So where was I? Ah yes...life lately...

How has it been 3 weeks since I last blogged?! I feel like I have sat down to try and write almost every day since then and I haven't even made it to the login button with so many other things taking priority every time I've tried. But I'm here now and that's what counts, right?!

Somehow the days are just flying by as we are in the middle of a very busy time with the house build, and already thinking about packing up for the move in six weeks time. It's also term 4 of school which is busy at school at the best of times let alone with hip hop, swimming, Cubs and cricket also on during the week. Throw in a long weekend away, a big walk to the Blue Spring, firework action for Guy Fawkes, phone book delivery for Cubs and it has made for a busy household - some days we don't know whether we are coming or going!

Over Labour weekend (a while ago I know) we spent a couple of days in Auckland with my oldest friend Andrea and her family. We've been friends since Intermediate so that's a cool 25 years of friendship right there...wow! We took the kids to Motat since the weather was a bit pants on Saturday, and then had a cruisy morning at home on Sunday after we all got up for the All Black semi final at 4am and were feeling a little jaded. Then we headed to Butterfly Creek for the afternoon which wasn't cheap but was a really fun family day out. The boys loved the butterflies landing on them, and were wowed (and also scared out of their wits) by the opportunity to get up close with a tarantula.

There were also two very cool crocodiles there, a dinosaur kingdom as well as a very interactive farm park - Noah and Mark got more than they were bargained for when they saw a very frisky goat jump the fence right in front of them.

After we got home, the following day (Labour Day) we went on an impromptu walk to the Blue Spring with friends Tracey, Dayne and kids. It was nearly two years since our last adventure there, and I was surprised how much the track had changed and become more commercial and how many people there were on the track (Elizabeth from To Find a Silver Lining and her family for a start - although we actually missed each other on the walk somehow!).

One Saturday the boys had 300 phone books to deliver as part of the annual Cubs fundraiser which took a few hours - but it felt good doing something for the community nevertheless. We'd already spent an hour and a half helping pack up the 10,000 phone books the night before as well!

The boys have started Friday night cricket, and what a way to start it was with a glorious sunny warm night last week. It's a lovely atmosphere with families pitching up with picnic blankets They'll be playing in a school team against other schools down at the beautiful town square which looks as much like an English county cricket club as any in the northern hemisphere.

We got together with Sam and Alesha at mum and dads and had a few (read MEGA LOADS) of fireworks last Saturday night - the joys of having left overs after selling them in the Evo Cycles shops. There were a few random ones that gave us a fright the way the wind kept blowing them back towards the house but we enjoyed getting together for the fun of it all. It's hard to believe that this time last year we came up to see Nic and Kim the same weekend (and had fireworks then too!) and it was pretty much the beginning of our journey to moving here. It's so wonderful to be able to fast forward a year and see this God-given dream has been fulfilled.

Can you see Mark's back-to-front 'I love you'?

And one of these days I will finally get around to sharing the ins and outs of the house build like I have been meaning to do for weeks with all the plans and designs etc if I can just find a few spare hours hanging around waiting for me during the day - ha ha not likely - so I'll have to just figure out a way regardless!

You don't know what you've got till it's gone.... {more I'll miss about Welly}

Now that the clock is ticking at a rapid pace toward our departure on 5 June, I'm finding it nostalgic thinking of all the places we have been in Wellington (and the surrounding region) during our thirteen years here and that we will miss once we are a 7 hour drive away. In case you missed the last post I waxed lyrical about the Metlink City Safari, Wellington on a cracking day, Te Papa, adventures in Otari-Wilton bush, and Zealandia here.

I know for a fact that we will be back to visit, hopefully on a regular basis - there's no way my love of this city will ever diminish but at the same time we must embrace the new path and adventure we are on too as there will be much to love about our new part of the world too.

Castlepoint

We've only actually been to Castlepoint once (in winter last year) and I wish I had known how beautiful it was so that we could have a) visited it in earlier years or b) made more time to visit again before we left. The sunrise we experienced here was simply breathtaking and it's a wonderfully uniquely recognisable spot with the lighthouse jutting out on the headland as it does and the stark cliffs of Castle Rock rising up behind it.

At 2.5 hours drive from Wellington you do have to consider staying the night if you want to make it anything less than a flying visit. We stayed in a cosy little cabin at the Holiday Park and it was just perfect for an over-nighter.

Somes Island

Last year we took the boys for an amazing day trip over at Somes Island. We struck it lucky - it was one of those 'can't beat Welly on a good day' days. Crystal clear waters, no wind and an amazing super luxury yacht just happened to be floating in the harbour so we got to see that up close as the ferry went past too.

We walked the circuit of the island, taking in the memorial to those who had been quarantined here and never made it off the island, the views back towards the city, got up close and personal with the little lighthouse on the southern side of the island, before mustering our remaining energy for the short, steep climb up to the island's summit.

It was a magical day out - one we had to almost pinch ourselves to believe we'd actually experienced.

The botanical gardens

We have been fortunate to live within a twenty minute walk of our city's botanical gardens the whole time we have lived in Wellington. When Noah was little, we used to visit it almost weekly - always taking bread down to feed the ducks. It almost feels like the place where he learned to walk, I have such lovely memories of him tottering around on little unsteady legs and hanging over the fence throwing bread.

 

Come to think of it they've both had their share of 'learning to walk' experiences there - this photo below on Fathers Day when Mylo was nearly one too.

I'll also miss going down in spring to capture the spring colour breathing new life into the gardens - it's been a favourite past-time to visit once the tulips are all out in bloom.

And how can I forget my favourite lamp-post and view into Narnia - how I shall miss it.

We've also enjoyed many an afternoon playing at the playground that has a pretty cool set of slides and flying fox perched on the side of the hill too over the years.

The best little zoo in the world

While some might argue Wellington's zoo isn't the most amazing (it's small and perched on the side of the hill) because it doesn't have the likes of elephants, polar bears, rhinos or alligators that say Auckland Zoo has, we have seen the zoo undergo an incredible transformation over the years we've visited with the kids. A few years running we had annual memberships which made it an easy way to kill a couple of hours whenever the mood took us rather than it having to break the bank! I truly think that it deserves the title of 'best little zoo in the world'.

Our favourite weird looking creature - the tawny frogmouth bird never failed to delight whenever we spotted him.

Well you'd have thought I might have run out places to reminisce over by now, and yet I now there's still so many more places dear to heart in this little city that we will sorely miss that I haven't even touched on yet, so I'll guess I'll just have to keep this little series going a little longer...so next week it is!