Catching the Magic

Two Brits in Aotearoa bringing up three NZ born daughters. Our children: Our future. Haere Mai!

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  • Christmas and a Birthday in Wellington

    Sunshine was gifted to us on Christmas Day this year in Wellington and we had the most wonderfully relaxed day together (well, almost all together, as our oldest currently lives in Melbourne and so we video chatted and were delighted to see them having an awesome time with a friend and their friend’s family). We […]
  • Summer highlights from the Wairarapa

    Just over an hour’s drive from Wellington, over the Remutaka Hill, is the sprawling countryside of the Wairarapa, comprising of the villages of Featherston (famous for the number of book shops per head of population), Martinborough (wine village), Greytown (boutique shops), Carterton (with Stone Henge Aotearoa close by) and the larger town of Masterton. This […]
  • A long weekend with friends near Goat Island Marine Reserve

    Over a decade ago friends of ours moved from Wellington to the north of the north Island, settling an hour’s drive north of Auckland, on the east coast near New Zealand’s first marine reserve, Cape Rodney-Okakari Point Marine Reserve (Goat Island). Their place is a ten minute drive from the thriving small town of Matakana, […]
  • It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas – southern hemisphere style!

    Here in New Zealand the holiday season dawns with the first blooms of the Pohutukawa and Northen Rata trees, their bold red blooms create a swathe of red alongside roads, along the beaches and in gardens and parks across the country. In Wellington the blooms are accompanied by festive flags, fluttering on flag poles throughout […]
  • Toast Martinborough – Wine and Food Festival

    ‘The Best Sunday Ever’ was the hashtag for the 2022 event of Toast Martinborough, held on the third Sunday in November; and it was definitely a fantastic Sunday and a much anticipated event, after being cancelled for the past two years due to the pandemic. The event was first held in 1992 and is held […]
  • Spring running highlights on Wellington’s trails

    With continued niggles in my left hip area and peri-menopause symptoms (oh the joys!) I am taking a much more balanced approach to running these days, spending more time on strength, stability and stretching. I enjoy yin yoga classes to balance out the ‘yang’ of running. I listen more to my body and rest when […]
  • Trail goodness in the southern Remutaka Ranges

    It was a rare Saturday, in the recent spring school holidays, when my husband and I had an afternoon completely to ourselves, that we headed out to the beautiful native forest in the Orongorongo Valley, in the southern Remutaka Ranges of the North Island of New Zealand. It’s not that we don’t walk together often […]
  • Family, hills & roller-coasters!

    My youngest daughter and I spent a week in early August visiting family in Colne, Lancashire, Chinley in the Peak District and Knutsford in Cheshire. Our time was spent catching up with family, walking in the beautiful hills of the English countryside, visiting the iconic seaside town of Blackpool and riding the roller coasters at […]
  • Summer visit to London in July; seeing friends, West End Shows, National Art Gallery, Women’s Euro 2022 & corgis!

    At the end of July, my youngest (Alice) and I headed to London, after having enjoyed a wonderful week’s holiday in Cornwall (see posts here and here). We planned to catch some shows and I’d organised a catch up with some University friends (whom I’d first met 30 years ago!). I am fortunate to have […]
  • North-east Cornwall holiday snapshots (part 2)

    From a sea-life safari and massive water slide to a historic house and gardens, here follows more snap shots from our week’s holiday in north-east Cornwall (for the first post, of beautiful coastal walks, click here!). Boat Trip with Padstow Sealife Safaris Early in our stay the forecast across the country was for extremely high […]

June highlights & a new public holiday -Matariki!

July 9, 2022July 9, 2022 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Header, Holidays, Seasons

We had our first public holiday to celebrate Matariki this year, a celebration of the Maori New Year and an occasion we have enjoyed marking for years, but this year we had a public holiday to really make the most of it! It’s a time for coming together, reflecting on the past year and planning […]

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Winter storms, sunsets and waves. Winter in Wellington

July 6, 2022July 6, 2022 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Header, Seasons

Winter has started with its usual mixed bag in Wellington – calm, sunshine days that are moderately mild lull us into a sense of ease, before a sudden southerly change hurls us into an abrupt awareness that it is actually the season of winter. Gale force winds, heavy rain, and snow on the distant Kaikoura […]

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Five days in Melbourne

July 5, 2022July 5, 2022 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Adventures, Alice, Charlotte, Header, Holidays, Sarah

I finally enjoyed the opportunity to fly to Melbourne to visit the city where our oldest is now living and marvel at the creative, bustling hive that it is. There are more people living in Melbourne than the whole of New Zealand, so my initial response to arriving in the central city was one of […]

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Running events are back & so am I!

June 1, 2022June 1, 2022 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Header, Running, Sarah

February 2020 was the last time I lined up at the start line (well not quite on the start line – as that’s for the real athletes – but mid-way back!) of a running event. The Tarawera Ultra Marathon was the longest I’d ever ran and it was an incredible event. Around six months after […]

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A different kind of Mother’s Day

May 21, 2022June 1, 2022 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Header, Sarah

There’s always two every year, one in the UK (always two weeks before Easter Sunday) and the other in New Zealand (the second Sunday in May). This year was markedly different. It was the first year without my dear Mum and the first year without our oldest daughter in the same country as us. My […]

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Changing seasons, changing times

May 13, 2022May 13, 2022 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Header, Sarah, Seasons, Things I'm Loving

It’s been a time for adjusting, with our oldest daughter moving to a different country to start University in Melbourne, my Mum dying in December and my thoughts very much with my Dad and sister, miles away in the UK. In the wider world there’s turmoil, with the pandemic lingering on, the atrocities of what […]

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Our first to fly the nest!

March 10, 2022March 10, 2022 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Charlotte, Header, New beginnings

Our first born has flown the nest! She’s following her dreams and passion for theatre by undertaking a Bachelor of Fine Arts, in Production Design, at The University of Melbourne. She flew (literally) on Valentine’s Day, flying Wellington to Auckland and then onto Melbourne, with a couple of suitcases and a carry on bag to […]

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Saying goodbye in our own way

February 8, 2022May 21, 2022 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Alzheimers, Grief, Header, Pandemic, Sarah

Mum’s funeral was a day of coming together for many people that had touched her life, even though many people hadn’t seen much of Mum for a few years – such was the torture of Alzheimer’s disease in stealing her away from so many people. It was a moment of remembering the person she was […]

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Back in Wellington, catching some summer vibes.

February 3, 2022February 3, 2022 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Expat Life, Header, Lifestyle, Seasons

I was freed from the confines of MIQ (managed isolation and quarantine) nearly two weeks ago, on Friday 21 January, having spent 10 days in a room, with no opening window and only 30 minutes of fresh air a day. It was a strange experience to be on my own and between the two families […]

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Reflecting on winter walks in England, whilst stuck in quarantine in New Zealand

January 16, 2022February 3, 2022 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Expat Life, Header, Pandemic, Sarah, Seasons

It’s day 5 of my 10 day quarantine (MIQ) here in New Zealand. I’ve had 3 covid tests so far (all negative) and am hanging out for my freedom day and to be reunited with my family on the south coast of Wellington. They sent me this gorgeous photo of the sunset, on their evening […]

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A different kind of Christmas

January 15, 2022January 15, 2022 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Expat Life, Sarah

It was always going to be a different Christmas, with me in the UK with my dear Dad, visiting Mum in the care home, and my family in New Zealand thousands of miles away. Leading up to Christmas Day we were planning how we’d spend the day. My Dad, sister and I all wanted to […]

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Life in quarantine

January 14, 2022January 16, 2022 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Expat Life, Header, Pandemic, Sarah

It’s day 3 of my 10 day stay in Managed Isolation and Quarantine in New Zealand (otherwise known as ‘MIQ’). I landed on Tuesday 11 January (day 0) and it’s now Friday. All being well, I’ll be out of here on Friday 21 January and able to reunite with my husband and three daughters, after […]

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Rest in Peace my Dear Mum

January 13, 2022February 12, 2022 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Alzheimers, Grief, Header, Relationships, Sarah

My Dad and I were on our way to a Friday morning walk with around twenty other people, a walk which my Dad was leading, when his mobile phone rang. We were only five minutes away from parking up and the person calling, from the care home where Mum was being looked after, asked us […]

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Autumn and a long kiss goodbye

November 25, 2021February 12, 2022 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Alzheimers, Expat Life, Header, Sarah, Seasons

Before they rest for winter the deciduous trees glow with such awe inspiring beauty, the leaves giving a grand finale before preparing to stand stoically through frosty nights and bitterly cold days. Leaves turn from green to golden yellow, copper and red, hanging onto the branches till the wind carries them down to carpet the […]

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Recent Posts

  • Christmas and a Birthday in Wellington January 12, 2023
  • Summer highlights from the Wairarapa January 8, 2023
  • A long weekend with friends near Goat Island Marine Reserve January 6, 2023
  • It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas – southern hemisphere style! December 23, 2022
  • Wellington Lantern Festival – in the spring rain December 18, 2022
  • Toast Martinborough – Wine and Food Festival December 16, 2022
  • Spring running highlights on Wellington’s trails December 14, 2022
  • Trail goodness in the southern Remutaka Ranges October 25, 2022
  • Family, hills & roller-coasters! October 22, 2022
  • Summer visit to London in July; seeing friends, West End Shows, National Art Gallery, Women’s Euro 2022 & corgis! October 14, 2022
  • North-east Cornwall holiday snapshots (part 2) September 3, 2022
  • Summer holiday in North-East Cornwall (part 1) August 30, 2022

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