Catching the Magic

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

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lyall bay beach

Silent Sunday

May 5, 2013 BritMumInNZ 28 Comments Silent Sunday

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

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Snapshots from a sunny Saturday ‘avo at Lyall Bay Beach

August 12, 2012August 12, 2012 BritMumInNZ 3 Comments Alice, Dan, photography, Sarah, Sophie

Sunshine on the beach on a winter Saturday afternoon. A fine time for families to revive, refresh and reconnect. Lyall Bay, Wellington, you have our hearts x Ice-cream for the little ones, coffee for the bigger people. Friends from Napier, sharing our little patch of beloved New Zealand. Toys made by nature for big and […]

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10 things to do in the winter sun on the beach

August 6, 2012August 6, 2012 BritMumInNZ 1 Comment Alice, Charlotte, Dan, Learning & growing, Sarah, Sophie

Draw a giant snakes and ladders games in the sand and play with pebble markers. Make a dice substitute by drawing six rings in the sand (with number 6 in the smallest, centre ring, and number 1 in the largest, outside ring). Choose an object to throw at the rings to score (could be a […]

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Farewell cous from Aotearoa x

December 24, 2011 BritMumInNZ Leave a comment Sarah

The day after Sophie’s crazy 6th Birthday party, my dear cousin Jane bid us and New Zealand farewell, travelling on to Australia for three week’s (and to be reunited with her fiance) before journeying home to England. It was so wonderful to see her after eight (or so) years and so lovely that she stopped […]

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Do I stop at the beach?

September 23, 2011 BritMumInNZ 5 Comments Alice, Charlotte, Sophie

I have no towels, no changes of clothes or togs for them to splash in. The air still has a chill, the water’s still cold. But I have the car and it’s a short drive home. The beach is deserted, except for another couple of mothers letting their children run free in and out of the gentle, […]

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The Gallery: Chilled Out

May 11, 2011May 11, 2011 BritMumInNZ 12 Comments Alice

This photograph encapsulates my ‘moments’ when I am chilled out – they are rare, and fleeting – but I have to embrace them, how ever small, as it’s never long before I’m back on my feet saving the day! Thankfully, my feet kept quite snug in my amazing boots! ____________________________________________________ This post is for Week […]

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The Gallery: ‘Black and White’ mourning the loss of twenty nine brave souls

November 24, 2010November 24, 2010 BritMumInNZ 22 Comments Sarah

The theme on ‘The Gallery‘ this week is ‘Black and White‘. I had lots of ideas for this, from piano keys to black ink on a white page, but the saddest news has shadowed all my thoughts. Since Friday the whole of New Zealand has been caught up in the plight of twenty nine miners […]

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Make hay whilst the sun shines…

October 5, 2010October 6, 2010 BritMumInNZ 4 Comments School hols

We have had a beautiful weekend of weather, which has drifted into the start of the week. Saturday was taken up with two different children’s Birthday parties, but they were surprisingly sedate. The first one was in the morning at ‘Tiger Eye Beads’ on Cuba Street. One of Charlotte’s friends turned eight and a group […]

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A Forecast to Smile About

October 2, 2010 BritMumInNZ 2 Comments Art, School hols

After the deluge of rain that drenched Wellington on Thursday we were so delighted to see the sunshine on Friday. What’s more the forecast for the whole week is SUN, SUN, SUN! Now that’s something to SMILE about, especially on the school holidays! I’d pre-booked to take the girls to a craft activity in the […]

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Getting hip with ‘Hipstamatic’

September 4, 2010September 4, 2010 BritMumInNZ 3 Comments Random Musings, Technology

Peace brothers and sisters, last night’s howling southerlies gave way to the most splendid sunshine in Wellington this Saturday morning. Surfers were out in force in Lyall Bay and I bolted out of the door for a morning jog at a little past 7am (determined that last Saturday’s ‘I am a gazelle‘ triumph wasn’t to […]

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Drawings in the sand

June 19, 2010 BritMumInNZ 3 Comments Charlotte, Sophie

At low tide the wet, flat sand of Lyall Bay makes a welcome canvas. Sophie delighted in writing messages of love and mastered drawing hearts (a little something she’s been working on). Charlotte drew pictures and made trails (with maths questions!) for me to follow. They both asked for me to take a photograph and […]

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Music on a School Night

March 30, 2009April 13, 2009 BritMumInNZ 5 Comments Life in action - Videos, Sarah

Well, since my last blog post of howling southerlies I’m pleased to report the fine weather has been restored. The past week has been glorious and, as you can see from the lack of blog posts, we’ve been making the most of it! At least Sophie and I have, whilst Dan has been working hard […]

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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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