Catching the Magic

Two Brits in Aotearoa bringing up three NZ born daughters. Our children: Our future. Haere Mai!

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  • June run highlights

    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 […]
  • June highlights & a new public holiday -Matariki!

    We had our first public holiday to celebrate Matariki this year, a celebration of the Maori New Year and an occasion we have enjoyed marking for years, but this year we had a public holiday to really make the most of it! It’s a time for coming together, reflecting on the past year and planning […]
  • Winter storms, sunsets and waves. Winter in Wellington

    Winter has started with its usual mixed bag in Wellington – calm, sunshine days that are moderately mild lull us into a sense of ease, before a sudden southerly change hurls us into an abrupt awareness that it is actually the season of winter. Gale force winds, heavy rain, and snow on the distant Kaikoura […]
  • Five days in Melbourne

    I finally enjoyed the opportunity to fly to Melbourne to visit the city where our oldest is now living and marvel at the creative, bustling hive that it is. There are more people living in Melbourne than the whole of New Zealand, so my initial response to arriving in the central city was one of […]
  • Running events are back & so am I!

    February 2020 was the last time I lined up at the start line (well not quite on the start line – as that’s for the real athletes – but mid-way back!) of a running event. The Tarawera Ultra Marathon was the longest I’d ever ran and it was an incredible event. Around six months after […]
  • A different kind of Mother’s Day

    There’s always two every year, one in the UK (always two weeks before Easter Sunday) and the other in New Zealand (the second Sunday in May). This year was markedly different. It was the first year without my dear Mum and the first year without our oldest daughter in the same country as us. My […]
  • Changing seasons, changing times

    It’s been a time for adjusting, with our oldest daughter moving to a different country to start University in Melbourne, my Mum dying in December and my thoughts very much with my Dad and sister, miles away in the UK. In the wider world there’s turmoil, with the pandemic lingering on, the atrocities of what […]
  • Our first to fly the nest!

    Our first born has flown the nest! She’s following her dreams and passion for theatre by undertaking a Bachelor of Fine Arts, in Production Design, at The University of Melbourne. She flew (literally) on Valentine’s Day, flying Wellington to Auckland and then onto Melbourne, with a couple of suitcases and a carry on bag to […]
  • Saying goodbye in our own way

    Mum’s funeral was a day of coming together for many people that had touched her life, even though many people hadn’t seen much of Mum for a few years – such was the torture of Alzheimer’s disease in stealing her away from so many people. It was a moment of remembering the person she was […]
  • Back in Wellington, catching some summer vibes.

    I was freed from the confines of MIQ (managed isolation and quarantine) nearly two weeks ago, on Friday 21 January, having spent 10 days in a room, with no opening window and only 30 minutes of fresh air a day. It was a strange experience to be on my own and between the two families […]

June run highlights

July 10, 2022July 10, 2022 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Header, Running, Sarah

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 […]

Continue reading


June highlights & a new public holiday -Matariki!

July 9, 2022July 9, 2022 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Header, Holidays, Seasons

We had our first public holiday to celebrate Matariki this year, a celebration of the Maori New Year and an occasion we have enjoyed marking for years, but this year we had a public holiday to really make the most of it! It’s a time for coming together, reflecting on the past year and planning […]

Continue reading


Winter storms, sunsets and waves. Winter in Wellington

July 6, 2022July 6, 2022 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Header, Seasons

Winter has started with its usual mixed bag in Wellington – calm, sunshine days that are moderately mild lull us into a sense of ease, before a sudden southerly change hurls us into an abrupt awareness that it is actually the season of winter. Gale force winds, heavy rain, and snow on the distant Kaikoura […]

Continue reading


Five days in Melbourne

July 5, 2022July 5, 2022 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Adventures, Alice, Charlotte, Header, Holidays, Sarah

I finally enjoyed the opportunity to fly to Melbourne to visit the city where our oldest is now living and marvel at the creative, bustling hive that it is. There are more people living in Melbourne than the whole of New Zealand, so my initial response to arriving in the central city was one of […]

Continue reading


Running events are back & so am I!

June 1, 2022June 1, 2022 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Header, Running, Sarah

February 2020 was the last time I lined up at the start line (well not quite on the start line – as that’s for the real athletes – but mid-way back!) of a running event. The Tarawera Ultra Marathon was the longest I’d ever ran and it was an incredible event. Around six months after […]

Continue reading


A different kind of Mother’s Day

May 21, 2022June 1, 2022 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Header, Sarah

There’s always two every year, one in the UK (always two weeks before Easter Sunday) and the other in New Zealand (the second Sunday in May). This year was markedly different. It was the first year without my dear Mum and the first year without our oldest daughter in the same country as us. My […]

Continue reading


Changing seasons, changing times

May 13, 2022May 13, 2022 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Header, Sarah, Seasons, Things I'm Loving

It’s been a time for adjusting, with our oldest daughter moving to a different country to start University in Melbourne, my Mum dying in December and my thoughts very much with my Dad and sister, miles away in the UK. In the wider world there’s turmoil, with the pandemic lingering on, the atrocities of what […]

Continue reading


Our first to fly the nest!

March 10, 2022March 10, 2022 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Charlotte, Header, New beginnings

Our first born has flown the nest! She’s following her dreams and passion for theatre by undertaking a Bachelor of Fine Arts, in Production Design, at The University of Melbourne. She flew (literally) on Valentine’s Day, flying Wellington to Auckland and then onto Melbourne, with a couple of suitcases and a carry on bag to […]

Continue reading


Saying goodbye in our own way

February 8, 2022May 21, 2022 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Alzheimers, Grief, Header, Pandemic, Sarah

Mum’s funeral was a day of coming together for many people that had touched her life, even though many people hadn’t seen much of Mum for a few years – such was the torture of Alzheimer’s disease in stealing her away from so many people. It was a moment of remembering the person she was […]

Continue reading


Back in Wellington, catching some summer vibes.

February 3, 2022February 3, 2022 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Expat Life, Header, Lifestyle, Seasons

I was freed from the confines of MIQ (managed isolation and quarantine) nearly two weeks ago, on Friday 21 January, having spent 10 days in a room, with no opening window and only 30 minutes of fresh air a day. It was a strange experience to be on my own and between the two families […]

Continue reading


Reflecting on winter walks in England, whilst stuck in quarantine in New Zealand

January 16, 2022February 3, 2022 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Expat Life, Header, Pandemic, Sarah, Seasons

It’s day 5 of my 10 day quarantine (MIQ) here in New Zealand. I’ve had 3 covid tests so far (all negative) and am hanging out for my freedom day and to be reunited with my family on the south coast of Wellington. They sent me this gorgeous photo of the sunset, on their evening […]

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A different kind of Christmas

January 15, 2022January 15, 2022 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Expat Life, Sarah

It was always going to be a different Christmas, with me in the UK with my dear Dad, visiting Mum in the care home, and my family in New Zealand thousands of miles away. Leading up to Christmas Day we were planning how we’d spend the day. My Dad, sister and I all wanted to […]

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Life in quarantine

January 14, 2022January 16, 2022 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Expat Life, Header, Pandemic, Sarah

It’s day 3 of my 10 day stay in Managed Isolation and Quarantine in New Zealand (otherwise known as ‘MIQ’). I landed on Tuesday 11 January (day 0) and it’s now Friday. All being well, I’ll be out of here on Friday 21 January and able to reunite with my husband and three daughters, after […]

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Rest in Peace my Dear Mum

January 13, 2022February 12, 2022 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Alzheimers, Grief, Header, Relationships, Sarah

My Dad and I were on our way to a Friday morning walk with around twenty other people, a walk which my Dad was leading, when his mobile phone rang. We were only five minutes away from parking up and the person calling, from the care home where Mum was being looked after, asked us […]

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Recent Posts

  • June run highlights July 10, 2022
  • June highlights & a new public holiday -Matariki! July 9, 2022
  • Winter storms, sunsets and waves. Winter in Wellington July 6, 2022
  • Five days in Melbourne July 5, 2022
  • Running events are back & so am I! June 1, 2022
  • A different kind of Mother’s Day May 21, 2022
  • Changing seasons, changing times May 13, 2022
  • Our first to fly the nest! March 10, 2022
  • Saying goodbye in our own way February 8, 2022
  • Back in Wellington, catching some summer vibes. February 3, 2022
  • Reflecting on winter walks in England, whilst stuck in quarantine in New Zealand January 16, 2022
  • A different kind of Christmas January 15, 2022

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