Travels in New Zealand and beyond, going back to 2003!
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…
It’s been four weeks since I landed in England, where half of my heart lives. It was so hard to say goodbye to my husband and three amazingly supportive children to make this journey, not knowing when I’ll be able to return to New Zealand. I talk to them via video calls most days and…
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…
MUSHROOM On the edge of the forest path, defiant to the shortening day, the fungi’s startling colour stood, bold red, with white spots, under which a fairy ought to play. It stood in stark contrast to the greens and browns, tree roots, rotting leaves and muddy ditches. Autumn could not be ignored and the mushroom warned not to…
What a blessing the weather has been for us this year. We’ve had glorious days of sunshine and warmer than average temperatures, hanging on well into Autumn, here in New Zealand. The only signs of the coming winter are the shortened days and the turning of the leaves to golden hues. It was, with little…
The days are shorter, closing in, I DEFY them to dampen my mood, (shouting loudly to the sun, setting earlier each night). After all, the weather is still fine, outdoor pursuits remain inviting, I just need to better manage my time, (or start wearing a head torch). I fill my house with candles, repeating an…
The seagulls flock together at dusk, thankful for a calm evening, after a torrid week of storms. On the high hills, of the greater Wellington region, the wind catches on the cliff edge, strong enough to lean into and imagine one could fly. In the Botanical Garden of the capital city the deciduous trees beckon…
Last week was a crazily wet one in Wellington (and much of New Zealand) and, with the short days of late autumn, there’s stark few hours for out-door fun after school; so we’ve been keeping dry at home and enjoying some drawing. Any parent with more than one child will concur; it’s a bonus when…
May in New Zealand is a month of shorter days and candle-lit nights, a month of celebrating mothers on Mother’s Day and cross-country running. It’s a month when the colours of a summer well spent are trying desperately to cling on – but fading with every short day of light and howling storm. I love…
This is the garden of our home in Martinborough, where we escape to as often as time allows. It’s our weekend retreat in the countryside, where the climate is frequently several degrees warmer than our place in Wellington – on the beautiful, but often wild and rugged south coast of the North Island of New…
Our last month in Santa Barbara, California, coincided with the start of the ‘Fall’ season (though the temperatures and local foliage were hardly indicators of autumnal weather!). With only weeks left, before our return to Wellington, New Zealand, (just in time for spring) I definitely felt the need to indulge in some autumnal fair before…
Inspiration for this poem is from a week staying in San Francisco. A beautiful, sunshine week in early Fall, but the beauty marred by the number of people sleeping rough on the streets; and the answers I sometimes struggle to give to the questions my children ask. Linking up with others that like to write…
Driving up the West Coast of California, north from Santa Barbara, we made a pit stop at a place in the country called Avila Valley Barn for a ‘Fall’ experience Californian style. The youngest of our family was the most enthralled. She tore into her roasted sweetcorn with the appetite of a cowgirl that had…
The days are shorter, but they’ve still been sun-filled and autumn has been easy on us so far (though winter is forecast to arrive a week before the official start – with snow expected on high ground tomorrow). Our weekends have still been filled with lots of outdoor time – soccer for hubbie, runs by…