Less than an hour’s drive north of New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland, is a stunning sculpture trail at the Brick Bay Vineyard. Nature and art combine to make a beautiful and fascinating walk. The sculptures entranced even the youngest of our tribe, Miss 3 – Alice, so that she happily walked most of the two […]
Walks
The Photo Gallery | Walks
Along a pathway lined with driftwood and shells, is a walkway on Wellington’s south coast. There are hundreds of beautiful walks around the city and in the bush reserves, but this is the walk that’s close to home. It’s my little place of escape, where I go to exercise, to free my mind, to listen […]
Gateway to the Outdoors – [a poem for Lyrical Sunday]
Our gateway to the outdoors is guarded these days, By children who test us in various ways. We start with encouragement and gentle persuasion – Trying to resist bribery and coercion. We are often surprised by who resists – And struggle to find the solution to enlist. Eventually, after tears and raised voices, We all […]
Looking at Wellington from its high points
Everyone should be a tourist in their own town from time to time. We don’t live on one of the high hilly ridges that make Wellington’s topography so famous – though we used to. When we first arrived in Wellington we rented a place in Haitaitai, on Mt Victoria, overlooking Evan’s Bay. We’d watch the […]
A ride to the wild side of the South Coast
The swell of the incoming tide sprayed on the rocks by the shore. The sun beat down and the pull of the water, after a bike ride on the south coast, was too tempting to resist. Granddad hung up his bike tour guide hat and exchanged it for his emergency life-guard cap. The water wasn’t […]
Do what you love, one day a week: A walk in the bush
The wind ruffled our feathers wildly, whilst the sun teased us with blue sky, oyster clouds and dashing streaks of white. A sky that if painted wouldn’t look real. A day that held promise but so easily could have been spent hidden, sheltering from the gale force winds. Not a day for being whipped by […]
A wet summer Sunday walk
It was perfect walking weather – mild, a slight refreshing breeze, a touch of rain and plenty of cloud cover to shelter from the strong sun. And with a tired family (Charlotte was performing in a dance show the night before) and a bit too much morning television on waking up, we were getting that […]
Super biker Sophie takes the long road home!
Sophie beat her personal best and rode 10.6 km on Sunday! We’d spent Sunday morning enjoying the delights of the food market in the city, but when it came to head home Dan and Sophie took to their wheels! Charlotte and I took Alice home for her nap and had a restful hour or so, […]
The Tongariro Crossing: A Poem
The theme for Lyrical Sunday (running all this week till 14 August) is ‘Adventure‘ and Grandma sent through a beautiful poem about the time she walked ‘The Tongariro Crossing‘ in New Zealand with Granddad… (Happy 41st Wedding Anniversary to them too!). x The Tongariro Crossing One day in the year 2008 An 8-hour walk. We […]
We’re going on an ADVENTURE for Week 26 of Lyrical Sunday!
Adventure at sunset As the sun sets, we climb over the rocks, very carefully, making sure we don’t fall. We see some art on the rocks. What a surprise! We walk on, hoping the waves won’t splash us. Mummy doesn’t think we’ll make it to the next bay, but I do. We keep going and… […]
Writer’s Workshop: Channelling the Energy
When the ‘boss’ and I our conceived our daughter, Sophie, I reckon a strong dose of my sister’s genes were thrown into the mix. And, unbeknown to Dan and I, there was going to be a strong contender in the house as to who was really ‘the boss’! Of course my husband and I harp […]
Things I’m Loving…
Finding natural treasures on the beach after wild winter storms. Moments in the sun, despite cold winter chills. Hearing the day-dreams of my daughter, which bring a smile to my face and warm my heart, ‘I’m going to have a boat one day and you can sail with me Mummy’. Messages of adventure from family […]
On the sculpture trail in the Botanic Garden of Wellington
When the man of the house has a game of football adjacent to the Wellington Botanic Garden there is no excuse for his supporting ladies not to follow. The weather was calm and dry, seasonably crisp, but nothing to grumble about. We rugged up and trooped along. We lingered to watch the start of the […]
These boots were made for walking
The weather was glorious at the weekend, perhaps a little too warm for what I chose to wear on my feet… but new boots demanded ‘walking in’ and I was too KEEN to resist! As much as I love fashion boots, I’m just not a city slicker these days. Better to face the facts and […]