Camping at Rivendell

Easter began slowly for us this year.

After a bit of a full on week, we all woke up on Good Friday feeling fairly tired and run down and a little bit lazy, so we took it easy for the day with a little bit of egg painting, a little bit of cake baking, a little bit of blackberry picking and such like.

But by Saturday we were raring to go again. So, on a bit of a whim, we decided to throw the camping gear into the car and head out to Kaitoke Regional Park, a beautiful patch of Greater Wellington famous for being the location of "Rivendell" in the Lord of the Rings movies.

It's mostly dense forest and walking tracks, but there are a few clearings in the forest where you're able to camp.

It's certainly not a destination for those aiming for a "glamping"* trip, or even a superior "Top Ten" type holiday park. There are flush toilets and a few electric barbeques dotted around, but that's all. And that's the beauty of it. Being Easter weekend, there were plenty of other people around, but you still get that amazing feeling of being away from the city and just out in the bush by yourselves.

There's a little river behind the camping area - actually, it's possibly usually a decent sized river, but we are officially in a drought zone here at the moment as we haven't had much rain this summer so right now there's not much of a river at all - and there's also a waterhole for swimming, so we whiled away most of Saturday afternoon there...

The forest too, provided much entertainment for the kids, mainly in the form of foraging around looking for evidence of fairies (Molly) and foraging around looking for evidence of bugs and collecting empty cicada shells (Alfie). Cicada shells have always freaked me out, from the moment I first saw hundreds of them years ago in Australia clinging motionless to a load of gum tree trunks. Nothing's changed - I still find them freaky, but Alfie clearly doesn't share my phobia.

Apart from that, Alfie biked his way around and around the clearing where we camped, pretty much from dawn 'til dusk - and then he met a little buddy and the two of them switched between kicking a rugby ball around and biking. Needless to say, he was pretty worn out by nightfall and it was surprisingly easy to get him off to sleep!

On Easter Day we woke to rain. (Bad timing!!) The farmers of the area must have been jumping up and down with excitement, but it didn't make the Easter Bunny's job very easy! The kids weren't going to be deterred though, and I had the task of trying to get the rain coats over their heads while they were running around the tent with their Easter basket collecting eggs!

After several hours of rain which involved a mixture of sitting inside the tent playing Uno and chasing the kids around outside in the rain, the tent was starting to become quite wet and grassy inside, and had sprouted a couple of leaks. We'd enjoyed our time at Kaitoke so much that it made it a very difficult and sad decision, but we decided to return to Wellington for a warm, dry and cosy night's sleep in our beds. We will be back though -  we'll just make sure we check the weather forecast next time! 

* Glamping is defined by Wikipedia as glamorous camping, a growing global phenomenon that combines camping with the luxury and amenities of a home or hotel. 

Nelson...without kids!

It was all about good food and wine - with a bit of great coffee thrown in too.

I've just spent a weekend in Nelson (at the top of the South Island) with a couple of my good girlfriends from Auckland. And boy, have I come home feeling relaxed and good!

Nelson's a really pretty place - I could easily live there. It's only a 25 minute flight from Wellington, and the topography is actually fairly similar - sea and mountains, with houses clinging to hilltops all around it. The city is smaller than Wellington but still big enough to offer enough for a weekend away, and it's surrounded by three beautiful national parks (not that we managed to get to any on this trip - but one day I will!).


I'm loving this tradition we've set in recent years: every summer the boys take a weekend away somewhere while the girls stay home with the kids, and then another weekend us girls take a weekend away somewhere while the boys stay at home (and make a mess) with the kids.

Just before Christmas, the boys went down to Queenstown and went tramping in the mountains for a few days - they stayed in huts and brought basic food supplies (and a box of wine as well I believe) and thoroughly enjoyed the great outdoors. It's a stunning part of the country, and I have to say I was a little jealous.

However, it's without a doubt that I can state this: us girls have got our formula 100% right for our weekends away. In a similar fashion to our 2012 trip, this year we booked a luxury bach with a large deck overlooking the ocean and an outdoor spa and indulged in 3 days of good food, good wine, good coffee, sunshine, sleeping, relaxing and sitting in the spa.

Of course I missed the family. But sometimes it's so lovely to be able to appreciate "grown up" things....being able to eat lunch at 4pm for example (no little tummies to worry about feeding every 3 hours), or being able to spend the entire afternoon sitting by the waterside drinking a bottle of wine and read magazines in peace, being able to sleep in past 8am, being able to take our time wandering around the beautiful Cathedral (without having to say "shhhh" once!), and being able to browse around beautiful gift shops full of ceramics and glass and other breakables.

Here's to many more years of the same holiday formula, Beth and Sam!

Rotorua with kids

We’re just back from a few days in Rotorua - an awesome trip, which came about because my old friend Tracey decided to get married on a lake just outside town and invited us up for the wedding.

We've always wanted to take the kids to Rotorua but it's just that little bit too far from Wellington so it hadn't yet happened, until Tracey's wedding gave us the perfect excuse. The 5 and a half hour drive went well, thanks to a number of Roald Dahl story tapes and regular food stops along the way. And we managed to combine the wedding with a few days holiday (as well as a meeting with a potential new client for me too), so all in all we achieved good value for our money/time!

The wedding was just gorgeous. Our friends had hired a bach on the lakeside, and (very flatteringly!) had modelled their day on our own wedding last year – so it was a relaxed, outdoorsy day with a small-ish group of family and friends. There was a trampoline and swing for the kids and after they’d had enough of that, Alfie went wild on the jetty terrorising the black swans, and Molly went wild on the dance floor learning how to dance rock’n’roll style (!) 

Anyway, congratulations Tracey and Steve on a fantastic day!

Aside from the wedding, we had a brilliant time showing the kids what Rotorua is all about. Alfie had a few moments of frustration on arrival because it was "too stinky" for him, but he got used to it and both of them were so excited about everything we saw. 

The hot pools at the Polynesian Spa were a huge hit - there's a dedicated family area where you don't have to worry about disturbing the peace, and where it's safe for the kids to put their heads under water (and they also hire out togs for those mums who pack everyone else's but forget to bring their own). Needless to say we spent a long time there! 

We also spent ages at Te Puia , somewhere I haven't been for years. The cost for a family to get in almost made us collapse, but there's no way you can go to Rotorua and NOT visit one of the geothermal / Maori cultural areas, and once we realised how much value for money we were getting at Te Puia, we were able to put the lost dollar signs out of our minds (!) and enjoy it all. 

We gave the kids maps and they excitedly led us around the bubbling mud pools and steaming rocks and an erupting geyser - it was all very magical and exciting for them.

We also caught a Maori cultural performance, where Molly was persuaded out of the audience and up the front on stage to learn a poi dance. Her look of pure terror was quickly replaced by absolute relief when she realised they were about to be taught a song that she performs at school regularly (E rere taku poi, ki runga, etc) and as all the other stage volunteers were from China she had a major head start. I'm afraid I compensated with my own look of pure terror when the Chinese tourists began grabbing her for photos afterwards, and I quickly shuffled her away. 

For the remainder of the holiday we enjoyed spending time by the lakes and at our bach. We managed to score the most amazing bach by one of the lakes, which had window seats framed with stunning views - I so wish we could have spent more time there. Just outside town  there are some really lovely spots that are missed by a lot of the people who come on the regular tourist trail.  The lakes and forest are stunning, especially for those who like tramping, mountain biking, swimming and other water sports.....like paddling for example! 

 But it's also great for people who just want to relax. Alfie found a good spot to relax with a book in the window seat...he kept on getting there first and I had to fight him for it a few times!

And we all found a relaxing spot in a bar next to Lake Tarawera....! 

An update on life...

Despite it officially being Autumn now and the noticeably shorter days, the weather here continues to be hot, hot, hot. Several parts of the country have been declared drought zones and while we aren’t quite that bad in Wellington (thanks to a big dumping of rain in January), it’s still very dry here. We’ve got a fire ban in place and a ban on garden sprinklers and irrigation systems too, and everywhere is looking slightly less green than usual and a bit more brown/yellow. 

Not that we mind this weather at all! This summer has been just stunning, and we’ve all enjoyed it so much. Last night we made the most of the warm evening and did homemade Chinese takeaway – (ie I cooked a ginger beef & broccoli noodle stir fry and put it in an old takeaway box) and then we took it, with a bottle of chilled wine, to the park and let the kids play off all their energy until the sun went down. 

But our little Falklands-born boy has always struggled with the heat. I’m sure it’s got something to do with his initiation into life being in a cool climate. He didn't do too well in Alice Springs, and this summer he's been mostly seen with a very red face and all grumpy and lethargic from the heat. He isn’t sleeping well in this mugginess and has once again begun creeping into other beds at night - which seems to help him sleep a bit better (but not the rest of the family!)

But none of that has stopped his great appetite and he continues to eat, eat, and eat some more. So does his father in fact. 

So I am permanently to be found in the kitchen, cooking up endless meals, preparing lunchboxes, after-school snacks, pre-race carb-loaded meals, post-race recovery meals, etc etc etc. It is a never-ending task – but I’ve brought home a great big pile of Donna Hay recipe books from the library and I’m having a bit of fun with it all.

 

I did get an evening off the cooking last weekend though, as I celebrated my birthday with an evening out to the most fabulous little Polish bistro in Plimmerton. I've been wanting to try it for ages, as I'd heard lots of good things, but as we very rarely ever go out to dinner and it's a little way out of town as well, I hadn't yet managed to get there. 

So, we managed to persuade a couple of friends to be brave enough to try Polish cuisine with us and all four of us absolutely loved it. All I can say is it was nothing like the Pierogi I remember from childhood and the Chocolate Bomb desert was to die for! Thanks to all at Torpor - we will definitely be back!  

Also on my birthday I spent the morning watching Jake (and a few other of our friends) compete in an ocean swim. Lots of fun with all the kids on the beach, trying to spot Dad in the water and cheering everyone on!

The summer months are most definitely birthday season for us - not only for ourselves, but both kids have been at their friends' birthday parties every weekend for what seems like ages.  Alfie's also been up on stage in his very first school assembly this week, which I have to say was the cutest thing in the world. And other than that, two members of the family have recently had a new haircut....

February in Wellington

So, apart from all the birthdays and leaving preschool/starting big school, what else have we been up to this month?

We've been enjoying spectacular weather, and we've made the most of scootering around the city, along the beautiful waterfront, to the museum, we met Jake for a picnic lunch one day, we've watched buskers, we've played in the park, and Alfie's been showing great interest in all the different buildings, sculptures and statues...

Alfie's enjoying school immensly, is completely wearing himself out and has been cooling off with the hosepipe after school most afternoons...

I'm not sure exactly what he does each day, but his appetite is suddenly ENORMOUS and I can't keep up with it! Between him and Jake (who is consuming a triathlete's diet these days), our weekly grocery bill has increased by about 35% over the last few months - and I am more chained to the kitchen than ever!

And after he's eaten, he's usually back outside for more hosepipe action!

Meanwhile now Molly's in Year 3, she has a lot more homework....reading, writing, spelling, maths, and other things which don't fit neatly into an academic category or description. If I thought it was tricky to fit her homework in before, Year 3 is a whole different ball game! She doesn't look too happy in this picture, but it's just her look of total concentration - she is doing Mathletics, which she really enjoys.

And as for me, I've been grabbing the odd early morning coffee and enjoying the special kind of peace & quiet that you can only truly appreciate in that post-school-drop-off zone....ahhhhh, mums you know what I mean!

Work's going well for me and is slightly less frantic especially now I have 5 days a week to spread it across. I even get to take a real break for lunch now - I don't have to eat it in front of the computer and I can sometimes read a magazine or listen to the radio while I eat - I haven't done that for years!

I'm so nearly up to date with things that I haven't had to do much evening/weekend work for a while, and sometimes I'm even managing to sneak out for a quick walk up the mountain  (thanks Jake!).

And Jake....well, Jake continues to be outdoor sports mad. If he's not running up the mountains or going for a "quick" 40km bike ride before work, you'll find him at the local pool doing laps several mornings a week and/or in the ocean at lunchtime. He's just done his second mini triathlon and all the training has paid off as he came 17th out of 57, with his fastest ever 5km run (21 mins). GO JAKE!!!

Starting School / Ninjago Party!

Alfie's had a very busy and exciting few days.

Last Friday we celebrated his 5th birthday. It was a day full of presents - a bike, a tennis racquet, a Nerf Gun, and other such boy stuff. It was also his very last day at pre-school.

His pre-school has been the making of him. It's such a lovely place which has not only prepared him for school but it's also got him a little bit ahead in reading and writing and has given him such lovely manners, confidence and a caring nature. All credit to the teachers there for doing such a great job with our little man.

In the afternoon we picked Molly up half an hour early from school, and we all went in for Alfie's pre-school diploma presentation and afternoon tea. He was wearing a special happy birthday/happy last day hat and we watched proudly as our little boy was presented with his diploma and a collage of photos. He looked a little odd as he'd been painting his own face earlier in the day and had tried to wash it off but the red paint had stained...never-the-less, he looked so chuffed with himself!

The next day was his birthday party - this was even more exciting than his actual birthday. The Ninjago cake was baked, the Ninjago balloons had been made and blown up with lollies inside them (ready to punch 'n' pop), party games were organised, and the water slide was all set up.

Two hours of noise, one tantrum from Alfie (he was first out in Musical Statues and did NOT like this!), one tantrum from Molly (she ate all her carrots but didn't get the first piece of cake - which had been the original incentive for eating the carrots, an oversight by her dad which had dramatic consequences), a floor covered in food, and 10 wet, slippery kids later, Jake and I flopped onto the sofa with a cold drink and considered our future possibilities for cancelling birthday parties....?

We spent the rest of the weekend at the outdoor pool, watching a fun play in the park, and testing out the new bike.

Alfie then had his most important day yesterday when he STARTED BIG SCHOOL.

So far, so good. No more knocks to the head. He apparently had a little cry at lunchtime but Molly showed him the family photo she keeps in her school bag and gave him a cuddle and he was ok again. Other than that, all I have managed to establish so far is: his best friend Charlie no longer wants to play with him but that's ok because he has two new friends called Riley and Harry, he did hula hooping with Molly at lunchtime, he read a book with the teacher, he played a fly squatting game and he wrote "nothing nothing nothing" on a piece of paper (?)

(That last part, I suspect, is untrue).

Alfie's School Visit

The New Zealand education system is a little different to other countries, in that children start school here on the day they turn 5 years old.

(Actually in theory you can choose to make it any day you like after their 5th birthday, with the law stating only that they start school before the age of 6. But in practice most kids start on the day they turn 5).

This makes for quite a unique system where the 5th birthday is a hugely important milestone, and new children are drip fed into school throughout the year, rather than all starting as one class at the beginning of term.

Before their birthday most schools give the child the opportunity to go and spend a couple of hours at school a few times, the "School Visit". Due to the timing of Alfie's birthday (following the summer holidays and public holidays) it meant that he only gets one school visit before he turns five and that was today.

We weren't too worried as he's pretty familiar with the school already, having spent lots of time dropping Molly off and collecting her and attending various school functions. He's also fortunate to start early in the school year while the class is still only very small - there are currently only about 8 children (although that will grow as the year goes on). But small is good I think, for a little while anyway, just while he gets used to the changes.

So off he went, clearly full of nerves but also full of excitement and being very brave. He met his new teacher (who happens to be Molly's old teacher), met his classmates (some of whom he already knew, including one of his best mates), hung his bag and hat up and ordered me to leave. All good so far.

As far as I can establish, what happened next was: he listened to the other kids doing "news" about teddy bears, he did some drawing and some reading. Then it was time for morning tea, and they all went outside to eat. Molly and her best pal Lara came down to see them and organised a game of "tag" and here's where it all went a little wrong.....

When I returned to collect him at 11am, he was sitting on the floor by the teacher with a big egg on his head, a bump and a graze and an icepack looking very sorry for himself indeed. He'd been running too fast and collided with a big piece of wood. Ouch.

Currently he is not looking forward to starting school for real next week!

Molly's 7th Birthday

February is birthday month in our family and it was Molly's turn this weekend.

Needless to say it was bedlam! 

A weekend filled with presents, a birthday party at home (including 11 girls, a lot of nail polish and a lot of loud music) and a late evening out at the incredible Nitro Circus. 

(If you haven't heard of it, check it out on YouTube here- it was seriously INSANE!!)

Happy SEVENTH birthday Molly!

Waitangi Day

Yesterday was Waitangi Day. 

 

After many years living in New Zealand, we’re still getting our heads around Waitangi Day in our family. On the one hand, Jake and I were born in the UK so we didn’t learn New Zealand history at school. What we do know about the Treaty of Waitangi, we’ve picked up from the media, from books, and more recently from Molly who has learnt about it at school.

Waitangi Day would be as close as it gets to having a National Day in New Zealand. But it’s a unique sort of public holiday and New Zealanders have many different opinions about Waitangi Day and the Treaty.

I’ve heard plenty of Kiwis say that Waitangi Day for them is just a day off and the chance to go to the beach or go shopping (many of the big retailers have Waitangi Day Sales).

But I know for others it’s a very important national day, a day for celebration and a day for reflection on the nation and land rights and Maori culture and politics etc.

The Treaty has its problems (mostly caused by translation issues) but having lived in other countries which arguably should have signed a Treaty long ago (but didn’t) I can see how it’s shaped New Zealand in a generally pretty positive way.

Last year we stood at the waterfront and watched the official Waitangi Day celebrations: the speeches, Kapa Haka groups, bands and storytellers. 

This year we went the other way and spent the whole morning in a shopping mall knocking off as many birthday items as possible from our shopping list, and then we headed down to the beach. Jake went for an ocean swim while the kids pottered around searching for sea creatures (and found Molly's favourite, cushion starfish!). 

 For me as an ex-pat, both ways are based on celebrating what New Zealand is all about. It’s an amazing country and Waitangi Day is a big reminder to us of why we are so lucky to live here.