Winter in Wellington

Apart from the fact that there's been no sign of quieter times yet for Jake in his new job, this year's Winter so far has been good, full of fresh air and cozy evenings. 

We've had our fair share of sunshine and fine days and have been really enjoying adventuring up into the hills where we live. 

I love walking the tracks behind our house. You get views of the city one way, of the Hutt Valley the other way, the sea all around, and when it's clear you can see all the way to the South Island as well (in the photo that's the part covered in a thin white strip of cloud!).

The kids have taken to regularly bringing home interesting "items" they've found deep in the bush every time we go out, and we're accumulating quite a collection of old wheels, broken pottery, unidentified metal things, rocks, and sticks which they sharpen and try to create fire with.

There may be a big collection of rubbish in the garden now, but luckily it's still looking pretty stunning, despite the time of year. I love that in New Zealand we don't get the bare, brown, empty look in the winter (not many deciduous plants/trees here) and it's always lush. I also love the first year in a new house, as you discover which plants flower and what changes over the seasons.

Meanwhile, my washing machine is being kept on all the time as Alfie currently comes home every day from school completely covered in mud from lunchtime soccer games.


It's not only Alfie. Apparently the teacher has banned the boys from sitting down anywhere in class except for on a plastic sheet that he lays out on the floor for them.


Alfie also took part in his first rugby tournament last week. His team, The Sharks, played SIX games of rugby and it went on all afternoon and evening. Needless to say he was a complete hungry and tired wreck by the end of it, but he enjoyed himself!

Playing in the dark under the floodlights was pretty cool, but cooler still was when his team got into the semi-finals..... and then the FINALS!!

They were playing a team that was a year or two older than them, so they lost out in the final game but gave the winners a good challenge. GREAT EFFORT ALFIE!!

While Jake's been away a lot lately - partly for work and partly up in Auckland to support the All Blacks, oops I mean England - the 3 of us left at home have developed a nice little tradition of taking the bikes out on a Sunday morning, exploring the local bush and ending up at our local cafe.

Molly and I had a great evening out recently  at Annie, The Musical. Wellington may be a small capital city by international standards, but a big plus of this is that we get to enjoy the international arts scene very easily. No crowds or long travelling times.

Molly and I have been to the theatre quite a few times now and this was probably our best so far - Annie was great (especially the real dog who licked his bum on stage), and we couldn't help coming out with big smiles on our faces. (Not just at the dog, the rest of the show was good too).

The rest of our winter evenings have been spent tucked up and cozy in our home - which is not so new now, I can't believe it's almost been a year since we moved in!