Catching the Magic

Travels in New Zealand and beyond, going back to 2003!

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Charlotte

School at the beach!

March 7, 2009March 7, 2009 BritMumInNZ 4 Comments Charlotte

A week ago Charli’s entire school ditched the books and headed to the beach on foot for the day – how cool is that! They had a splash of a time, with classes taking it in turns to swim in the sea, whilst the rest of the children delighted in building amazing sandcastles, drawing in […]

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Remember the days of tying your shoe laces for the first time…

February 19, 2009February 19, 2009 BritMumInNZ 3 Comments Charlotte, Sophie

Do you remember those simple days? Tying your shoe laces for the first time felt like such a huge accomplishment. Charli brought home her first ever ‘homework’ book last week. She had a week to complete various tasks and one of them was to learn and practice tying shoe laces! Beautiful! She’s been quite good […]

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Hot, hot, hot!

February 8, 2009November 27, 2009 BritMumInNZ 8 Comments Charlotte, Dan, Sarah, Sophie

The past two day’s I’ve actually been thankful for the wind! It’s been hot and I’m not complaining! Friday was cooler but, with it being Waitangi Day (yah! Three day weekend!), we were determined to enjoy a good family day out. We met up with Kathy and Mark in Eastbourne for lots of ice-cream (basically!). […]

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Sophie starts Kindi

February 7, 2009November 27, 2009 BritMumInNZ 4 Comments Charlotte, Sophie

Okay, it’s only 7.5 hour’s a week, but it’s still a milestone for Sophie. Up until now she’s been tagging along with me and watching her big sister run off to Kindi and now school. Now it’s her turn! From 9pm on Thursday morning she was asking me every five minutes, ‘Is it time for […]

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Jedi Charli Returns to School

February 4, 2009 BritMumInNZ 6 Comments Charlotte, Random Musings

Charli bounded into school this morning, running ahead of us, with great excitement. She ran into her new class with no hesitation. She eagerly sat on the mat as soon as the bell rang. We left quickly. Sophie was in my arms, very sad and choked up. Dan was with me for moral support and […]

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Feeding Eels…

January 29, 2009 BritMumInNZ 3 Comments Charlotte, Dan, Sarah, Sophie

One sunny Sunday over these marvelously, long summer hols (which, sigh, are soon coming to a close… term starts back 4 February), we went to one of our favourite places, The Saddleback Cafe. Nestled in the rural Ohairu Valley, it is such a tranquil place to escape Wellington City (not that it’s really the kind […]

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Family fun at Staglands

January 25, 2009 BritMumInNZ 6 Comments Charlotte, Dan, Sarah, Sophie

The other week we stopped in at Staglands for a wonderful afternoon of family fun. Sophie delighted in riding the donkey. Charli was really taken with the rabbits. The black swan didn’t make a bee-line for Dan’s ankles on this occasion. I managed to avoid getting my bag nibbled by a goat. We had a […]

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Twinkle, twinkle in the night

January 19, 2009September 8, 2010 BritMumInNZ 7 Comments Charlotte, Dan, Random Musings, Sophie, Writing

Lights glittered through the trees and music throbbed in the warm, night air. Small hands fumbled with car-seat buckles. They couldn’t wait to escape the confines of the car and be amongst the music and lights. As soon as their feet touched the ground their bodies started moving to the music. Running down the fern […]

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Medieval Knights and Jousting

January 12, 2009 BritMumInNZ 5 Comments Charlotte, Dan, Sarah, Sophie

On Sunday we stepped back in time at Harcourt Park, in Upper Hutt for the 2009 World Invitational Jousting Tournament. Watching the sword fighting we felt transported into the medieval world (apart from the sea of cameras and modern day attire of the onlookers). The swords were sharp and the fighting real enough to cause […]

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Daddy looks after his girls in the sizzling, summer sun…

January 8, 2009January 8, 2009 BritMumInNZ 3 Comments Charlotte, Dan, Sophie

He takes them to blueberry heaven (and thinks that this might be his next business venture, as all his hard-earned dollars are being spent on blueberries – oh, but think of the antioxidants!): He digs holes in the sand for them to splash in and soaks up the sizzling sun at beautiful Days Bay in […]

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Peapods and strawberries to lazy dayzs on the beach

January 4, 2009January 8, 2009 BritMumInNZ 6 Comments Charlotte, Sarah, Sophie

Shortly after breakfast, with Sophie in her PJ’s, the girls teamed up and started moving their painting equipment out onto the driveway. When I asked what they were doing, they simply said, ‘Painting pea-pods!’. Here they are in action… I just love the way they are so creative and work so well together to come […]

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Wet and windy walk on the wild side at Breaker Bay

January 3, 2009 BritMumInNZ 5 Comments Charlotte, Dan, Sarah, Sophie

On Friday we drove over to Seatoun to do one of our favourite short walks in Wellington; the Seatoun-Breaker Bay beach walk. There was a stiff northerly blowing in as we embarked on the walk and the girls were marvellous considering the conditions. They were rugged up warm, unlike Dan and I in our shorts […]

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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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Thank ‘G’ it’s the end of term!

December 19, 2008December 19, 2008 BritMumInNZ 6 Comments Charlotte, Sarah

I am so full of emotions tonight. It’s been tough letting go of my first born to a system where, due to numbers, children are molded to doing ‘x, y and z’ when told – how else would it be possible to contain so many free spirits within one room! The end term heralds in […]

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