My youngest daughter and I flew down to Queenstown, in September 2018, to visit a friend and support her with an art exhibition. It was a wonderfully long weekend of fun in the snow, sight-seeing, great food, wine, company and art! A few days before our visit my hubby had flown down with our oldest […]
Holidays
Solo trip to see my dear folks in England
Ever since my Mum was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease I’ve felt the impact of living on the other side of the world from her in a deeper magnitude than any time in the past twenty years. Seeing my folks visit us in New Zealand this recent Christmas and New Year was absolutely amazing, but also […]
Our summer visit to Wanaka, January 2018
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 […]
Day trip: Wanaka to the Blue Pools in Mount Aspiring National Park
The drive from Wanaka to the Blue Pools Track, in Mount Aspiring National Park, is stunning. There are so many perfect photo stop opportunities. We just had a day to explore and that teaser made me want to revisit for a lot longer, to enjoy the many walking opportunities. To get to Blue Pools, we took State Highway […]
Lake Tekapo to Wanaka via the Lindis Pass and Wanaka Lavender Farm
Our summer holiday with my parents continued on from Lake Tekapo to Wanaka (the journey starts here), driving via the Lindis Pass. It was a murky day, not the best for stopping and taking photographs, but nevertheless the Lindis Pass had a hauntingly desolate beauty about it. The Lindis Pass links the Mackenzie Basin with […]
A record summer shared with family, holidaying at home and in the South Island
New Zealand is experiencing the hottest summer in 150 years! It’s been the most incredible summer in Wellington too (which can be hit and miss). We’ve had temperatures in the high twenties and into the thirties, the beaches are crowded, the sea is being swum in (normally only for the brave or crazy) and sales […]
It’s getting close – 2018 – and so I’m taking a moment to reflect
So little time to reflect and review, and so freeing to not have to either! We really have been living and loving in the moment for most of this year, what with new adventures in horse riding, skiing and an early summer making us yearn for sea dips and boogie boarding, but as it draws […]
Wanaka is so easy to LOVE! 10 things we did & loved in Wanaka…
Wanaka is one of those places that I felt pained to leave. After a week’s stay, in beautiful spring weather, we returned to Wellington – and I sulked for a week. Don’t get me wrong – I do adore Wellington (after all it’s been my home for nearly twenty years!) but the holiday blues hit […]
Our snow fun adventures | Winter 2017 NZ
We’ve had such a blast this winter! For the first time we bought ski season passes for Mt Ruapehu for the whole family – giving us freedom to ski on both sides of the mountain, at Whakapapa and Turoa ski-fields. It’s really great to be able to access the snow in under four hours, driving […]
A hike in the Peak District National Park, from Edale to Chinley
The day after arriving in the Peak District, at my sister’s house, we set out on a crisp spring morning (a chilly 7°C) with my parents and sister’s partner. We took the train, from Chinley to Edale, so we could hike back across the hills, covering nearly 400(m) of elevation gain in 12km (nearly 8 […]
Peak District loves with my folks in England
The second part of my visit to family in England (part one here) was spent in the Peak District, with my folks, sister and her partner. In a short three day, four night visit we enjoyed an 8 mile hike from Edale to Chinley (blog post here), I ran my first fell run at Herod […]
A fix of family, English countryside & history in Hampshire
Mid April I took off from Wellington, New Zealand, flying over the great Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean, to visit my folks in England. I was keen to see my Mum, who’d turned seventy on the 2nd April, and to spend some precious time with her, my Dad, sister and partner. I flew solo, for […]
Revisiting the Marlborough Food & Wine Festival
Nineteen years ago, on 14th February 1998, my then boyfriend proposed to me at the Marlborough Food and Wine Festival in New Zealand. It wasn’t overly romantic to any onlookers – simply a guy on one knee, kneeling on a random piece of earth, asking a girl to marry him. What made it special was that […]
2017, I am here and I know it’s mid-March!
This is the longest time I’ve gone without blogging and, to be honest, I haven’t missed it. I’ve only felt slightly remiss for not having ‘documented’ everything so that I can look back on it in later years. The last few weeks of November into December were so busy, with our oldest finishing school for […]