The suitcases are packed, filled for six weeks of travel in the northern hemisphere. We are forgoing a chunk of our southern hemisphere summer to journey north for a festive winter and time will be spent with family and friends. It’s the first time our three daughters will have experienced Christmas in England, like the […]
Ever since my Mum was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease I’ve felt the impact of living on the other side of the world from her in a deeper magnitude than any time in the past twenty years. Seeing my folks visit us in New Zealand this recent Christmas and New Year was absolutely amazing, but also […]
Wanaka is great in all seasons and after our wonderful winter holiday in 2017 we decided to revisit Wanaka – but in the summer time with my folks, visiting all the way from the UK! We had a week’s stay in Wanaka and needed activities to keep a mix of ages, abilities and personalities happy […]
Wanaka is one of those places that I felt pained to leave. After a week’s stay, in beautiful spring weather, we returned to Wellington – and I sulked for a week. Don’t get me wrong – I do adore Wellington (after all it’s been my home for nearly twenty years!) but the holiday blues hit […]
We’ve had such a blast this winter! For the first time we bought ski season passes for Mt Ruapehu for the whole family – giving us freedom to ski on both sides of the mountain, at Whakapapa and Turoa ski-fields. It’s really great to be able to access the snow in under four hours, driving […]
This time last week we arrived in the Lake District and settled into the YHA in Ambleside for three nights. We enjoyed a wonderful few days in the Lake District, as well as enjoying the most beautiful scenery from our accommodation, located right on the shore of Lake Windermere. This was the view from our […]
On our drive up to Ludlow, Shropshire, from Hampshire, we stopped in at Berrington Hall, a National Trust Property. My folks are members, of the National Trust UK, and if I lived in the UK I would definitely be joining up too (it would be a dream to work for them!). Growing up in England […]
Driving up to Ludlow, from Hampshire, we made a stop at the spectacular Gloucester Cathedral. It is steeped in history, having been a place of worship, in some form or another, for close on 1,000 years! Gloucester’s great Cloister, over 650 years old, is famous for its breath-taking fan vaulting, the earliest of its kind […]
Windsor is a short drive from my folks home, in North Hampshire, and a few days after landing in the UK they took us to see Windsor Castle. We didn’t have time to look around the inside of the castle, but young Alice, aged 6, was more than content. She was delighted to have a […]
We landed in London on Thursday, after three flights from Wellington, New Zealand, taking some serious flying hours! It’s just Alice and I on this trip, whilst my older two daughters are at home with their Daddy. Alice is such a happy and positive travel companion. We managed to get a good stint of sleep […]
Upon a hill in Mullumbimby, sitting serenely, overlooking the most incredible scenery, is a crystal castle. At its heart is a story of devotion, hard work, commitment and vision, that started in the 1980s. The land that it sits upon, once stripped bare, is now planted richly, with winding pathways that peacefully lead the visitor […]
We’ve been home in Wellington four days, after an amazing fortnight on the East Coast of Australia, staying a week in Byron Bay and a week on the Gold Coast. A highlight of our week in Byron Bay has to include the stunning beaches, such as Tallow Beach (that are great for sand art, cartwheeling and headstands!), and […]
As a family, on holiday, we tend to have a day of all action, thrills and spills, followed by a quieter day of simple fun. Whenever I look back on holidays those simple activities, and smaller side-trips, are often what stay in the mind more than the action packed days. As a Mum it’s seeing […]
On a glorious spring day in the school hols we spent a day of thrills in Rotorua, just under a one hour drive from where we were staying in Taupo. Rotorua is well known for its smoking fumaroles, geysers, natural mineral spa and mud pools, all of which we’ve visited on previous trips to this […]