near the south coast of Wellington and since getting our puppy, in October last year, we have good reason to get out for […]
When my youngest daughter, Alice, heard that Wellington Zoo had five new otters come to live there, she was so excited to go and visit them. As the zoo is only a short, five minute, drive from our home – and we have an annual pass – we had good reason to pop by the zoo […]