Mark and Sam etc.

What a lovely long weekend we've all just had with the Campbells Bay Downings. It was so nice to have someone to show all the sights of Wellington to - even though we don't really know them very well ourselves yet!

The climb up Mt Kau Kau, our closest mountain, was great - we had perfect hiking weather and the view was stunning. For anyone else planning to visit us, this is now on our must do list so remember your boots!

I especially loved the "accidental" visit to a wine bar  - thanks for doing the dinner Daniel! And the many coffees and the games of Boggle were just what the doctor ordered after a busy few months (although perhaps a little too relaxing for a certain Dad and a certain Great Uncle who took the opportunity for a little Nana nap!)

Big congratulations to Little Miss Molly who managed to get round a very long tour of the Beehive (Parliament buildings) with Wendy and Sam without any complaining at all, and re-counted the whole tour at school on Monday.

Meanwhile Alfie had his own adventures up at Palmerston North which involved a water fountain, a lot of bubble bath, and the need for Dan to jump in and perform a rescue operation. Thanks again Dan. (His shoes are still wet!)

Mark, Sam, Eve, Dan and Joe - thanks so much for your company. It was lots of fun and we really enjoyed having you to stay. Please come again soon!

Winter in Wellington!

When we left the Falkland Islands in 2010, we genuinely believed that we would never live in a snowy environment again. Unless the remote chance of a fantastic job offer in Wanaka or Queenstown came up (because we’ve always said we’d jump at the chance of living there).

But yesterday a majorly cold weather front came into Wellington and we had real snow that actually settled all around us, not just on the mountain tops but properly on the ground.

This is a very unusual event in Wellington – people who’ve lived here for 30 or 40 years are saying they’ve never seen anything like it - and it’s being referred to by the local media as Wellington’s “once in a lifetime polar blast”. 

Unfortunately Wellington’s a very hilly city and not really set up for this weather. Last night, motorists were trapped, cars were sliding backwards down the steep roads, people were abandoning their vehicles and walking home.  It’s pretty chaotic out there!

When we lived with snow on a regular basis a couple of years ago, we became desensitized to how magical it is, and it often just seemed inconvenient - especially with two very small children who really needed fresh air and outside play.

But as the kids are a bit bigger now, it was different last night – different also because it is most definitely out of the normal weather range we’re all used to these days.

There was just huge excitement in the family when the snow started falling. We had a snowball fight and built a snowman, and the kids were still talking about it when they woke up in the morning today.

The snow is coming down fast and heavy again now, so I’m off to switch the heating on....brrrrr!