Start the Year as we mean to go on.....

What a perfect day. We started off by picking blueberries in the morning at a local farm, then headed off to the sea. We followed the east coast by road until we saw a good spot and pulled in.

We spent the day with the dogs on a beautiful beach with turquoise water and golden sand. Perfect!


John had a go with his new surf casting rod and as you can see from the photo managed to catch a fish, even if it was a tiddler. Think Titan has got his eyes on it for his supper!


I relaxed, soaking up the sun (with the dogs) and reading.

I love this photo of my two boys enjoying the beach.

Later in the day we took the dogs for a walk along the beach before heading home and having a yummy lamb BBQ on the patio with Mum.

Let's hope this day was the start of many in 2011! X

Happy New Year!

We started New Year's eve at the 'Rock the Lake' concert held in Rotorua, a bit of a chilly night once the sun went down but great atmosphere. We headed home to enjoy the midnight fireworks from our balcony across the lake, beautiful.

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2011! Sending you all our love and you're always in our thoughts and hearts, however far away you are. xx

Time to Relax

The weather closed in today, so we saw it as a good excuse to have some relax time. We headed into town and after a bit of a shop, went to the driving range to smack a few baseballs in the batting nets. Great fun, I'm sure there's a technique to it, but started to hit a few by the end of our 3rd basket! Finished the day off with a trip to the Cinema to see the last in the trilogy, 'The Girl that Kicked the Hornets Nest', great films.

No Rest for the Wicked!

True to form, John didn't have much time to rest and recover from Christmas. He was out the next day with his axe, chopping down the punga fern that was on our patio. It use to be lovely, but over the last 6 months had grown to a point where it was no longer attractive or useful, so we made the decision to get rid of it and open up the area to the light.












It makes lots more space to lounge in the hammock and improves the whole look of the area.

Happy Christmas!

Wishing everyone a very Happy Christmas and enjoy the festive season.


We had a lovely day. In the morning Mum worked really hard and produced an amazing spread of goodies for friends and family, out on her deck. Although the weather was warm, the sun didn't really come out until the afternoon.







We finished off the day with a Lamb BBQ on the patio with the traditional kiwi strawberry pavlova and chocs. All very relaxing and enjoyable. Hope all you guys in the UK had some snow to enjoy.

Sending you all our love for the coming year. Big Hugs. x

Present sniffer!

Someone can't seem to leave the presents alone. He was caught in the act, thought that we weren't watching!

Bon Jovi Weekend

We've just had another weekend up in Auckland. We discovered some fantastic shopping spots, Ponsonby was a complete party atmosphere with their Santa parade, live music and great shopping.

We treated ourselves to a visit to the Ice Lounge on Saturday evening before dinner. Amazing place, all made of ice, even the glasses that we had our cocktail in. Could only manage to stay for one drink as it got too cold!

Then headed to the Orbit restaurant at Sky Tower, where you watch 360 degrees of Auckland go by whilst you dine, stunning views and fabulous food.
















On the Sunday we first visited the War Memorial Museum which was fascinating and then on to Parnell, another wonderful place, full of boutique shops and beautiful eateries, sitting Al Fresco, watching the world go by.



The concert in the evening was amazing. Bon Jovi was a complete star, and the fact that we had seats only 5 rows from the stage made it even more outstanding.


Heading home on Monday we went via One Tree hill which is surrounded by lovely park land with grazing livestock just mixing with all us tourists. Stunning views from the top and a chance to take more photos.

Both John and I feel completely relaxed and refreshed, felt like we'd been away for a week!