Magic Moments from Easter Weekend, in Wellington & Martinborough

School finished on the Thursday before Easter with a very touching Easter Service in the Wellington Cathedral, especially as our oldest daughter sang in the ‘Choral’ and our youngest with the ‘Princess Singers’ choir.

I popped into my youngest daughter’s classroom afterwards and saw this beautiful nature arrangement.

Good Friday morning was a relaxed start for most of the family and especially lovely for the man of the house – as he’d only returned from a UK business trip a few days before.

I took the opportunity to head out on a run, enjoying the slightly cooler temperature of autumn after a spectacular summer – though I did feel a tinge of sadness at the shortening of the days and having less outdoor light to play around in.

In the afternoon we packed up the car and drove over the hill to Martinborough (though our oldest daughter decided to stay in Wellington and enjoy a couple of quiet nights in the house, spending time with her friend from next door, and under the supervision of our lovely next-door neighbour).

We enjoyed a lovely dinner at the Martinborough Hotel before tucking up for the evening.

I didn’t require bunny ears to get my crazy hop on!

Easter Saturday was an action packed day of cycling around the vineyards, swimming at the Masterton indoor pool and some time at the driving range at The Copthorne in Masterton (as well as dinner and a climb on the obstacle course).

Our youngest loved the tag on bike we hired for her (from the lovely folk at Green Jersey Cycle Tours – for just $20 for the whole day!).

We biked for around 8km, with Alice loving her pedal power (I actually had to work out how to turn up a gear or two so that I could keep pedalling – such was the force of her turbo charged legs!).

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It wasn’t long before the thought of food and drink came to mind, so we stopped in at The Vinyard Cafe at Margrain Vineyard for an early lunch (always a gorgeous venue).

It was such a fun day and we were so ready to relax at the end of it (though our two youngest kept active with a final bounce on the trampoline before succumbing to sleep!).

Easter Sunday the girls woke at normal time, and chilled in bed whilst hubby and I went outside to check if the Easter bunny had been… and, what do you know, we were in luck!

We managed to keep our dog from eating any…

Whilst the children tucked into a few chocolate eggs (and a cooked breakfast, lovingly made for them by their Daddy) I sneaked out for a good run, before it got too hot.

The vines all looked so delicious and ripe, with some of them starting to be harvested and the leaves on a few developing a golden glow of autumn.

After doing a loop of the vineyards I headed down to the river, and then back to the house for a quiet shower, coffee and a sweet treat!

It was a beautiful morning indeed!

We drove back to Wellington in the afternoon, to meet up with our oldest daughter. We decided a game of ten pin bowling at ‘The Lanes‘ and a family dinner was called for, being Easter Sunday and all!

We headed out to Fujiyama Teppanyaki Japanese Restaurant (a first experience for Alice, Sophie and I – whereas Charlotte had enjoyed her 12th Birthday celebration there with friends). It was extremely yummy (as was the Japanese plum drink that I had!) and so much fun watching all the food being skilfully cooked right in front of us (and trying to catch the bowls of rice and egg… I failed with the egg!).

As for ten pin bowling… well my children all did a lot better than me and suggested that I should ask to have the land ‘guards’ put up for me next time! Ahem! Perhaps we should have played bowling after dinner, rather than before – as I’m sure I would have had a much smoother roll after consuming a couple of those Japanese drinks!

Our Easter Sunday finished up with a scenic drive back home, via Mt Victoria.

Easter Monday was another action packed day. We started with a visit to Frosty Spot Indoor Ice Skating Rink, in Seaview, Petone, which was a lot of fun (and I could actually do it – not that I have photographic evidence!).

In the afternoon I headed out for another long run, before chilling out with some muscle rub from Homespun Holistics. I’m paid up to run my first marathon in Rotorua on 30 April, so I’m training, training, training (and freaking out a little!).

The weekend was extra, extra long with Tuesday being a teacher only day, so the girls enjoyed a relaxing day after the busy, fun weekend.

It was a day for catching up on the washing for me, walking the dog and taking a moment to enjoy a glorious sunset.

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