Catching the Magic

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

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    • Auckland in 7 days – June 2010
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travel

Our summer visit to Wanaka, January 2018

March 22, 2018May 7, 2019 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Header, Holidays, School hols

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 […]

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Loves from ‘The Lake District’

October 21, 2016October 22, 2016 BritMumInNZ 13 Comments Alice, Country Kids, Header, Holidays, Sarah, Walks

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 […]

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Rotorua whirlwind trip to run the half marathon

May 21, 2016 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Header, Running, Sarah

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 […]

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Hubby is home from his business trip to good ‘ole Blighty!

August 3, 2015August 10, 2015 BritMumInNZ 3 Comments Dan, Life in action - Videos

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 […]

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We are home in Wellington, New Zealand!

October 7, 2014November 6, 2014 BritMumInNZ 5 Comments Adventures, Lifestyle, New beginnings

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 […]

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24 hours in England

July 7, 2014September 18, 2014 BritMumInNZ 4 Comments Adventures, Holidays

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 […]

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LA to UK for 4 days, sans children. A once in a decade trip! Part 1

January 30, 2014April 3, 2020 BritMumInNZ 8 Comments Adventures, Holidays, Lifestyle

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, […]

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Goodbye England – leg one of our return to NZ complete (thank goodness!)

October 25, 2012October 26, 2012 BritMumInNZ 2 Comments Holidays

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 […]

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NZ to UK, via San Francisco stop-over, with three little Kiwis

October 16, 2012September 12, 2014 BritMumInNZ 5 Comments Californian Adventures 2013-2014, Holidays

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 […]

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This Friday my Heart is in San Francisco

September 14, 2012September 14, 2012 BritMumInNZ 3 Comments Blasts from the past, Dan

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 […]

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Underground

September 24, 2011September 24, 2011 BritMumInNZ 2 Comments Blasts from the past, Dan, Lyrical Sunday, Sarah

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 […]

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The Gallery: Travel

July 13, 2011July 13, 2011 BritMumInNZ 12 Comments Blasts from the past, Dan, Holidays, photography, Sarah

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 […]

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Thank you dear family! What an amazing Mother’s Day!

May 8, 2011May 8, 2011 BritMumInNZ 3 Comments Special Days

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 […]

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Showing some visitors to Welly a good time

November 9, 2010 BritMumInNZ 8 Comments Sarah

When Sophie asked what we’d be doing after Kindi on Monday I told her, ‘We’re going to be showing some visitors to Wellington around.’ Sophie likes to know all the facts and was quick to ask,’Who?’. When I told her I’d never met the visitors before she practically gasped, ‘Strangers?!’ and then told all the […]

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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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