What a term it’s been! With so many parts of the world unable to function as normal due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we feel extremely blessed to be able to live pretty much as normal, for now! Most of New Zealand, with the exception of Auckland, has had a pretty normal school term, but a […]
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Before the pandemic! ‘Six’ the musical in Sydney
In a time when international travel is off the radar I’m finding an increasing number of my friends posts on social media are nostalgically looking back on holidays from the past. One of our last trips overseas was in February this year, just before the pandemic forced borders around the world to close. We travelled […]
Our ‘bubble’ of 5 million has done it!
New Zealand has ZERO active cases of Covid-19! Yesterday New Zealand received the news it has been waiting for and life has pretty much returned to normal, but with strict border measures for everyone entering New Zealand. Way to go New Zealand! Life for our immediate family is back to normal. We have made the most of […]
Reflections on coming out of seven weeks of lockdown in New Zealand
New Zealand moves to Level 2 tomorrow, after seven weeks in ‘lockdown’ due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Level 4 started with me away from my husband and three children, as a result of having recently returned from overseas and therefore needing to self-isolate for 14 days. I self-isolated in our holiday home, in rural Martinborough. My […]
Reminiscing on the second half of 2019 and our summer highlights
Autumn is fully upon us here in New Zealand. The temperatures are still warm and the days mostly sunny, just noticeably shorter. Like most of the world our country is currently ‘in lockdown’ as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Our surf boards and other wet play gear is all laying redundant in the garage, […]
Visits to my folks in England, Sept. 2019 & March 2020 – with plentiful National Trust visits!
It was my Mum’s 73rd Birthday recently, but she wasn’t aware – and hasn’t been for a few years now. Alzheimer’s disease has robbed her of knowing there are different days in a week, let alone knowing what day her Birthday is. Nevertheless my dear Dad had a cake ready for her, cards from family […]
Queenstown Marathon (my second and a personal best!)
Queenstown Marathon had been on my ‘wish list’ for a while. I’m a sucker for a scenically beautiful running event and when it’s also located in a beautiful tourist town, that has heaps of other wonderful activities, I’m sold! I signed up for the Queenstown Marathon early in 2019, giving myself plenty of time to […]
Tarawera UltraMarathon – the longest I’ve ever ran in a day!
One night in early 2019, in a haze of (a few too many wines) optimism, I decided to sign up for the Tarawera Ultramarathon – held in February each year. I also signed up for the Queenstown Marathon, which was held in November 2019), but that’s another blog post and was a great ‘warm up’ […]
Mid year catch up post!
We are half-way through 2019 already and so much has happened, but I’ve been too busy, living and loving it, (and side-tracked by Instagram and Netflix, ahem!) to write about it – so, before this year runs away on me all together I’m going to have to write this catch-up post. I continue to be […]
Tokyo and Kyoto – a family visit for the first time!
The last leg of our six week trip away from New Zealand was spent in Japan. None of us, in our family of five, had ever been to Japan before, and we were so excited to get our first taste of the place (food being a much anticipated delight, as well as the culture, historical […]
Celebrating Christmas with Family in England!
After our epic holiday in Canada, enjoying plenty of snow action, we were definitely acclimatised to northern hemisphere temperatures by the time we landed in England on the 18th December. It was the first time – in nearly twenty years – that we’d be in England for Christmas and the first time, ever, for our […]
A Family Holiday in Canada, full of snowy adventures!
We landed back in New Zealand on the 16th January, after an incredible six weeks of travel. The first part of our adventures started in snowy Canada, which were simply magical and so much fun. We landed in Vancouver, on 7 December, and drove north-east, straight to Sun Peaks, some 407km / 235 miles. It […]
September snow fun, sightseeing and art in Queenstown
My youngest daughter and I flew down to Queenstown, in September 2018, to visit a friend and support her with an art exhibition. It was a wonderfully long weekend of fun in the snow, sight-seeing, great food, wine, company and art! A few days before our visit my hubby had flown down with our oldest […]
Poetry from the mountain
The higher altitude suits my mood at least for a day or two I’m not missing the ocean or the salty sea breeze there is a clarity to the air here I feel high on its vibe gliding down the snow cloaked slopes riding the volcano with a smile from my heart I feel so […]