Catching the Magic

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

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swimming

Happy New Year 2016!

January 4, 2016February 29, 2016 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Holidays, School hols, Special Days

It’s been well over a month since I last blogged, but Instagram has been a constant online ‘fix’ and brought back a few memories from the year with the ‘Best of nine’! The end of 2015 came around so quickly, with our three daughters finishing a great school year in early December (in a flurry […]

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Things I’m Loving

May 23, 2014August 21, 2014 BritMumInNZ 4 Comments Things I'm Loving

A few gems I’ve loved this week… ❤ Watching my daughters and dear ‘hubbie’, on a Sunday avo at a local school field, being active, having fun and keeping fit together (and eating pizza together al fresco). ❤ An afternoon visit to the marina and maritime museum in Santa Barbara with my three daughters. ❤ […]

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The Photo Gallery | Theme of the week ‘Up Close and Personal’

May 14, 2014 BritMumInNZ 6 Comments Photo Gallery

It’s scorching in southern California and this British Mamma & her Kiwi born daughters are seeking out ways to cool down (especially with the air conditioning broken and the temperature inside the house reading over 88°F 31.1°C!). Outside, around the swimming pool (thank the heavens hubbie rented a house with a pool!) it’s in the […]

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Silent Sunday

June 16, 2013June 16, 2013 BritMumInNZ 20 Comments Sarah, Silent Sunday

~≈~≈~≈~≈~≈~≈~≈~ What is Silent Sunday?

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Week in the life | Tuesday

April 24, 2012April 28, 2012 BritMumInNZ 3 Comments Sarah, School hols

A lie in of sorts – past 7am. Happily lazing in bed with Alice chattering away and nuzzling up to me. A shower by myself – a treat – whilst Alice played with her Daddy. It wasn’t long after I’d finished my shower that she found me again – whilst I was trying to decide […]

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Our baby turtle & a shark sighting

January 5, 2011January 5, 2011 BritMumInNZ 12 Comments Alice, Charlotte, Dan, Life in action - Videos, Sophie

It was a surreal day at Lyall Bay. The fog rolling in banked up on the horizon and engulfed the hills around the bay. News of a shark sighting only hours before added to the erie feeling. A fin had been spotted for a few seconds. The beach was closed for swimming, as a precaution, […]

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Water babes are LOVING having their Daddy home :)

January 4, 2011January 7, 2011 BritMumInNZ 11 Comments School hols

There’s barely been a day in the past week when our girls haven’t been playing in water (thankfully out of choice, not due to flooding – poor Queensland, Australia is in awful strife). We’ve been keeping out of the midday sun and heading to the local swimming pool – or Dan’s taken the girls further […]

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Surrendering to play this Labour Weekend

October 24, 2010 BritMumInNZ 18 Comments Holidays

Yes we have chores to do and some of them are getting accomplished, but on the whole we have been making the most of this long weekend to spend some good quality time together as a family. Dan and I are feeling shattered and sometimes the unstoppable energy of our children is simply exhausting to […]

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Easter weekend pool fun

April 9, 2010April 15, 2010 BritMumInNZ 3 Comments Life in action - Videos, School hols

Most of the Easter weekend, aside from consuming chocolate, was spent at the swimming pool. On Friday and Saturday we visited our local pool in Kilbirnie (the Wellington Regional Aquatic Centre and Spray Pool) and on Monday we went to the wave pool in Porirua. Both the girls are loving swimming and started lessons again […]

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Fun in the sun

February 27, 2010 BritMumInNZ 4 Comments Alice, Charlotte, Dan, Sarah, Sophie

It’s been a scorcher today and after our Saturday morning ritual of Charli’s swim class and splash fun after with Sophie and Dan, the girls had great fun in the garden (thanks to Dan for mowing the lawn first and getting the water-slide out from the depths of the garage)… I’d usually be in the […]

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One week till due date

February 11, 2010 BritMumInNZ 6 Comments Baby, Charlotte, Sophie

Where has this week gone? We’re back in the old routines of school and kindi and slowly adjusting. The girls have mostly been good for me in the morning; so I haven’t had too many drill sergeant major moments, but I do feel a little on edge with a rapid change in hormones. I’ve been […]

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Winter Saturday

June 6, 2009November 27, 2009 BritMumInNZ 3 Comments Life in action - Videos

So much fun on one Winter Saturday… And in between the crazy balloon chasing, roller blading, soccer and swimming, there was painting, piano playing, games of connect four and dinosaur top trumps. Purrrrrfect!

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Midwinter detoxing

June 4, 2009June 4, 2009 BritMumInNZ 5 Comments Random Musings

This is day six of no wine, beer or secret puffs. Even coffee has been put to one side (though I have weakened a couple of times). My kitchen drawer is stocked with a selection of herbal brews. I even carried a small box of chamomile in my handbag to Sophie’s afternoon Kindi today (and […]

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New Year rolling in on a BBQ!

December 31, 2008November 27, 2009 BritMumInNZ 2 Comments Charlotte, Dan, Sarah, Sophie

Phewie, the BBQ has been steaming over the past few day’s. Dan’s got the whole week off work and we are so blessed to feel like we’re having a holiday at home in our beautiful garden, with the sea just a short walk away. Kathy and Mark came round on Sunday, with their gorgeous boys. […]

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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

  • 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
  • Reminiscing on the second half of 2019 and our summer highlights April 19, 2020
  • Visits to my folks in England, Sept. 2019 & March 2020 – with plentiful National Trust visits! April 15, 2020

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