Picton, gateway to the South Island, opens its arms like a loving parent to a child returned from a trip away. Since our arrival in New Zealand, in the mid 1990s, we have always had a part of our hearts in the South Island. It offers such a wild expanse of escapism mixed with open, […]
Holidays
Ahoy there South Island!
We’re off to the South Island on Saturday morning, taking a ride on the ferry to Picton and then driving onto Nelson. We’re renting a beautiful house for the week, with the most stunning views (reminiscent of our stay at The Captain’s Quarters with ‘Chicken’ Grandma and Grandad back in 2003!). Doubt we’ll be blogging […]
Road trip – The End!
Are you bored yet?! Hopefully the girls will appreciate all my efforts one day when they’re old enough to read! Here’s the final part of our holiday… phew it really was a whistle stop tour. When we arrived in Napier we were ready to chill out. As we drove into the Hawkes Bay we felt […]
A week on the road – Part two
We arrived in Taupo on day three of our holiday, after an energetic morning on the ski slopes, and as we drove up to the Anchorage we were filled with memories of our amazing January holiday with ‘Chicken’ Grandma and Grandad. They were in our thoughts every day and the wonderful memories made us feel […]
A week on the road and detoxing: Part one
The detox is now over (from booze, blogging and other unmentionables!). The flu is behind us. We had a fabulous week on the road in this beautiful country. Wellington is a great city and we often don’t feel like we need a holiday; but when we get on the road we realize how much we […]
Off we go!
We’re off on Monday for seven night’s driving round the middle of the North Island. First stop is the carrot capital of New Zealand,Ohakune, where we’ll spend two night’s just outside the town. The weather forecast for Mt Ruapehu isn’t looking wonderful for Tuesday, but there’s sun forecast for Wednesday. With a bit of luck […]
A Beautiful Nelson Weekend
Finally, a break from the washing to report on the fantastic Birthday weekend that Dan and the girls treated me to. We sailed on the Interislander to Picton on Friday and had a wonderful calm and sunny crossing. The beauty of the Marlborough Sounds never fails to impress. I have particularly fond memories of this […]
Thank you Grandma and Grandad
Thank you for… All the cuddles, kisses, tickles and love; Grandma for gentle combing of tangled hair (a purple comb would be brilliant!); Grandad for his jokes, tickles and crazy fun in the swimming pool; Grandma for story telling and messages of love from the heart; Grandad for taking photographs of a nursery-web spider’s web […]
An incredible few days to cherish till the next time…
My parents, aka ‘Chicken’ Grandma and Grandad, arrived back in Wellington from the South Island on Monday afternoon. They said not to worry about picking them up, but how could we resist! To see the look on their faces as we surprised them on arrival was a moment to cherish. On the way back to […]
All in a morning at Taupo…
From experiencing a simulation of the Edgecumbe Earthquake at the Volcanic Activity Centre … and watching the awesome power of water flooding through the Aratiatia Rapids… to learning how honey is made at ‘The Honey Hive’ and sampling locally farmed prawns at the Huka Prawn Park for lunch. Our holiday in Taupo was over a […]
Sailing on Lake Taupo
There are numerous ways to enjoy Lake Taupo. When the girls are older we’ll look forward to taking our own vessel out on the water; but in the meantime we enjoyed a sail on a yacht named ‘Barbary‘, once owned by Errol Flynn. It was an extremely peaceful way to enjoy the lake. The girls […]
A Wild Way to Get a Fix!
After an afternoon’s walk around ‘Crater’s of the Moon‘ we thought we’d fit in a visit to Huka Falls. The gates to the carpark close at 6pm and with 10-minutes to spare we raced to the viewpoint. On our way we spotted some adrenaline pumped kayakers and couldn’t believe our luck! Dan and Grandad promptly […]
A Special First in Taupo
Our first day in Taupo was pretty special. The girls were so excited to see their Grandma and Grandad and gave beautiful, heart-warming, unprompted hugs. We spent a lovely morning at the delightfully quaint Lilliput Fun and Animal Park. It was here that Grandma and Grandad enjoyed a rare treat to experience a first for […]
Wellington to Taupo: An Amazing Scenic Flight!
The girls and I took the easy route to Taupo last week; travelling in a 19 seater plane! We were blessed with stunning views on both the outward and return flight. Dan enjoyed a 5-hour drive – pumping up his favourite music on the stereo with no ‘back-chat’! The girls were so excited to see […]