Catching the Magic

Two Brits in Aotearoa bringing up three little 'Kiwis'. Our children: Our future. Haere Mai!

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Nelson

Sunshine memories from Nelson

February 11, 2013 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Holidays

Just sitting here, with a glass of chilled wine, feeling a whole lot better than I did yesterday, and thinking there needs to be some sunshine photographs to mirror my mood on the blog. Here’s a few happy moments from our Nelson holiday… Beautiful Cable Bay… A visit to Founders Heritage Park and a ride […]

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ADVENTURE this week for The Gallery

January 23, 2013 BritMumInNZ 6 Comments Blasts from the past, Holidays, photography

Our family is home after a holiday in beautiful Picton and Nelson, New Zealand. We had a blast, especially with Grandma & Granddad over from the UK. As for an adventure? Well, perhaps not so much for us oldies (given we had young children stopping us from too many extended, wild adventures), but more of […]

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Holiday loves from Nelson

January 18, 2013 BritMumInNZ 7 Comments Holidays, Loving & Not Loving, Sarah

Time has to be the biggest love of any holiday for our family. No matter where we are, no matter the weather (though sunshine for at least half the holiday is preferable), it is time that holds the highest value. Time to talk idly over coffee or dinner. Time to play. Time to amble at […]

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The Gallery – Shapes from Stoneridge Cafe & Maze

February 2, 2011 BritMumInNZ 7 Comments Holidays

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 […]

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Things We’re Loving… Chinese Grandma & Granddad

January 29, 2011 BritMumInNZ 9 Comments Holidays, Life in action - Videos, Loving & Not Loving

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 […]

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Mother Nature gives us a sand whipping in Abel Tasman (The Gallery)

January 19, 2011January 27, 2011 BritMumInNZ 16 Comments Holidays

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. […]

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Bon Voyage (at least it was one way!)

October 7, 2009November 27, 2009 BritMumInNZ 4 Comments Holidays

‘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 […]

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Lost in the Maze

May 7, 2009May 12, 2009 BritMumInNZ 2 Comments Holidays, Life in action - Videos, Sarah

Pacing around the maze, All of a daze, No shade from the haze, But we are not fazed. We have supplies, We’re smarter than flies, But, why or why, As hard as we try, Is the middle so elusive? To be able to fly, Oh me, oh my, That would be cheating, But we are […]

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Eight Night’s of Southern Hospitality

April 25, 2009June 8, 2010 BritMumInNZ 8 Comments Holidays

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, […]

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Ahoy there South Island!

April 16, 2009June 8, 2010 BritMumInNZ 6 Comments Charlotte, Holidays

We’re off to the South Island on Saturday morning, taking a ride on the ferry to Picton and then driving onto Nelson. We’re renting a beautiful house for the week, with the most stunning views (reminiscent of our stay at The Captain’s Quarters with ‘Chicken’ Grandma and Grandad back in 2003!). Doubt we’ll be blogging […]

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A Beautiful Nelson Weekend

April 24, 2008June 10, 2010 BritMumInNZ 2 Comments Holidays

Finally, a break from the washing to report on the fantastic Birthday weekend that Dan and the girls treated me to. We sailed on the Interislander to Picton on Friday and had a wonderful calm and sunny crossing. The beauty of the Marlborough Sounds never fails to impress. I have particularly fond memories of this […]

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Blast from the past: Abel Tasman National Park

November 23, 2007November 28, 2009 BritMumInNZ 1 Comment Blasts from the past, Sarah

Our last trip to Nelson and the stunning Abel Tasman was six week’s after the birth of our first daughter, Charlotte. It was a trip down memory lane for Dan and I; as we’d spent a memorable trip independently kayaking the Abel Tasman. The Nelson region is simply stunning. With a mixture of beach (Abel […]

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My First Holiday

August 6, 2003July 28, 2010 Charlotte Leave a comment Charlotte, Holidays

Grandma & Grandad Aspinall and Mummy and Daddy took me on my first ferry crossing to the South Island of New Zealand.

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Welcome to the ramblings & photographs of a British expat Mum living mostly in Wellington (aka *coffee capital of the world*), New Zealand, since 1997.

This blog is a way to preserve sanity whilst raising children, capture the magic in the chaos, and share tales with family, friends, fellow parents and expats.

Along with my British born husband we have been bringing up our three Kiwi born daughters in the land of sheep, kiwi fruit and fine wine, since 2003 (with a brief 16 months living in Santa Barbara, California - where we home educated our daughters). We both first landed on New Zealand soil in 1996 (hubby) and 1997 (myself) - as fresh graduates from the UK wanting to live and work overseas... our 'OE' turned into something a lot longer and more life changing than we could ever have first anticipated!

Thank you for stopping by (if you would like to know more visit the 'About' page!).
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Recent Posts

  • Walking the Paekākāriki Escarpment Track February 1, 2021
  • Patuna Chasm | A river walk like no other! January 24, 2021
  • One week into 2021 January 10, 2021
  • Festive greetings from Aotearoa! December 23, 2020
  • Term 4 and winding down to the last days of school for 2020 December 1, 2020
  • ‘HELLO’ November 24, 2020
  • A spring holiday in Wanaka and Queenstown’s outdoor playgrounds! November 1, 2020
  • End of Term 3! October 2, 2020
  • Before the pandemic! ‘Six’ the musical in Sydney September 26, 2020
  • I miss her, Mum, even though she’s not gone. July 23, 2020
  • Our ‘bubble’ of 5 million has done it! June 9, 2020
  • Reflections on coming out of seven weeks of lockdown in New Zealand May 13, 2020

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The Toll
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The Toll
by Neal Shusterman
Dear Evan Hansen
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Dear Evan Hansen
by Val Emmich
A Map of Days
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A Map of Days
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