Still on the road...

Just a quick one today and I'm afraid to say no photos because I am typing this from an internet cafe. Tried to get photos off the camera onto the laptop last night and the battery on the camera went meaning none of the photos came across - argh! I will try again later so keep your fingers crossed!
I am writing this from Gore which we are visiting for a few hours. The whole week has been good so far. Mum has been enjoying the travels and seems quite happy milling around when I am at meetings. It's been good to catch up with people workwise and see they are (mostly) doing okay and enjoying NZ!
We are driving back to Dunedin this afternoon and have a big weekend planned! I have 3 days off and we are going to be proper tourists!
Highlight of the trip so far...taking Wednesday evening off (my birthday) and going to see the blue penguins at Oamaru - highly recommended - was amazing!
Hope to be back with photos soon!

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!

Beautiful views

There are 101 things I should be doing right now (sleep being one of those) but all I really want to do is keep looking at this photo...

...and think about how gorgeous New Zealand is.

Can I also make a reading suggestion? Everyone should read this book which I did today and it was amazing. I am feeling very inspired right now.

Aussie

We went to the Gold Coast in Australia for a few days. The weather was lovely, we had lots of fun and it was really great to catch up with family (Thanks for letting us stay The Kelly's!). Here's a collage of some of our photos.




Lots of bright colours. We spent the day wandering around Brisbane, went to O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat, took a walk along Surfers Paradise, visited my Auntie's new barbers salon and spent some time chilling by the pool. Very relaxing!


On the way to Wellington to catch the plane to Australia we also visited a wedding venue which we are in the process of booking a date with (more on that later!).

More outdoors...

It's good being outdoors

Now the weather's getting a bit better we are spending more and more time outdoors

which makes me happy. Sunshine and blue skies and clouds and warmth....

Craziness

I cleaned the pantry tonight. I pulled everything out, chucked away anything that looked old or we didn't use, wiped down all the shelves and put everything back in a tidy fashion. I even got the step ladders out so I could reach the top shelf to clear it out.

This is so not me. I loathe cleaning and will use any form of procrastination to avoid it.

But this is what happens when I know Mum is coming to stay...I have to at least pretend to be a domestic goddess and that I remember everything about cleaning that she ever expected me to learn.

So I have 6 weeks to get the place tip top and ready for motherly inspection :-)
I am so excited she is coming to stay and at least this means the hosue will get cleaned once this year!


And in other news - my new phone has a dent in it after only 4 days...what is it with me and dropping electronic equipment? !