Exploring the Land of the Long White Cloud

This day has snuck up on us quite quickly from the several weeks ago that the plan was set in motion. We have departed on a 3.5 week holiday. It will be the first time we'll be catching up with most family and friends since March 2012! For all the travelling we've done, it feels like there's been too long a pause and I have actually been nervous about making sure we get everything sorted. We're now onto our long-haul leg so all things have gone smoothly - of course they would! I was 3 kg over so we had to do a quick rearrange of luggage but that's the only hiccup. Although the entertainment system on the flight has had to be shutdown and rebooted so fingers crossed it comes back to entertain us! This trip will be so interesting. We both feel like there will be an element of culture shock and of those moments where we just feel like outsiders a bit. A few people have asked whether we'll sell our return flights or whether we'll be hesitant to leave - but t

I have moved into a new realm of ageing with my recent 30th birthday. I wasn't sure whether to expect a mid-life crisis or whether it would be a non-event. It wasn't a non-event but it wasn't bad at all! The day was amazing - good friends, seaside lunch, yummy dinner and topped off with a night out of kareoke and dancing! It did of course get me reflecting on the last 3 decades and the several upcoming decades... I was trying to determine if my 10-year old self would be happy with what she was doing twenty years later. I think she would be happy that I still care about the environment. That I am not afraid of public speaking but not quite as fearless about it as she was. She would be glad to know I still like music - though I might not plaster my walls with posters anymore. And she'd love that I can still sing tracks off the Bodyguard soundtrack by heart! My ten year old self would be stoked that I still have a thirst for knowledge and love reading. She'd thin

This was our view earlier this week - a winter snap arrived early! Most people consider June 1st to be the start of winter here and it was a week early that the temperatures dropped and snow was falling up on the mountain and towns about half an hour away. Then this is a reading from one morning this week... the temperature in the upper right corner is the inside temp and the one on the left is the outside temp. If that doesn't build a case for proper insulation I don't know what else would convey the idea to NZ. Ok, they do get it but only newer houses are required to have it. So I took to wear Dustin's down jacket for the afternoons I worked from home this week - even a heater is no match for single pane windows. Luckily it warmed up a bit later in the week so that we could do the Naki Run Amuck 5km run without hypothermia. The course took you along the beach, up into a treed area, through paddocks, over fences, up tire-covered hills, up rope ladders, under r