Discovering Marlborough: Part Two

As we huddled under the covering at the office of the Cougar Line water taxis, we stood excited but worried what the weather was going to bring us. The lovely lady in the office promised us the heavy rain would clear up and that gorgeous New Zealand sunshine would shine. Being English you get used to bad weather but it's not every day you get to go to a 5* retreat so you kind of just hope for some of the nice stuff.

Our boat was ready and the suitcase was loaded, we had arranged to have our car stored in secure parking for the duration. The people at Cougar Line said 'some man' will come and take it away, it was a bit worrying to say the least - paying a stranger to take our car away to who knows where, but being that there were no other options and we had a boat with our name on it, meant we had to just hand the key over and hope for the best.

Aboard our water taxi the rain subsided meaning we could sit on top deck, we waved a very wet and soggy Picton goodbye and headed off destination: Bay Of Many Coves Resort.

Along the way we stopped off at various places where other people on the boat were staying, there were some of the most amazing resorts along the Queen Charlotte Sound, and some amazing homes too that are only accessible by boat - imagine that as your weekend house!

As our resort came into view our mouths dropped open and we could hear people muttering the words 'wow' and 'stunning' as we trundled off the boat very pleased with ourselves. We were personally greeted by a member of the staff (which we later found out was the Manager) and we were escorted to our 'room'. Our room was actually a wooden lodge on stilts which had been built into the side of the hill, the 5* of it all oozed from every pore. The view was just completely unbelievable - we were in heaven.

The day was still very overcast and dull but it managed to hold back with the rain meaning we could enjoy exploring the resort. We got to meet many members of staff that made you feel like family and as there were only 12 lodges on the resort everyone made a point of speaking to each other - it became very community orientated. Listening to tales of other travellers was so inspiring.

We headed for the pool - rain wasn't going to stop us. It was a little cold being that it wasn't heated but doing a few 'canonballs' to keep Bethany amused soon warmed us up (yes I did them too!). We ended our swimming fun with a soak in the cedar hot tub.

The next morning we awoke to sunshine! The sun peaking out from behind the clouds and lighting up the ocean was breath taking, being able to open up the bi-fold windows in our bedroom was an extra special luxury which created the most lovely atmosphere. I sat for quite some time reading my new favourite book and just chilling with the moment. The noise from the cicada's was utterley deafening, never have I heard such a noise like that.

That morning we suited up and headed out on a kayak - the first time for me in a kayak. It's always been something I have wanted to do as I love the ocean but somehow never did it. We went out in a two person kyak with Bethany sitting with me between my legs. All was fine to start with but as got further and further out I started to panic a little. I can swim and like I said have not worried being in the ocean, but not being able to paddle or move my legs because Bethany was restricting my movement and it did freak me out. Suddenly claustrophobia was on me and I sadly voiced my concerns meaning Bethany then developed an issue with it too. We did actually manage to work through it and the paddle round was awesome in the end - just next time I do it, I'll be in my own kayak alone!

Later on in the afternoon we headed into the forest to do a loop track walk that took you past a waterfall. The walk was pretty easy going and our jandals (NZ word for flip flops) did us proud, although the terrain was really meant for trainers and a backpack!

Just as we arrived at the waterfall, 30 minutes into our walk Bethany sadly stopped right next to a wasp nest where she ended up with her very first wasp sting on her upper leg. Of course she cried but was actually a super soldier and battled on till be made it back to the lodge where we issued medical care. Bethany is known for her amazing immune system, being that she is never ill even when exposed to others that are, and within half and hour the sting was merely a little red speck.

More fun time was needed in the pool to compensate!

Just as we arrived back at our lodge and was getting ready to head down to the bar for a few drinks before dinner, I just so happened to glance out and see dolphins in the bay! Of course I was standing there in a towel and wet hair flowing so Michael and Bethany headed off to the jetty to go watch them a little closer. I said I would join them soon and so inbetween getting ready I kept checking through the provided binoculars to check on the action. The next thing I spot is a little boat with my husband and daughter in it!

Down in the bay everyone was out getting turns in the little boats which were kindly offered by the staff, people went out and swam with them and Michael even got to reach down and touch one as it glided under the boat - pure magic. The photos he took say it all.

That night we ate magnificently in the restaurant - very excited to be eating food prepared by award winning chefs. As the sun went down we watched the Dolphins continue their display, they were very happy to hang around and we were very happy to be part of it.

After an exquisite 3 course meal and a bottle of wine, we really should have known better than to head off into the bush in the dark - but that was what we did. One of the lovely staff offered to take us and another couple out to see some glow worms. I expected a little wander into the bush - not quite! A 20 minute walk over the roughest terrain, in the dark, with one torch between the three of us, whilst being tanked up on wine and food made for a good giggle at the usual NZ health and safety practices!! We did get to see the glow worms and I must admit the sight was just amazing - well worth the near death experience!

Our last day brought glum faces all round, two nights really was not enough time, we should have stayed longer. This resort is truly top class, despite the fact there were limited activities for children it worked in our favour, not only did you not have the usual noise created by lots of children but it meant a little imagination had to be used too. Bethany loved feeding the fish in the bay, she loved seeing Poppy the black Labrador, and she loved swimming in the pool. We also enjoyed the fact we could pop on a DVD for her and shut the ranch doors so we could sit out on the deck and soak up the atmosphere.

We met some lovely people too, an English family were there and they had children too. However it wasn't the children Bethany was interested in - it was the man she described to me as 'the man who reminds me of Grandad'. We have their contact details and intend to stay in touch - maybe one day we will meet again.

As we paced the jetty waiting for our water taxi to arrive we wondered if we could sneakily stay another night, but it wasn't to be. We were booked to go to Nelson, that was the plan after all, so with a heavy heart we waved goodbye to the Bay Of Many Coves Resort, promising to see it again soon, and onwards to Nelson.

Discovering Marlborough

Discovering Marlborough: Part One

It had been a while since our last family holiday together - in fact it was July last year, so we felt it was time to have a break away. So a 'break away' from what? Well Wellington is just amazing and to be honest I do sometimes still find myself in holiday mode, it's very easy to feel that way here. Although normal everyday life does continue, work, housework, routine etc. meaning a break is always much needed.

New Zealand is simply stunning from top to toe, with some of the most amazing places within easy reach. This time we decided to head to Nelson and so started making plans. Of course leaving the going away plans literally to the last minute in peak summer time is never going to work, and we found that out when trying to find accommodation. So our 5 night trip originally planned for Nelson, became a 1 night stay in Picton, 2 nights in the Marlborough Sounds and 2 final nights central Nelson.

We have had the most amazing time! One of the best holidays we have EVER been on, we did so much in those few days, more than we ever thought possible. Of course I am breaking up the posts - upon checking the camera there were over 700 photos and at least 30 videos, so the first part starts like this...

After packing up the car and dropping Denver at his most wonderful kennels, Bethany and I headed to town (locals call the city of Wellington 'town'!) and picked up Michael. Sitting in the queue at the ferry terminal conjured up happy memories of the last time we sat there with my parents when they visited last year, reminiscing of the fun times and how much we miss them.

As we sat we watched our ferry arrive which was to be the Arahua (a Māori word meaning "pathway to dawn") - the middle sized boat out of the three that run from Wellington to Picton over the Cook Strait. Last time we travelled with the bigger ship and enjoyed our time adventuring all that there was to see. A difference this time being that the biggest ship (called the Kaitaki - a Māori word meaning "challenger") holds 1600 people and the one we were about to board just 550 people.

The crossing was fine but to be honest we missed the fun of the bigger ship. There was only one bar, one restaurant and one tiny play area. 3 hours is a long time when there isn't much to do. Not only that when we ventured to the restaurant (literally 10 minutes into the sailing) for our last meal of the day, we found they had sold out of everything!

Anyway with a sandwich in hand we headed outside to take in the views and wave goodbye to Wellington.

The sun was shining as we left the inlet of Wellington harbour, but as we progressed further the sun was obscured by low cloud. I was hoping on a beautiful sunset but sadly the weather turned, and by the time we arrived in Picton it was overcast and threatening that wet stuff.

We hopped off the ferry with one very happy little girl in tow. Bethany had made friends with another little girl who was from Switzerland at the play area, the little girl knew basic English but that wasn't needed for a game of tag - Bethany and the little girl exchanged details and intend to email each other - long gone are the days of writing an actual hand letter!!

So we headed straight to our accommodation for that night - the Ferrylink Motel. As it was going to be 9.35pm by the time we were due to arrive in Picton we just picked the nearest and most convenient for a good nights sleep before heading off the next morning.

The motel was fine, clean, but very basic and not somewhere we could have survived for longer than a night. It was also a little over priced I think, really just putting a price tag on the fact its convenient for travellers straight off the ferry. Anyway, we still all had a beautiful sleep only being woken once in the night by the sound of heavy rain outside. The next morning we found this was how our first day was going to be.

We packed up the car, running in the rain and dodging the puddles. We headed for Picton where we enjoyed a big breakfast. After breakfast we headed for a quick walk back to the car stopping only briefly to take photos of a very wet and deserted Picton. From there we decided to head to the only place we knew that was inside entertainment: Eco World Aquarium and Terrarium.

Now we had heard from friends that this place was pretty nasty, so we actually sat in the car park wondering if we should waste our money going in. Of course not only did we have nothing to do due to the rain, we kind of should have known that Bethany can now read certain words and was not leaving without a fight - so we headed inside!

And how happy were we to discover it was wonderful!! We had a brilliant time viewing the fish, the stingray, turtles, and seahorses. We listened to a guy doing a talk on various creatures of the sea and watched him hand feed a baby shark. Later on we managed to get up close and personal with a Reef Star starfish and held Kina. Very enjoyable, we were even offered a free return within a week if we wanted which was lovely.

With that taking up our morning we headed to the supermarket to stock up on food and drink (and by drink we mean alcohol!).

Onwards we went into the rain, but that wasn't going to kerb our excitement as we headed off to our next destination - a 5 star luxury retreat - only accessible by boat!

It Ticks All The Right Boxes

Last March we ended up with a small feature in a UK based migration publication called Living Abroad Magazine. Whilst it didn't lead to us being asked to open supermarkets or having streets named after us, it was a big thing for us.

We were recently asked to be part of it all again, but on a bigger scale this time. We completed an interview with Richard Webber on behalf of Living Abroad magazine, and we are featured in the March edition which is out now!

The coolest part to the saga was having professional photographer Chris McCarthy follow us around Wellington, taking photos as we walked through the city centre, round the waterfront and through the local parks and reserves - quite surreal really!

An excerpt of the feature called 'It Ticks All The Right Boxes' can be seen here on the Living Abroad Website, and if you look closely enough at the magazine cover in the top left, we even get onto the front page!

In-Betweeny

Family time has been first and foremost lately, as mentioned before reeling from Lynn leaving has brought us closer together and we have cherished every moment together doing as much as we can. So much so in fact we're heading off for a much deserved break to the South Island shortly.

Our doggy member of the Dawes family Denver is just adorable. His character is the sweetest, so gentle and genuinely caring. We have also noticed a physical change and people often comment on how good looking he is and ask what breed he is, it's actually difficult to give them a straight answer, normally answering with 'an SPCA lucky dip'.

And lucky we were too, we cannot imagine our lives without him now. Doing some research online we now think Denver could be Great Dane/Labrador/Staffy...just Googleing 'Black Great Dane' brings up many dogs that look just like him, the only thing he doesn't have is the height....so that mix is something else.

Denver likes nothing more than the river, running, splashing and swimming. Then coming over for a good old shake right next to you. We have had some lovely nights down by the river in the late evening sunshine.

Today was another lovely day here in Wellington, Bethany and I spent the day with Rachel and Myles, heading to the Zoo for a gorgeous walk. Later Sarah, Charlotte and Sophie joined us too and it was so nice to see all the children play together and for us mummies to have a nice chat too.

All together now 'we're all going on a summer holiday...'

Tomorrow we head off to Nelson for 5 nights. We are so lucky once again to have our house sitters come and stay here again as they did when we went away over New Year. It's nice to have someone to water your plants and clean your house for when you return!

Nelson here we come!

Billy Connolly - Live in Wellington

"Right then, so before I start don't any of you dare say I brought the weather with me...look p*ss off and be responsible for your own f*****g weather"

That was pretty much the opening line of Billy Connolly's first night in Wellington which went down a storm!

It was like welcoming a member of the family you hadn't seen in many years, so very strange for us to have grown up watching this man on television, hearing about him through our parents who were great fans, and then as adults watching him further on in his life journey as not only a comedian but a movie star too.

Billy's World Tour Of New Zealand a few years back is something we have watched many times, and it actually played a part in us making our move here. You may remember this post from a while back of our local supermarket that Billy went to on his tour here.

To see a man you idolise so much yet feel you have known for so long was just mind blowing.

Of course he is a funny guy, that what he does, and well he does it too. With a few oldies thrown in for good luck and the odd forgetful moment (passed off as part of the show....but not too sure if that was part of the show or not), the straight through 2 hours that he did flew by. Yet he says nerves still play a part in his performance, they didn't show last night.

As I type this now he is again on stage at the TSB arena wowing the crowds, a second night was made available after the high demand sold out last nights show within days. We would have loved to have gone to see him two nights in a row, it would have been lovely to see if his routine changed at all, or see how he was feeling that night and if his whole persona had changed.

A pretty rough day weather wise yesterday meant us dodging puddles and wearing coats on the way to the arena, yet today it's been blistering hot, good old Wellington weather, mixing it up!

The show stunning, the man a pure genius, and we were pleased to finally 'meet'.

Kapiti Summerfest

The organisers of this years Kapiti Summerfest were lucky to actually have 'summer weather' on the day, it's been raining here now for over a week and again today it's raining, making yesterday the only gorgeous day we have had in a while.

The Summerfest was just a magical array of food stalls, crafts, clothes, art and music. There was entertainment in the form of live bands, and numerous activities for the children. We had a brilliant time exploring the stalls and grabbing a few bargains that you are only likely to find at events like this.

Bethany of course wanted to head for the rides, she had a few good turns on the inflatables and then went on a faster ride with Daddy. However as excited and as much as she enjoyed it, we walked away mumbling under our breath at the cost of the rides. $4 was the standard for one go on the inflatables and a whopping $12 for the ride that Bethany and Daddy went on that lasted 2 minutes!!!

Despite the overcharge on the rides we had fun sitting back and enjoying lunch listening to the live music, and soaking up some of that gorgeous sun we have been craving for.

Another one of those easily enjoyable family days out chalked up on the Dawes list of things to do!

School Visit Time

Today Bethany had her first school visit!

It's been a long time in the making going to school. If we still lived in the UK Bethany would have started school in September last year, but here they go to school when they turn 5. On their actual birthday to be precise, nice birthday present!

So of course Bethany turned 5 in December but here in NZ that is the summer holidays - the same as in the UK, 6 weeks, but here they are of course over the Christmas and New Year period being that it is summer here then.

The school thought it best to leave the visits till the new year, they always have a lot of new starters at this time of year and so they felt it would be a better transition for Bethany to end at Kindy and start the new year afresh at School. Of course that's all fine, and at the time I was secretly glad, it meant I could hang onto her a little bit longer, but after what will be 10 weeks off Bethany is beyond ready and so am I!

Pinehaven School is just awesome, I knew from the moment I visited it was going to be lovely. We were taken to her room and met her lovely teacher Mrs Jones. There will be only 10 children in her class which is a fantastic number. Bethany was assigned a buddy who would look after her for the day and it was her gorgeous friend Logan who she was friends with from Kindy, not only that Tanaka was in her class too, Bethany felt instantly comfortable.

There are separate buildings at the school with the younger children being in one part and the older in another. Friday's are Discovery Days and so the three rooms of the younger children are transformed into rooms for them to discover and learn. We moved between the rooms, I followed and watched, not really needed. Every now and again Bethany would look over and check I was still there, but if I ventured forth to try and talk or offer advice I would get a 'back off mam' look!

It really was a brilliant day, she interacted so well with the other children, she made instant friends and hooked up with friends she had missed so much from Kindy. I stood far back and watched her at break time playing with the other children, she had them all running after her - being a leader already.

Back inside Bethany was picked out along with three others (Bethany being the only new starter) to show off the painting she made that morning.

Bethany was upset when it was time to leave! She really wanted to stay and couldn't understand why she only had a few hours. She wanted her friends to come back and play too so the best course of action was distraction - with an ice cream.

Next week Bethany is going in on a Thursday which is a learning day. So it will be interesting to see if she enjoys it as much when play time is over!!

I have such a good feeling about this school, everyone was so nice and I even managed to relate to Mrs Jones who was an expat from the UK too. The only down side I would say is that they could do with a uniform...I have no idea why most primary schools have no uniforms here.

So with a spring in our step the first day was magical. Bethany has been so happy all day and has never stopped talking, to the point where I had to take her aside and ask her to be quiet, for just one little tiny minute...yeah, it still never happened!

An awesome day, as I quickly write this up now I can hear the most lovely laughter from the other room, my initial worry about the changes in our lives may no longer be warranted - but lets give it a few more weeks and we will see how we all feel then!

Company

Chips has a new friend called Midget. She also has a new tank again as the magnified effect of her swimming around in the bowl looked pretty bad, and we felt for her being all alone.

So why Midget? Well who knows what goes through the head of a 5 year old, whatever the name Chips seems to like s/he anyway.

Just Us

It's been a miss mash of a few weeks here at Dawes HQ. Still trying to recover from Lynn leaving and wondering when we will see our parents again has been really hard, but it seems to have drawn us closer together as a 4. Family time has been well needed for us, and this weekend has been perfect.

The schools all went back last week meaning that everywhere has been really quiet. That's always good news for us and despite me worrying about what Bethany and I will do together the time has actually flown over. We have had a really nice time just playing games, baking, going out for walks and pottering round the garden.

One day we even went to the cinema and watched Bolt - which is one of the best movies I have ever seen. It made us both laugh and cry! It was awesome that we had the whole room to ourselves too!

It's been Waitangi weekend here meaning Friday was a public holiday. For the first time in ages Michael didn't have to work, and so we got to venture off as we always used to. We picked up the map and pointed to a spot, and off we went, and glad we were too!

We found the most gorgeous secluded beach. It was quiet, sandy and with the sun shining it was just idyllic.

It was so lovely that we went back again the next day. This time though swim suits (or Togs as they are called here) were to the ready. We set up Camp Dawes in typically English style with wind breakers, that staked our part of the beach (even though there was no-one around!).

Then for the first time in years we all went in the ocean together!!

I actually made it - I went in...and it was amazing. The water was warm and I just enjoyed the whole thing, the smell, the taste, the waves...oh it was wonderful!!! I haven't swam in the ocean for years due to the fact I am body concious (i.e. over weight) and so hate getting my body out in public. Finding this quiet beach where we were practically alone was just perfect. Yey for me!

As you know we also celebrated Denver's 1st birthday - crazy how time flies.

We have also had stick insect mania at our house this year. Everywhere you turn they are there! We have has three living together on the back deck for nearly 2 weeks. Every time you turn something over outside there is one, whenever you look out of a window they are dangling from trees, and then I found one inside today! Good job I find them fascinating.

Sunday we decided to head for a place called The Swish Dish which is in Petone. It's a little paint-your-own ceramics studio, you can chose from many already made pieces and then just paint as you wish. They will then glaze it for you and you can take home your personal made item. We should have ours back in a few days, it will be interesting to see what they look like!

So its been a lovey few days, we have really had some beautiful family time. Funny enough Summer is in full swing with temperature gauge (which is in the shade) reached 34 degrees the other day - it was hot!

With the beautiful days come the amazing sunsets and the stunning starry nights, I have never seen stars like what you see here, totally mind blowing.

Three more weeks till Bethany starts school officially. I don't know if I am pleased or not yet, but I am sure you will hear about it. Until then I will cherish my time with her and we will be spending as much time together as a family as possible. This is what it's all about after all.