The days are long, the nights hot (don’t get too excited – sticky children limpet style in bed rather than honeymoon style passion), the views are breathtaking, the beaches plentiful and quiet, the cafes and eateries plentiful, uniquely special, child-friendly and relaxed. We are half way through a wonderful, much anticipated and awaited holiday. When […]
Holidays
Merry Christmas! Love, peace & happiness this Christmas Eve x
Family and friends we wish you a very Happy Christmas and wish you all a New Year full of love, peace and happiness. With love from us all. And now, the much awaited annual Christmas Eve Show from Family Lee! Have a wonderful Christmas! And peace, love and wisdom from our three wise monkeys. They […]
Surrendering to play this Labour Weekend
Yes we have chores to do and some of them are getting accomplished, but on the whole we have been making the most of this long weekend to spend some good quality time together as a family. Dan and I are feeling shattered and sometimes the unstoppable energy of our children is simply exhausting to […]
Voyager New Zealand Maritime Museum [Day 7]
This museum is a wonderful tribute to outstanding sailing skill throughout the ages and how people first arrived in New Zealand. From the arrival of the Maori and Polynesian, through the discovery of New Zealand by Europeans and migration, to New Zealand’s winning of the America’s Cup and a tribute to Sir Peter Blake. The […]
Crystal Mountain [Day 6]
Where can you see a wonderful collection of crystals, feed animals, ride a pony and go on a roller-coaster all at the same place? Crystal Mountain of course! We walked into a crystal shop to rival all others and the girls, who both collect gem stones (future geologists perhaps or treasure hunters?), were in their […]
Sky Tower & Auckland Museum [Day 5]
Standing at 328 metres the Sky Tower in Auckland is only for those with a head for heights. The experience starts in the lift, where a portion of the floor is 38cm thick glass, revealing the lift shaft below. As the lift rockets to the top of the tower a window reveals an ever increasing […]
Snow Planet [Day 4]
On the first day of winter, with heavy rain pelting down, we drove to Snow Planet; where the outdoor weather bears no influence on the conditions indoors. We paid our money and entered a snow filled fun zone built into the side of a hill. The temperature was -4 degrees centigrade. Brrrrr! After enjoying tobogganing […]
We’re going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo… [Day 3]
You can come too, too, too… And you’ll see some amazing animals that will bring a tear to your eye at Auckland Zoo. Others will make you laugh, though the life of their mates in the wild is often far from a comedy. And some animals are definitely better off safely enclosed, especially cheeky ones […]
Browns Bay is where we’re hanging for the week :)
So, this is where we’re hiding out for a week. We spent Sunday morning exploring our locality and finding out that it’s home to a high populace of British and South African folk. Browns Bay is one of Auckland’s East Coast Bays suburbs. First observations… Everyone here seems to own a dog and Sunday morning […]
Penguins, Sting Ray and Sharks! [Day 2]
‘Penguins!’ we squealed as we ran over to the viewing window at Kelly Tarltons. ‘Daddy, Daddy, put your hand in here,’ Charlotte and Sophie dared with mischievous glee. The sign read, ‘See if you can last 30 seconds,’ and the water was freezing. We watched in awe as Daddy did it! We only lasted a […]
A welcome rainbow in Auckland and butterflies [Day 1]
Our arrival at Auckland Airport on Saturday was met by a hopeful rainbow in the sky. We’d left behind a week of wintery rain and wind and were hoping for slightly warmer temperatures in Auckland. We knew that rain was still likely, but rain is a lot more bearable when it’s not being blown horizontally […]
We’re out of here!
Bahhhhhhh! 5 day’s of rain in a row. 3 day’s of not leaving the house. There’s only so much scrabble, baking, painting and children’s T.V. a person can stomach. I’m done with the washing, the hoovering, the ironing and the scrubbing of fly poo from the window sills. I’m packing our suitcases and we’re leaving […]
The last two day’s of our Wairarapa weekend…
were extremely wet! Our hopes of visiting Riversdale Beach were completely washed away when the rain set in on Sunday morning and didn’t stop till midday Monday. Thankfully, Masterton has a brilliant swimming pool, complete with hydro-slide and lazy river (and a nice spa pool for the adults) so we soaked up the water in […]
Legend, history, remarkable rocks & sandy beaches…
all come together at Castlepoint, where we spent the second day of our weekend away in the Wairarapa. Only a 12 minute drive from our holiday cottage on Tinui Station we packed up the car and set off. We’ve lived in Wellington for over ten year’s but have never made it to Castlepoint. We’ve heard […]