Whilst on holiday in Nelson we visited the wonderful Stoneridge Cafe & Maze. The cafe is set in a beautiful villa, with tranquil gardens and expansive grounds for the children to run freely on. A special highlight for young and old is the well-maintained hedge maze. We set off with Chinese Granddad in tow. Grandma […]
Holidays
Things We’re Loving… Chinese Grandma & Granddad
Having Grandparents to stay is wonderful for the children. The first week was ‘getting to know you’ and from then on in we’ve been having lots of fun. It was especially nice to kick off our time together with a wonderful holiday in Nelson and Marlborough (after they’d had a few days to recover from […]
The Gallery – Children: A Holiday Special
Three generations Father and son reunited, for a special holiday together, after nearly four years of living on opposite sides of the world. The bond never breaks, but grows stronger yet with a new granddaughter to get to know. Grandparents and grandchildren reunited Stories and laughter, days out and late nights, treats and sweets. The […]
Nature at its best in the Marlborough Sounds
The dolphins leaped out of the swell around our boat, turning on their sides to examine us. Their white under-bellies were clear to see as they rolled in the water to get a good look at us. These bottle-nosed dolphins were just as curious about us as we were with them. The energy on-board was […]
Mother Nature gives us a sand whipping in Abel Tasman (The Gallery)
We walked with determined, weary legs, head-first into the wind. The sand whipped our exposed skin and scratched our eyes. The scenery was picture perfect (if we were brave enough to open our eyes and look). Laden down with bags of towels, togs and beach toys, we trudged along hoping to catch a boat out. […]
Too good to blog… but couldn’t resist a ‘quick one’!
The days are long, the nights hot (don’t get too excited – sticky children limpet style in bed rather than honeymoon style passion), the views are breathtaking, the beaches plentiful and quiet, the cafes and eateries plentiful, uniquely special, child-friendly and relaxed. We are half way through a wonderful, much anticipated and awaited holiday. When […]
Starting the day with doughnuts & rain
Well thankfully we’re not camping! This morning’s rain is torrential. Here’s the Pohutukawa tree in the garden, battling with horizontal rain in windy Wellington. The perfect tonic to a rainy morning was doughnuts freshly made before breakfast… and eaten with fresh coffee… Building with lego… Crafts… Beading… (Charlotte loves her ‘aqua beads’ from Aunty Sue […]
Crystal Mountain [Day 6]
Where can you see a wonderful collection of crystals, feed animals, ride a pony and go on a roller-coaster all at the same place? Crystal Mountain of course! We walked into a crystal shop to rival all others and the girls, who both collect gem stones (future geologists perhaps or treasure hunters?), were in their […]
Snow Planet [Day 4]
On the first day of winter, with heavy rain pelting down, we drove to Snow Planet; where the outdoor weather bears no influence on the conditions indoors. We paid our money and entered a snow filled fun zone built into the side of a hill. The temperature was -4 degrees centigrade. Brrrrr! After enjoying tobogganing […]
A welcome rainbow in Auckland and butterflies [Day 1]
Our arrival at Auckland Airport on Saturday was met by a hopeful rainbow in the sky. We’d left behind a week of wintery rain and wind and were hoping for slightly warmer temperatures in Auckland. We knew that rain was still likely, but rain is a lot more bearable when it’s not being blown horizontally […]
The last two day’s of our Wairarapa weekend…
were extremely wet! Our hopes of visiting Riversdale Beach were completely washed away when the rain set in on Sunday morning and didn’t stop till midday Monday. Thankfully, Masterton has a brilliant swimming pool, complete with hydro-slide and lazy river (and a nice spa pool for the adults) so we soaked up the water in […]
Over the hill and not so far away…
lies the sweeping rural beauty of the Wairarapa. We left on Friday in the most glorious sunshine. Our destination Poplar Cottage on the historic 19th Century Tinui Station, on the Castlepoint Road from Masterton. Enroute we stopped at Kaitoke Regional Park to stretch our legs, test out the swing bridge and watch numerous folk bravely […]
Bon Voyage (at least it was one way!)
‘I’m sad Mummy,’ said Sophie as she hugged her favourite bear and waved bye bye to Wellington. Charli, meanwhile, was focused on drawing a dolphin and was richly rewarded with the sighting of dolphins and orca as we entered the Marlborough Sounds. The crossing to Picton, on Sunday 27 September, was thankfully very calm. We […]
Eight Night’s of Southern Hospitality
Picton, gateway to the South Island, opens its arms like a loving parent to a child returned from a trip away. Since our arrival in New Zealand, in the mid 1990s, we have always had a part of our hearts in the South Island. It offers such a wild expanse of escapism mixed with open, […]
