It is hard to fathom that it has been 10 years since we packed up our little house in Rozelle and headed 2 hours down the coast to our white house in The Meadow. That first day will forever be etched in my mind as I sat on the front steps looking out at my new garden while I waited for the removal truck to arrive. I had no idea what the next decade would bring but it has felt like home ever since that very first day and I have never regretted the move. Sure, there have been times when the wind or the flies or the interminable rain or the constant Kikuyu runners that invade every flower bed have sent us crazy and also the moments when it would have been nice to be a bit closer to our family but all in all we have been SO lucky to call this place home. Our kids and grandkids all feel its special magic too and nothing makes me happier than those times we all get together here for what is generally a noisy and energetic time together and special memories are made for us all including the little cousins who only get to see each other very occasionally due to living in different states. Fate bought us here but love keeps us here….

Before Christmas I had the best Mother/Daughter weekend in Melbourne. Lauren had bought us tickets to see Richard Marx and we got some cheap flights so we thought why not? In my 40 plus years in Australia I’ve only been to Melbourne a few times so we stayed right in the centre so we could walk to everything. We had a perfect weekend of music, wine and food, shopping and even snuck in a bit of culture seeing an interactive immersive showcase of the art of Leonardo da Vinci at The Lume before we parted ways to return to our respective states. I have a feeling this may be the beginning of an annual “thing” as we usually always have the kids around when we catch up and it was so nice to be grown up for a change!

It was our ‘quiet’ Xmas this year when the kids all spend the festivities at their other families place so it was that just Sam, the MOTH and I spent a very grown up day together eating and drinking and chatting with the weather perfect for dining outdoors and just enjoying a quiet day together instead of our usual mayhem running around after the kids! Bailey as always was lured by the smell of the glazed ham and was constantly found within ‘hopeful distance’ of it! Tom spent Xmas with Aussie friends in The Cotswolds in the freezing English conditions, eating and drinking their way through gorgeous little pubs – even carolling together on Xmas Eve and getting into the spirit of it all.

The 28th December was our 40th wedding anniversary and in view of our quiet Christmas we decided to celebrate it for once and fly to New Zealand for 10 days. We had the best time, staying in Queenstown for a couple of days before heading to Cardrona and the beautiful property of our friends Nicki and Dean which they share with their 3 Welsh Springer spaniels. They are about 10kms from Wanaka with it’s gorgeous lake and we also ventured to Cromwell and had a fabulous lunch at the Bannockburn Pub. It doesn’t matter where you go on the South Island there is a picture postcard around every turn and that amazing shade of blue that the water is here thanks to the glacial silt is just magic!

We revisited charming Arrowtown and discovered the nearby Ayreburn. I heartily recommend you visit here if you find yourself near Queenstown as it was a luxury hospitality venue encompassing some beautiful 160 year old stone buildings which have been beautifully restored and crammed with so much character yet with every possible design detail thought out. I was like a kid in a candy store as I went from the Woolshed to the Manure Room, the Barrel Room to the Dairy, the Burr Bar to Billys to the Dell. The gardens alone are worth the visit and you can easily spend a day here wandering around and eating your heart out! Located next to Millbrook Resort this little corner of the South Island is certainly visitor worthy.

A day back in Queenstown was spent with some of our oldest friends, one originally at school with the MOTH and then his kids and their kids who we love to bits! They put on a great spread and we chatted long into the night about the pros and cons of life in beautiful QT – tourists and the LONG cold winter are cons and the beautiful pristine environment and the chance for the kids to lead an outside simple life are definite pros. There are so many lives that we can choose to live aren’t there?

Then it was farewell to the South Island and off we went to Lake Taupo in the North Island where my sister-in-law and her partner have a beautiful house right on the lake. We were excited to visit them especially as our nephew and his family were also visiting and we had visions of us getting out onto the lake in their boat and on the jet skis etc as well as enjoy the walking and cycling path into town that runs around the lake. The weather Gods had other ideas however and it blew a gale for the whole 4 days creating monster white caps on the lake and ruining our plans. We were lucky however when the clouds cleared and the sun shone right on cue for a little neighbourhood get together which was fun, live music and lovely food and wine works every time! In the meantime on the gloomy days I was very happy to snuggle up in their glorious lounge room reading and watching the white caps dance outside!

Jo and Ivan took us to the Huka Falls which were spectacular. The Waikato River, New Zealand’s longest river, narrows dramatically at Huka Falls, generating enough power to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool in just 11 seconds. Of course there were people queuing up to do the white water jet boating but we were happy just to watch them from the bridge above!! We also went to some thermal pools which were deliciously warm and you could feel the silica and minerals doing lovely things for your skin. A couple of hours here was VERY relaxing and we were all knackered that afternoon which we think was a direct result of absorbing all the good stuff! A great few days catching up with friends old and new and enjoying another beautiful part of New Zealand. How lucky are we to have friends and family in such gorgeous locations!

We are back in The Meadow now, getting everything spruced up after lots of sun and rain which means everything’s growing like wildfire, our veggies have finally taken off and the MOTH is mowing every few days. We are back to enjoying the sublime taste of home grown tomatoes and after my NZ trip where I fell in love yet again with the multi coloured lupins that cover the hillsides, riverbanks and fields I have bought loads of lupin seeds which I hope are going to fill in my extra beds in the veggie patch that we don’t use as they just give us too much produce that we cant possibly eat! Fingers crossed that I can transpose my vision from the South Island to The Meadow successfully! Watch this space…..