Sunshine was gifted to us on Christmas Day this year in Wellington and we had the most wonderfully relaxed day together (well, almost all together, as our oldest currently lives in Melbourne and so we video chatted and were delighted to see them having an awesome time with a friend and their friend’s family). We […]
Just over an hour’s drive from Wellington, over the Remutaka Hill, is the sprawling countryside of the Wairarapa, comprising of the villages of Featherston (famous for the number of book shops per head of population), Martinborough (wine village), Greytown (boutique shops), Carterton (with Stone Henge Aotearoa close by) and the larger town of Masterton. This […]
Over a decade ago friends of ours moved from Wellington to the north of the north Island, settling an hour’s drive north of Auckland, on the east coast near New Zealand’s first marine reserve, Cape Rodney-Okakari Point Marine Reserve (Goat Island). Their place is a ten minute drive from the thriving small town of Matakana, […]
Here in New Zealand the holiday season dawns with the first blooms of the Pohutukawa and Northen Rata trees, their bold red blooms create a swathe of red alongside roads, along the beaches and in gardens and parks across the country. In Wellington the blooms are accompanied by festive flags, fluttering on flag poles throughout […]
After a couple of years of being postponed it was wonderful to see the vibrant ‘Lumino City‘ return to Wellington’s waterfront on the weekend of 18th-19th November. This festival started in 2015 and has grown each year, with more lanterns, entertainment and visitors. Though it was a soggy evening for our visit, it felt tropical […]
‘The Best Sunday Ever’ was the hashtag for the 2022 event of Toast Martinborough, held on the third Sunday in November; and it was definitely a fantastic Sunday and a much anticipated event, after being cancelled for the past two years due to the pandemic. The event was first held in 1992 and is held […]
With continued niggles in my left hip area and peri-menopause symptoms (oh the joys!) I am taking a much more balanced approach to running these days, spending more time on strength, stability and stretching. I enjoy yin yoga classes to balance out the ‘yang’ of running. I listen more to my body and rest when […]
It was a rare Saturday, in the recent spring school holidays, when my husband and I had an afternoon completely to ourselves, that we headed out to the beautiful native forest in the Orongorongo Valley, in the southern Remutaka Ranges of the North Island of New Zealand. It’s not that we don’t walk together often […]
My youngest daughter and I spent a week in early August visiting family in Colne, Lancashire, Chinley in the Peak District and Knutsford in Cheshire. Our time was spent catching up with family, walking in the beautiful hills of the English countryside, visiting the iconic seaside town of Blackpool and riding the roller coasters at […]
At the end of July, my youngest (Alice) and I headed to London, after having enjoyed a wonderful week’s holiday in Cornwall (see posts here and here). We planned to catch some shows and I’d organised a catch up with some University friends (whom I’d first met 30 years ago!). I am fortunate to have […]
From a sea-life safari and massive water slide to a historic house and gardens, here follows more snap shots from our week’s holiday in north-east Cornwall (for the first post, of beautiful coastal walks, click here!). Boat Trip with Padstow Sealife Safaris Early in our stay the forecast across the country was for extremely high […]
We left Fleet in Hampshire early on Saturday morning, joining the A303 and waving to historic Stonehenge as we drove on the stretch of single carriageway through the World Heritage Site at a moving pace (which was good, considering it was summer, sunny and often known to be a stretch of road that can see […]
I’ve been back in New Zealand for just over two weeks and came from record breaking high temperatures and dry conditions in the UK to the wettest winter on record in New Zealand and hundreds of slips all around Wellington. Earth is on a scary path of more extremes and it is frighteningly noticeable. I […]
It felt great to be at the last Xterra Wellington event of the series, meeting up with fellow runners in the Wellington community and hitting the trails at Makara wind farm, with sweeping views over the coastline to the south island on the horizon. Having ran both the medium and long course in previous years […]