With the days dark and short here in New Zealand we jetted off for some warmth and sunshine in the Cook Islands, just a three to four hour flight from Auckland. We have never visited any of the Pacific Islands and it was with great delight that we touched down on the runway in Rarotonga, […]
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 […]
Staying on the shore of Lake Windermere, at the YHA Ambleside, we spent three nights, and a few wonderful days, soaking up the beautiful scenery. We enjoyed hiking the countryside, taking a boat across the lake and visiting Beatrix Potter‘s 17th-century farmhouse ‘Hill Top. Our hike took us about 6 miles, from Wray Castle to […]
The last weekend in April I jetted up to Rotorua, on an Air New Zealand turboprop jet departing Wellington, for a less than 24 hour whirl-wind trip away. I planned to run the half marathon, after my ambitious plans to run the full marathon fell short, due to not enough training time (family commitments and […]
It’s been two weeks since we returned from our fabulous hols in Singapore (more blog posts coming on that trip!), and we’ve been so busy settling back into ‘Term 3’ of the school year – especially with the man of the house away, on business, for a week and a half. He was working in […]
Where do I start?! The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of saying goodbye to our life in Santa Barbara, enjoying a last few days in Disneyland California, and then finally boarding an Air New Zealand flight for that final flight home! It’s been weeks since I have written anything on this blog. I’ve […]
We touched down at London Heathrow early afternoon on Saturday. Our flight from Los Angeles went smoothly enough – after a delay boarding the plane due to a fatality on the incoming plane from New Zealand. Thankfully, we had access to the Air New Zealand lounge, which was so much more pleasant and peaceful than […]
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, […]
Our taxi swept us away to London Heathrow at midday yesterday. The emotions of saying goodbye were quelled with the thought of ‘Chicken’ Grandma & Granddad visiting us in New Zealand, almost ten weeks to the day of our departure from England. As we made our way from the taxi, laden heavily with baggage, a […]
It’s been five years since we’ve done the long-haul flights from our home in Wellington, New Zealand, to the UK (and having just done it, I now remember the reason why we left it so long before doing it again, it’s bloody hard work!). It had to be done though. With the talk of us […]
2007 I was last there. It was the last time I travelled long-haul from NZ to the UK, via San Francisco. I was a mother to two young children – now three. The memories are still very clear and we had a blast (even if we had poor helmet wearing style!). Hubbie is there now […]
My skin in rubber I entered the cave. I waded through water, thinking, ‘Be Brave’. The air without motion, no day or night. I would have felt terrified without a light. Our confident guide led us on with wit, His office had no chairs in which to sit. Instead, I positioned my derrière – In […]
From ever since I can remember I wanted to travel. When I was a girl my dear father would spend half the year working overseas – in stints of a fortnight in Germany, a week in Norway, a few weeks in France or the United States of America. I only have happy memories of those […]
Thank you for a special greeting when I was woken at 5am this morning (all happy sounds – but Alice and Sophie decided to greet the day early!). Thank you Charlotte, for your amazing recipe – which I waited patiently all day to taste! Thank you Sophie for the beautiful ‘bouquet’ picture you so beautifully […]