Sunday 11 January After 5 nights at Marble Hills Retreat we’d finally run out of fresh water so we’d packed up the night before and woke early, dressed, brushed teeth with last remaining drops from the tank, made the bed then hit the road over the hill to Motueka by 7.40am. Cool morning temperatures and popping the Pajero in 2WD meant we avoided the transmission over heating issues we experienced 5 days ago on the way in. Dropping down off the hill, with the orchards laid ou

Saturday 10 January It would be rude to spend this long in the Abel Tasman region without trying a bit of the famous walk - Abel Tasman Coastal Track is one of NZ’s 11 Great Walks and is a 60 km trail of golden beaches, forested headlands, and crystal-clear bays. The southern start or end is at Mārahau so after popping to Kaiteriteri for expensive essentials, we packed a picnic and togs and set off around midday from the official waharoa (entrance way) to walk about 3.5km to

Friday 9 January What a day! Started with a cheeky earthquake which shook Banjo at around 8.30am… Louis reckoned it was him stomping about but no, Geonet confirmed it, about 300km north of us at Waverley. We’d booked the 10.45 Coffee Cruise so grabbed our togs etc and dashed over to Kaiteriteri (which was already busy as and no free parking left) to hop on the big old green boat. Skipper Dave takes a max of 15 passengers on a gentle trip out to Split Apple Rock and back, with

Thursday 8 January Cousin Jill had messaged a few days ago to say she was just over the hill in Tākaka so we packed a picnic and tackled the wicked hill. Basically it goes up about 1000m in 10km of steep twisty roads then comes down the other side equally fast with a couple of hairpin bends for good measure. We would love to stay over in Golden Bay but getting Banjo over there would be a nightmare journey. So we took a day trip - up, up, up and then down, down, down! It is

Wednesday 7 January A glorious day dawned so it was only right to make the most of it. Morning trip across the hills to the Riuwaka Resurgence near the base of Tākaka Hill. This is a tapu or sacred spot where the waters that percolate though the limestone caves of the hills come out into the open air and the feed the Riwaka River which runs to the sea near Kaiteriteri. We weren’t the only ones there. We advised the lads who showed up behind us that it was tapu and shouldn’t

Tuesday 6 January Time to move on a wee bit closer to Abel Tasman - so we packed up slowly, chatted with our neighbours then hitched up and headed up to Motueka (NZMCA to dump rubbish and fill with fresh water then dump station to, well, dump) then on to the base of the Takaka Hill where we hung a right across Sandy Bay Hill which proved way steeper and twistier than we anticipated, causing consternation and an overheated transmission. It was all worth it in the end as we rol

Monday 5 January A more casual day today - awoke to beautiful sunshine and took a stroll round the POP and found some funny creatures including a fire extinguisher reindeer, a garden rake heron and a fork face fella lurking in amongst the plants! However laundry and swimming pools were calling us so we had to be good and do our chores back in Richmond (once Apple maps had given us slightly wrong directions to get to the pool and laundromat!). By chance the dodgy directions

Sunday 4 January A glorious sunny day in our quiet wee POP - we had a chill morning then hopped on the bikes around 11ish and cycled down to Mapua again, this time with swim togs and a picnic. We chained up the bikes and hopped onto the boxy little Mapua Ferry for the 5 minute crossing of the estuary to Rabbit Island at high tide. We should have brought our bikes, everyone else did - but we hadn’t done our research! Walked along the forest tracks and then down along the beach

Saturday 3 January Time to move on - we packed up, said goodbye to Luke & thanked him for letting us stay at the vineyard (Yamille was still asleep) and squeezed out of the vineyard, heading northwest towards Nelson and our destination, Mahana. Quick stop at Pelorus Bridge where we claimed to be a bus for parking’s sake, then on through Rai valley, happy to see the traditional Christmas tree by the roadside near Hira, past the signs to Cable Bay where we spent Christmas 2024,

Friday 2 January At last - red sky at night, turned into shepherd’s delight as the sun rose over the vineyards. Up earlyish to take Harley for one last trip to the dog park. Louis decided to cycle over to join us but hit two huge nails and got an instant flat tyre so never made it to the park. Back at the vineyard Louis & Jez fixed the tyre while Abby sorted the Moho and Harley hid under our table as he was not happy about leaving! Just look at his face when they loaded him

Thursday 1 January The morning after the night before - bacon & eggs for brekkie and another walk to the dog park with Harley. Although the clouds were all around, somehow we were in the sun all the way there and back and it was scorchio! ☀️ Lunch back at the vineyard (salad with extra added fresh fig!) & siesta for Louis & Abby as Jez & I popped into town to dispose of NYE empties and replace my stick blender which started smoking the night before - yikes! The clouds along

Wednesday 31 December New Year’s Eve - weather forecast was pish like last year so Luke said we could use their space inside for our celebrations… but how to make it different from 2024/25? I know - an “Op-Swap” party! We all headed onto town, put the washing into Liquid Laundromat and hit the op shops with a brief to spend up to $15 on an outfit for the opposite gender… Sallies proved a treasure trove and we got most of our fabulous gear from there! Grabbed a quick bite of

Tuesday 30 December After a wild night of wind & rain - and the barn roof next door banging loudly as it had come adrift at one corner - we awoke to a grey, wet & cloudy day which never really improved. Abby & Jez took Harley out while we stayed in Banjo catching up with blogging and stuff. Louis and Jez went swimming in town while Abby & I chilled. I tried to walk Harley down the vines at lunchtime but one up and back was quite enough he reckoned! By teatime we were all stir

Monday 29 December A stunning morning at the Fitzroy Goldschmidt Vineyard - it was lovely waking up with Abby & Jez in the van just next to us. Took Harley for a walk to the Dog Park where he performed brilliantly on the obstacle course and put the Goldie (Bodie) & springer (Bracken) spaniel we met there to shame! On the walk back we found a couple of fig trees on Vintage Lane so Abby and I spent a while plundering them for their fruits - most of which were not yet ripe, but

Sunday 28 December Up early and packed much of our clobber out of the house and into Banjo before collecting Ella and Josh from the airport. We were delighted to see them again, but not nearly as excited as the hoodlums! 🐕‍🦺🐕‍🦺 Had a lovely lunch on the deck then we said out farewells and hit the road north. Paused in Cheviot, quick trip to the loos and the Harris Farm store for burgers for the BBQ, coffee, scone and a ginger crunch. Glad to see the upside down legs lady

Saturday 27 December Another busy busy day - Louis finished cleaning Banjo, and I continued clearing garden stuff - cabbage tree leaves get EVERYWHERE! Had lunch (more leftovers!) on the deck after Louis had been to Rangiora for a swim, then we hitched up the trailer and took all the garden rubbish to the tip. First pic - before and after - clearing the stones and dirt which had extended into the roadway. Second pic - before and after clearing tons of cabbage tree leaves fr

Friday 26 December Boxing Day - back to work helping out in the garden for me and cleaning Banjo for Louis. He was a busy bunny - also fixing the trailer electrics, swapping winter generator for summer kayak and listing stuff for sale that we no longer need. I did a dark wash then filled the trailer 3/4 full of garden detritus before my back decided it had had enough bending & raking! Took the hoodlums to the beach again in the evening and had the joy of Jessie coming polite

Thursday 25 December Meri kirihimete! Merry Christmas! However you say it, it was a great day for us and hopefully for you, wherever you were! 🥰 I woke early and snuggled with the hoodlum hounds until Louis & Amy surfaced 🐕‍🦺; had a lovely brunchy breakfast on the deck in the sunshine 🥐🥂; opened presents 🎁(not too many this year); cooked lunch 🍗🥦 then ate far toooo much; watched The Grinch 💚; took a walk on the beach 🏖️; ate dessert 🎂; took Amy to the airport ✈️;

Wednesday 24 December A pretty special Christmas Eve this year - featuring a wedding, a beach walk, catching up with Petra, carol singing by candlelight, a chance encounter and a lost handbag! I spent the morning prepping for Christmas Day while Louis went swimming and Amy hung out with the hoodlum hounds. After an early lunch we set off for Lacebark, a beautiful wedding venue where my young couple were getting married in a registry style elopement. Originally it was going to

Tuesday 23 December Happy Christmas Adam… the one before Christmas Eve, biblically! Started with a stinky but useful trip to the tip to get rid of lots of decluttering stuff (already dumped 6 boxes at Kaiapoi op shops in previous 2 days) for Louis & me. It’s very cathartic lobbing bags into the crusher space at the tip! And this time I didn’t wear and ping off any bracelets as I did a couple of years ago and the lovely tip lady kindly rummaged about in the trash and found it