Catching the Magic

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

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island bay

#MySundayPhoto – Fun in the sun!

February 14, 2016February 18, 2016 BritMumInNZ 4 Comments photography, Sarah, Silent Sunday Photographs

A beautiful sunset, on a summer’s evening, in Island Bay, Wellington and our Sophie takes the plunge, as two kayakers glide past the island. Our dog, Cocoa, watching on, but didn’t follow her lead. Hubby paddled into shore, on his stand up paddle board, and our youngest, Alice, ran around in the shallows, skipping over […]

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Winter fun on Wellington’s south coast

June 15, 2015June 15, 2015 BritMumInNZ 2 Comments Country Kids, Learning & growing, Life in action - Videos, Lifestyle, Our pets

The past couple of weekends have given us some calm, sunshine weather to get out and enjoy the outdoors, despite it being the onset of winter here in New Zealand. We live near the south coast of Wellington and since getting our puppy, in October last year, we have good reason to get out for […]

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My Sunday Photo | Winter’s sunshine in Island Bay

June 7, 2015June 7, 2015 BritMumInNZ 12 Comments Silent Sunday

It’s been a beautiful winter’s weekend of sunshine here in Wellington, New Zealand. Yesterday I fitted in an awesome 6 mile run, but today was all about family. We enjoyed a gorgeous stroll from Houghton Bay to Island Bay and back. A visit to the playground and marine-education centre was an absolute must for our […]

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The last night of the summer school holidays

February 2, 2015 BritMumInNZ 2 Comments Country Kids, School hols

It was a perfect evening, with not a breath of wind (rare for Wellington). The sun’s heat was still present, even as it began to set in the sky. The warm evening was too much of a temptation to play. It didn’t feel like the night before the first day of a new school year. […]

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The Photo Gallery | Two… Masts arrived in a storm

June 5, 2013June 5, 2013 BritMumInNZ 14 Comments photography

‘Two’ is the theme this week on ‘The Photo Gallery’ and this morning, on World Environment Day, 5 June 2013, an amazing sight met my eyes as I drove along Wellington’s south coast, on the way to my oldest daughter’s school. The wild storm of last night trapped a waka crew anchored in heavy seas. […]

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Silent Sunday

March 17, 2013March 17, 2013 BritMumInNZ 21 Comments photography, Sarah, Silent Sunday

~≈~≈~≈~≈~≈~≈~≈~ What is Silent Sunday?

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Little Miss Explorer – Wellington’s South Coast

January 28, 2013 BritMumInNZ 3 Comments Alice

Every Sunday, throughout the summer, there’s a special place in Island Bay that we often visit. Its flags flutter, in the almost certain breeze, and giant fish kites welcome passers by into the old bait house that is now a treasured centre of marine education for locals and visitors alike. Located on the shores of […]

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Summer Saturday on Wellington’s South Coast with family

January 26, 2013January 27, 2013 BritMumInNZ 2 Comments School hols

Today was all about water. It started with a bath – when Miss 2, Alice, discovered an old Thomas Tank Engine bath toy (in much need of a scrub) and persuaded me to run a bath (and scrub the toy), which we then wallowed in for half an hour. After the bath she wondered into […]

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Swim Home Carpet Shark! You are free!

June 5, 2012 BritMumInNZ 4 Comments Alice, Learning & growing, Sarah

The old bait house in Island Bay is home to a wonderful little ‘Marine Education Centre‘ that provides the children of Wellington the opportunity to get hands on with the creatures that live along the South Coast. On Sunday we popped in to give Alice and Sophie an opportunity to say hello to the rocky […]

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Silent Sunday

June 3, 2012 BritMumInNZ 8 Comments Silent Sunday

Silent Sunday | The rules: Use just one photo in your post. You must have taken the picture. Use a photo taken in the week leading up to your post. You don’t have to do it every week. No words in the post OR the title. ________________________________________________

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Do what you love, one day a week: Paddle boarding!

February 8, 2012February 8, 2012 BritMumInNZ 4 Comments Alice, Charlotte, Dan, Loving & Not Loving, Sarah, Sophie

After my last attempt, in less than calm waters and with a few adrenaline pumping wipe-outs, I went out on the board again this week. It was beautifully calm in Lyall Bay on Sunday. Barely a ripple of a wave broke on the shore. I found my feet quickly and plunged the paddle deeply into […]

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Sunday snippets: Enjoying the sunshine

October 10, 2011October 11, 2011 BritMumInNZ 4 Comments Alice, Charlotte, Dan, photography, Sarah, Silent Sunday, Sophie

After a week of rain and cold winds, with just a few snippets of blue in between, it was with great relief that we woke to sunshine this Sunday. We did the chores, mowed the lawn and then got out together and dosed up on Vitamin D to fight our snuffly noses. Here’s a few […]

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Catching ourselves some friendly ions

July 3, 2011July 4, 2011 BritMumInNZ 12 Comments Alice, Charlotte, Dan, Sarah, Sophie

Wind and madness come hand in hand, it’s scientifically proven… ‘The Evil Wind Wind puts people in a bad mood as studies have shown that more fights, crimes, heart attacks and other ills occur when there is an ill wind blowing. The reason is the positive ions produced by these winds. In the case of […]

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Wardrobe Wednesday: First day of Spring

September 1, 2010September 1, 2010 BritMumInNZ 11 Comments Random Musings

The first day of Spring was glorious and I spent the whole day far away from the house & the chores. The morning was spent walking up and down the beach with Alice sleeping for most of it. I was browsing blogs on my phone, whilst taking photographs of the beautiful waves and decided to […]

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  • 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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