These school holidays we headed away for a few days to spend some time by some stunning beaches. Everyone we met said to us “You live on Waiheke Island, why on earth would you leave and come here for your holiday?” It is true, we live on an island with…
I first met Anna in August 2017. I had arrived at a local beach playground to set up my daughter’s birthday party. Anna had just finished a short ocean swim with some other women. I decided anyone willing to swim mid-winter in New Zealand was the kind of person I wanted to know and so…
Let me introduce you to the amazing Motu Maidens! (Motu = Island in Maori) a group of Mums who are very inspiring. Recently I blogged about returning to a sport I competed in before having kids, Outrigging. Here in New Zealand they call it Waka Ama and my husband and I recently joined the local…
This was our first full summer holiday living on Waiheke Island and the first few weeks were filled with visitors. It was wonderful to see so many friends and family but it was also quite exhausting for us all. I realised that we hadn’t built in any real downtime for the family and so 4…
We are off camping this Sunday for 5 nights. We haven’t been camping for at least 2 years now … possibly nearly 3 years! We are super excited. We are off to Motutapu Island and will be getting there via a water taxi service from Waiheke Island – much simpler than dealing with ferries. With…
I met Emma this year as a Mum at our new school. She was warm, friendly and I instantly liked her. I had no idea initially how awesome she is. I first became aware of this after she gave a talk here, early in the year, about body image and her journey with bulimia. I…
The end of the year can be an emotional time for many people. We reflect on what we have achieved, or not achieved. We may feel more, or less connected to loved ones as Christmas approaches. And of course it is usually a very busy time filled with extra activities, especially when you have children…
Drumroll …. I am here to officially report that at some point as a mother it IS actually possible to return to doing things you loved … before kids! This may come as a shock to some of you, after all it probably feels right now like you will never do anything for…
I am blessed to live on an island filled with amazing walking tracks. They follow the coast, cut through vineyards, lead you to waterfalls or just help you cut across a hill. I love heading out to explore new tracks, either alone or with the kids. The Waiheke Walking Festival starts on the 19th November…
The team at Her Collective have just published an article I wrote for them called ‘Let my child fall’. It is all about the differences the kids and I are experiencing since moving to Waiheke Island in terms of what they are allowed to do at school. We are so in love with the freedom…