Catching the Magic

Travels in New Zealand and beyond, going back to 2003!

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School hols

Getting back into routines and the new school year

February 10, 2016February 18, 2016 BritMumInNZ Learning & growing, New beginnings, Running

It’s the second week of term 1 and we are getting well into our stride. Thankfully the first two weeks of this term have been short ones – four day weeks (if only all weeks were four days on, three days off!). We headed over to Martinborough for a couple of days this weekend, to […]

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Summer holiday loves, at home in Wellington

January 17, 2015 BritMumInNZ 1 Comment Lifestyle, School hols, Things I'm Loving

This is such a magic summer we’re having back in Wellington, New Zealand. Having hubby not working has made the school holidays all the more special (and less stressful!) too. We have just over a week left before our two older girls start the school year (our now 9 year old homeschooler is giving school […]

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Loving the last week of the school holidays

January 25, 2013January 25, 2013 BritMumInNZ 4 Comments Loving & Not Loving, School hols

Miss 9 returns to school on Monday. She’s all stocked with her stationery booty and has new buttons sewn on her blazer (thanks Granddad – he’s also fixed two door handles, replaced a broken toilet seat and countless other ‘to dos’ around the house!).  She’s been setting her alarm to get in training (hope the […]

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Things I’m Loving: Creative loves

January 11, 2013January 11, 2013 BritMumInNZ 7 Comments Art, Loving & Not Loving, School hols

Lots of creative fun in the house this week, as well as enjoying having Grandma & Granddad over from the UK. Loved painting young Alice’s face and watching her reaction to my artwork on her face! Loved the photos Grandma & Granddad took of a trip into Wellington on the bus, with Charlotte & a […]

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Snippets of life | 12 – 17 | #PhotoADayJuly | School hols

July 17, 2012July 17, 2012 BritMumInNZ 2 Comments photography, School hols

12. texture | 13. open | 14. building | 15. finger | 16. sign | 17. my addiction 12. texture Give me sunshine on a winter’s day and pass me a hat to soften the blow of the wind. Show me the smile on my little one’s face, given a moment to run in fresh […]

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Slices of life | 7 – 11 | #PhotoADayJuly | School hols

July 11, 2012July 11, 2012 BritMumInNZ 3 Comments photography, School hols

7. garden | 8. lunch | 9. big | 10. my favourite colour | 11. letter (all taken on my phone – which has taken a few tumbles for the worse – multi-tasking with little people does that – hence dodgy, out of focus quality!) 7. GARDEN This is the view I see every day, […]

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Slices of life | 1 – 6 | #PhotoADayJuly | School hols

July 6, 2012July 6, 2012 BritMumInNZ 4 Comments photography, School hols

1. self portrait | 2. busy | 3. best part of my day | 4. fun | 5. on the floor | 6. chair Playing along with this month’s ‘Photo A Day’ challenge at ‘fat mum slim‘ blog, because it’s fun to see the day through a different perspective (especially when much of the day […]

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Week in the life | Tuesday

April 24, 2012April 28, 2012 BritMumInNZ 3 Comments Sarah, School hols

A lie in of sorts – past 7am. Happily lazing in bed with Alice chattering away and nuzzling up to me. A shower by myself – a treat – whilst Alice played with her Daddy. It wasn’t long after I’d finished my shower that she found me again – whilst I was trying to decide […]

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Week in the life | Monday

April 23, 2012April 28, 2012 BritMumInNZ 4 Comments Sarah, School hols

Cosmos flowers, fresh from the garden, filling a vase in the kitchen on Monday morning. Picked with Alice, whilst the rest of the house slept, just after 6am. Bare feet on dewy grass. My windowsill littered with shells, crystals, gem stones and jewelry. A gift from my Mum, a reminder to live every day to […]

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Nearly Wordless Wednesday: Rapunzel, let down your hair!

April 18, 2012April 18, 2012 BritMumInNZ 6 Comments Sarah, School hols

I can only manage bullet points. This afternoon has been… (and gone and now I’m drinking red wine – faster than I should be): 7 children (3 my own, 2 soon to be neighbour’s children – no parent help – busy moving in next door, 2 friends – with their Mummy) 2 adults (myself and […]

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Do what you love, one day a week: A walk in the bush

January 14, 2012January 23, 2012 BritMumInNZ 2 Comments Sarah, School hols, Walks

The wind ruffled our feathers wildly, whilst the sun teased us with blue sky, oyster clouds and dashing streaks of white. A sky that if painted wouldn’t look real. A day that held promise but so easily could have been spent hidden, sheltering from the gale force winds. Not a day for being whipped by […]

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Lyrical Sunday – Monsters (with a special poem from Chinese Grandma!)

January 30, 2011February 16, 2011 BritMumInNZ 5 Comments Charlotte, Lyrical Sunday, Sarah, School hols, Sophie, Writing

The Red Monster – Our Jim by Chinese Grandma We have a little monster, Who came to visit us, All the way from England, On a plane and on a bus. He is a little devil, And likes to move about, In the trees and bushes, Of that there is no doubt. He hid inside […]

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Wet, wet, wet = Pyjama Day

September 30, 2010September 30, 2010 BritMumInNZ 8 Comments School hols

We were all set for a play-date this morning, but Alice had me tossing and turning a bit in the night and Charlotte sounded heavy with a cough first thing. I canned the play-date and proclaimed a ‘Pyjama Day’. We started with Disney Sing Star after breakfast: Made chocolate chip cookies for morning tea: Followed […]

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Day 2 of the hols – chilling out

September 29, 2010September 30, 2010 BritMumInNZ 4 Comments Alice, Garden, School hols

Day 2 of the school hols was all about chilling out and embracing the p-jays. So nice not to have to rush out the door. The girls creativity is coming out in bounds and they’ve completely taken over the garage with cardboard boxes, glue, glitter, tissue paper… the car is officially parked on the drive-way […]

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Older posts
  • WAI2K 50km trail adventure, November 2024!February 20, 2025
    In November 2024 I took on the epic endurance event of the 50km WAI2K Ultra, from Woodside Train Station in Greytown, through the hills of the Wairarapa and Kaitoke Regional Park, to Tunnel Gully Upper Picnic Area in Upper Hutt. This mixed terrain course involves around 2,500m of elevation gain through dense scrub, beautiful native… Read more: WAI2K 50km trail adventure, November 2024!
  • Visits back to the UK aren’t always a holiday – when those you love aren’t well.February 6, 2025
    Life is never all sunshine and roses. When we have had the good fortunate of having people in our lives that we’ve loved deeply, and have felt their love in return, it is painful to see that person suffering. Life is all about beginnings and endings, hellos and goodbyes, first moments and celebrations, and also… Read more: Visits back to the UK aren’t always a holiday – when those you love aren’t well.
  • Celebrating our 25th Wedding Anniversary with a long weekend on the Gold Coast – June 2024January 6, 2025
    At the end of May 2024 my husband and I celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary and took the opportunity to grab a fix of winter sunshine, over the ‘King’s Birthday’ weekend public holiday (beginning of June), with a trip to the Gold Coast – on Australia’s East Coast. We were joined by our children, Sophie… Read more: Celebrating our 25th Wedding Anniversary with a long weekend on the Gold Coast – June 2024
  • ‘Last time’ moments on a spring visit to the UK, May 2024January 2, 2025
    After over twenty five years of living thousands of miles away from my birth country, and many flights back and forth, I am still in awe of the fact I can be on the other side of the world in 24 hours. I remind myself that jet passenger services didn’t start until the late 1950s… Read more: ‘Last time’ moments on a spring visit to the UK, May 2024
  • Race Tekapo 50kmSeptember 29, 2024
    Race registration on Friday night, by the shore of Lake Tekapo, was a ‘hold on tight to your bib’ or you won’t be going anywhere tomorrow affair. The bitingly cold air was a shock to the system, after my husband, daughter and I had driven from a sunny, spring like day in Christchurch. Our flight… Read more: Race Tekapo 50km
  • Running the stunning Motatapu Trail MarathonMay 30, 2024
    This was one of the most beautiful trail marathons I’ve ran and was a great way to celebrate a summer of running and see in the beginning of autumn (though the weather was still very much throwing the heat of summer on event day – which fell on the first Saturday in March). The 42km… Read more: Running the stunning Motatapu Trail Marathon
  • 50km for 50 years! How I saw in the first day of my fifties running the 50km Faultline Ultra!May 21, 2024
    I’ve been on a good running streak for over a year now (meaning no injuries, illness or troublesome hormones to slow me down – thanks to a mix of strength work, good luck and hormone replacement therapy!). When I saw that a new event was going to be held in the city where I live… Read more: 50km for 50 years! How I saw in the first day of my fifties running the 50km Faultline Ultra!
  • Six month catch up!March 9, 2024
    Time is literally flying away on me and blog writing is very neglected these days, but we are all well here and can’t believe our lovely Christmas and New Year festivities were three months ago! Spring and summer has raced by and now we are on the cusp of autumn here in New Zealand. Since… Read more: Six month catch up!
  • Ten blissful days in Rarotonga, Cook Islands.August 8, 2023
    With the days dark and short here in New Zealand we jetted off for some warmth and sunshine in the Cook Islands, just a three to four hour flight from Auckland. We have never visited any of the Pacific Islands and it was with great delight that we touched down on the runway in Rarotonga,… Read more: Ten blissful days in Rarotonga, Cook Islands.
  • Marlborough Food & Wine Festival Birthday CelebrationAugust 7, 2023
    Turning 50 is definitely a milestone birthday, but hubby Dan didn’t want a party so in February we decided to head away for the weekend to celebrate at the Marlborough Food and Wine Festival. Dan’s Birthday fell on the same weekend as the festival, in the sunshine summer month of February here in New Zealand,… Read more: Marlborough Food & Wine Festival Birthday Celebration
  • A few running events to kick off the year & a sub-4 PB at the Rotorua Marathon!May 10, 2023
    Round the Bays Wellington, held in February every year, is always an iconic event, generally bestowed with sunshine and an amazing turn out of people of all ages. The atmosphere for this event is like a festival, with entertainment lining the route of the first 6km, between Waitangi Park and Kilbirnie Park (where all the… Read more: A few running events to kick off the year & a sub-4 PB at the Rotorua Marathon!
  • Auckland mid-week break away for Harry Styles!April 4, 2023
    On Census night in New Zealand we were away from home, up in Auckland (along with thousands of other people from all over the country) to enjoy an epic night of entertainment at Mt Smart Stadium. We flew up first thing on Tuesday morning, giving us plenty of time to enjoy some sight seeing before… Read more: Auckland mid-week break away for Harry Styles!
  • Celebrating a Birthday with a Meerkat Encounter!March 30, 2023
    Our youngest turned 13 in February, joining her older two siblings in ‘teen hood’ (though our oldest will turn 20 in June this year!). Having started high school a couple of weeks before her birthday there was, certainly for me, a moment of nostalgia as I reflected on how grown up my ‘baby’ has become… Read more: Celebrating a Birthday with a Meerkat Encounter!
  • Summer holiday in Rotorua & TaupoMarch 29, 2023
    The last week of January, before the start of a new school year, we drove up from Wellington to the central region of the North Island for a week’s holiday. We’ve holidayed in this area many times over the years and never tire of the endless outdoor activities on offer in the most beautiful natural… Read more: Summer holiday in Rotorua & Taupo
  • Christmas and a Birthday in WellingtonJanuary 12, 2023
    Sunshine was gifted to us on Christmas Day this year in Wellington and we had the most wonderfully relaxed day together (well, almost all together, as our oldest currently lives in Melbourne and so we video chatted and were delighted to see them having an awesome time with a friend and their friend’s family). We… Read more: Christmas and a Birthday in Wellington

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