Bye Mum, see you in less than a year!

Wow - was it really over 2 weeks ago that I last posted?

The time while Mum was here just flew by but we really did have the best time ever. The travelling was great but in the end it felt really good to get home and then spend another week with Mum at home.

We did lots of cool stuff but at the same time it just didn't feel that she was here long enough.

We dropped her off at Wellington Airport on Friday afternoon and as always, it was horrible. I hate saying goodbye. But it's really great to know that we will be seeing Mum plus other close family and friends in less than a year when the wedding rolls round. And I really should be busy enough between now and then that the time should just fly!

After my last post I took the weekend off, Graeme flew down to Dunedin to meet us and we had a wonderful 3 days of travelling and playing tourists. Queenstown is quite possibly the most beautiful place on earth! I LOVED it and can't wait to get back and explore some more as we really didn't have long enough there. Here is just a taster of how gorgeous the place is (and yes I do want to try that parachute gliding thing next time I'm there!):

As part of my 27 things I want to do aged 27 I decided I wanted to take at least one photo every day. I have been keeping up so far and had a rather difficult task today of picking one photo to represent each day since my birthday. I am now all caught up. Not sure if I want to post all of them but I will post some every now and again. This one is the first one for the year taken on my birthday....

Anyway, will try and get on again soon with some more beautiful photos. We've had cracking weather today and if the kiwi summer continues like this I will be spending HEAPS of time outside so you might not hear from me very often!

Take Care x

Blogging on the road...

I am writing this post from a motel in Wellington. I am excited because my Mum is due to fly into Wellington just after midnight tonight! It's been over 9 months since I last saw her.

We are staying overnight in Wellington and then hit the InterIslander ferry tomorrow across to Picton. I have to go over to South Island for work and Mum is coming along for the ride! It's going to be great! I will have some company for all the long driving and Mum gets to see a lot of South Island for a fraction of the price it would normally cost!

It will be weird being away from home and Graeme on my birthday but I have booked Mum and me to do something pretty cool to try and make up for it. We are going to be in Oamaru so we are going to see the Blue Penguins which are gorgeous! I had my photo taken with one on my lap when we first arrived in New Zealand and it will be even better to see them in their natural habitat!

I am also keeping my fingers crossed that we see some seals in Kaikoura and some snow capped mountains as we drive around!

I will try and post as we travel round... so watch this space!

Of course - there was a certain someone who didn't look happy when I started packing my suitcase....

Have a good week!

Spring = Sprung

October has always been my favourite month...due in part to it being my birthday month (hint, hint!). I used to love it because of the Autumn colours and now I love it because it's slap bang in the middle of New Zealand spring.

Everything seems green and lush and new (the green and lush coming mostly from ALL the rain we've had) and it makes me want to slow down a little and enjoy my surroundings.

In preparation for my 28th year (how did that come around so darn quick?) I have come up with a list of 27 things to do aged 27. It's a mix of serious and frivulous and a lot of it has to do with slowing down and enjoying my surroundings. If I'm feeling particularly brave maybe I'll share the list on the blog over the next few weeks.

My Mum leaves the UK tomorrow for her trip down-under. She's got a few days in Aussie before heading over here. It will be GREAT to see her and I have a few things planned to keep her busy including a whirlwind tour of South Island. I hope to take lots of photos and will try and get some posted while we are away. Graeme has to work so will be staying at home but we are catching up with him for a few days in the middle of our trip.

I've got a pretty busy week on the lead up to Mum's visit but all is good!

Some more South Island pictures (blogger permitting)

Fingers crossed this post isn't in vain. Here are some more South Island pictures for you to have a gander at:

On the ferry across to South Island

Coming into the Marlborough Sounds

Some Christchurch architecture
...and more to follow later on!

And in other news - I have tooth ache - uh-oh! Never a good sign and this isn't the usual twinge of my wisdom teeth - this is full-on-I-can't-drink-water-because-it-hurts-too-much pain so methinks a trip to the dentist is required. Funnily enough though, I seem to be able to drink warmed up fizzy lemonade without too much pain...as long as I hold my head on it's side so the liquid doesn't touch the sore bit!

And I have next week off work - woo-hoo! And it's all lieu time so no annual leave required - even better! I have big plans for sleeping, watching chick flicks, some baking, being crafty and generally being lazy! Plus maybe a blog post or two if you're lucky...or unlucky depending on which way you look at it ;-) I can't remember the last time I had a week off work for no reason other then to chill out so I am reeeeaaaallllyyy looking forward to it.

A Trip down South

I'm quite lucky really...I got to travel around South Island this week and work paid for it :-)

My new boss started on Monday and on Tuesday she decided we should go to South Island on Wednesday to get a few things sorted out. So we had a mad Tuesday trying to get the arrangements sorted and we were on our way early Wednesday.

It was a fantastic few days! We drove to Wellington and then took the ferry across to Picton.

From there we drove down to Christchurch with a brief stop in Blenheim and also Kaikoura - to take pictures of the seals right next to the road!

We had a full day of meetings in Christchurch on Thursday and then on Friday we got up at 5.30am (yep, you have read that right!) to attend the Dawn Parade as it was Anzac Day. It was an amazing experience and well worth getting up early for. It was held in Cathedral Square in Christchurch.

From there we spent some time looking around Christchurch and then headed South in our wee hire car towards Dunedin. We stopped along the way to take pictures of the war memorials with the wreaths on them which was fascinating. Sometimes it was the smallest of towns that had made the biggest of efforts.

We stopped in Timaru for a lunch meeting and in other various places along the way including Oamaru to see some penguins, Moeraki to see the curious boulders on the beach

and Shag Point to see some sea birds and penguins.

We arrived late into Dunedin on Friday night and had a busy day of meetings on Saturday before flying back to Wellington late Saturday night and driving back up to Palmy. A very busy few days but it was good fun and a very inspiring trip.

Please note: Unfortnately blogger doesn't seem too happy about uploading all my photos tonight so two will have to do for now and I may need to try again in a day or two to get the rest up for you.