October Sun

It's got to the time of year when the kids (and other brave nutters) decide to bare their legs in shorts again. I am not one of these people. It has to be at least in the early 20s for me to consider exposing my white tree trunks.

The girls insisted on wearing their short shorts to Queen Elizabeth Park this weekend to walk the dog. They were bribed by the promise of lunch out.

They have both reached the age where we are beginning to have to use bribery to get them to spend any time with us. I guess it was inevitable, and I can remember being the same with my parents. Nothing they did was ever right or cool enough. I am now habitually uncool.

It was a gorgeous day and this park never disappoints. There are always beautiful views and the light here is always bright and highlights the colours in the landscape.

The girls have been walking in this park since we first moved to NZ (almost 10 years ago now!). I am extremely grateful that they still come with us and appear to enjoy each others company and (hopefully) ours! :)

Here comes the sun :)

Its still a bit chilly but the sun is gradually coming back and warming us up again. So this weekend we headed back to Tane's track just outside Upper Hutt and had our first picnic of the spring.

I am sure I have a photo of this waterfall from 9 years ago when we first did this walk. The girls were a lot shorter then.

This walk is just as beautiful as I remember it - only we completed it a lot quicker than previously. I think the girls legs are a lot longer this time!

Ted enjoyed it. It's one of the few walks that dogs are allowed on as there are no kiwis in this area. The notices about the use of 1080 in the area are rather worrying. This is a poison used to wipe out pests such as rats and possums. You just have to make sure that your dog don't eat any of the bait as it is fatal to dogs as well as pests.

Soggy moods and bright lights

It's been raining...a lot!

And we've been engrossed in netball. Every weekend for the last ten weeks. My girls are obsessed with the sport and so every Saturday we head to two different sets of courts, no matter what the weather, to watch the girls teams.

Luckily the sun has now decided to appear and we have been out and about enjoying the light.

A trip to Paraparaumu allowed us to enjoy a stunning sunset.

We were not the only ones enjoying the light disappear behind Kapiti Island.

There was no wind which is very unusual for Wellington!

Still here and still loving it!

Hi All. Just popping to say we are still in New Zealand and very settled. Life is streaming past and a huge rate of knots. Whilst I would love to update this blog more often, full time work, kids sports and just life in general mean that I rarely have the time.

And I guess that's how life should be!

Anyway here are some photos from our recent trip to the top of the South Island.

My kids are now far too grown up! But it does mean that we can now attempt long tramps. This is us half way through a 11.5km tramp through the Abel Tasman.

As always it is stunning!

Beautiful deserted beaches.

Clear waters.

Stunning scenery :)