Saturday 11 July Duvauchelle could not lay on the sunshine, but our hosts Matt & Emma continued to make us feel so welcome. There was a hint of blue sky as we looked out over the harbour from their upper windows - but the clouds did not bother to part for us. Matt’s mum, Joan, joined us from Halswell around 10ish and we set off for a bit of local exploration round at Onāwe Pā - an old Māori stronghold on a slim peninsula near Barry’s Bay - leaving Matt at home doing odd jobs.

Friday 10 July Our lovely friends Matt & Emma have a place out in Duvauchelle on the Banks Peninsula but we always seem to be miles away whenever they invite us over… this time we managed to coordinate things, packed a bag and, leaving Banjo at Westoby Farm, we headed back out past Little River and over the big hill to Duvauchelle - sadly leaving the blue skies of Ōtautahi Christchurch in the rear view mirror! Once Tui had remembered that she had already met us and did actual

Thursday 9 July Finally - a hint of blue skies and sunshine so after a slow morning we set off for a long drive round the Banks Peninsula to check out potential future camping options. I grabbed a few Fitbit steps walking out down the driveway - love that my scarf matches the winter blooms! There was around 25% blue in the skies as we left Westoby Farm, but it definitely got cloudier as we headed out to the peninisula. We took SH75 out to Little River and up the long hill ove

Wednesday 8 July Getting a bit bored of the damp grey weather now - it’s not pouring but the clouds hang low over the hills every day and there’s no sign of the sun… thank goodness we are on power here at Westoby Farm! Spent the morning on admin then I took a big walk around the block again - getting to know some of the local dogs and their humans by now! Interesting to see that even in this cold damp winter, some spring flowers are fighting through - narcissi in several gard

Tuesday 7 July Another grey day but less rain and more drizzle this time. Pottered in Banjo - didn’t get dressed until almost 11am - and took more practice tests. Michael Sheen/Aziraphale looked shocked that both Ella & I were still in our PJs on our morning video chat at 10.30am 🤣 Then headed into VTNZ near Sockburn so that Louis could take his Class 2 licence theory test… which he duly passed despite encountering two questions which never popped up on the practices! 🎉 No

Monday 6 July After a very wet night we woke to find ourselves parked in a puddle! The weather front was battering several areas with red warnings for Hanmer & Kaikōura and snow in the passes, so howling gales and gusting rain was a fairly mild symptom by all accounts. We packed a sandwich and headed into town - Louis had been researching Ute canopies online so we decided to check out some in person before ordering one for the Cannon. Fully Equipped in central Christchurch ha

Sunday 5 July With a miserable weather front rolling in across the South Island, it was only a matter of time before it got to us… we made it to Birdlings Flat under very grey skies and had a chilly, windy walk on the beach with a few other hardy souls. Birdlings Flat is at the eastern end of the Kaitorete spit, a flat pebbled beach which was pretty breezy on this visit - the aquamarine sea providing the only colour on this dull grey day. I found an almost complete, stunning

Saturday 4 July Thanks to our friend Emma’s recommendation, the Tai Tapu Sculpture Garden was top of our To Do List while we were out this way - so we’d called ahead and booked ourselves in for a Saturday morning visit. Founded & created by Peter Joyce & Annabel Menzies- Joyce this evolving native biodiversity regeneration project is home to around 40 permanent art works and every March the Annual Autumn Exhibition comprises 100 new pieces from contemporary NZ sculptors and a

Friday 3 July After weeks of research, test drives and a spot of negotiation we reckoned we’d found our new ELLAMY… Louis had got a great price on a GWM Cannon that he test drove up in Auckland, we’d ruled out the Triton as too expensive and a bit bumpy, then Jake at CMG in town, counter offered with a loan car Cannon with low mileage at a price to beat Auckland’s so we put down a conditional deposit, jumped in the Pajero and headed into town to check it out. Lovely shiny bla

Thursday 2 July Misty morning in Tai Tapu - no sign of the ostriches until the sun burned through. I put our new duvet cover on the bed and was very pleased with it - all snuggly and homely, and Frida Kahlo looked very happy on it!💙💚 Late morning after chores & admin we walked into the village and checked out The Store at Tai Tapu for lunch. The Store has some great cabinet food, a funky lego section and a general gifts and housewares section too. I rather liked the pipec

Wednesday 1 July It was a chilly night even in the spare bed at Ella & Josh’s place - mainly because we hadn’t worked out how to switch on the heater! Dogs were curled up tight to keep themselves warm too and the towels drying on the line outside were frozen solid - so solid that Josh could knock on them! ❄️. Shadow looked a bit sad that we were leaving, or perhaps he just wanted to be taken on a walk - Jessie just remained snuggled amongst the sofa cushions. We packed up and

Tuesday 30 June You can tell you’re back in Te Wai Pounamu, the South Island, when you wake with a cold nose and the car is glittering with frost! Had a quick cup of tea (me) & coffee (him & Ella), smooched with the hoodlums (Ella showed us how good they now are at taking their drugs) then set off early for Vanari Caravans NZ as we had a couple more wee bits to sort on Banjo. So cool seeing one of the local trotting horses heading down to the track for exercising as we left.

Monday 29 June Up early, finished packing, ran the hoover & duster over the house and tried to make things as spic & span as when we arrived. Albi meanwhile was in nervous breakdown mode as she knew change was in the air. Louis picked up Helen and brought her back - she is taking on the final 24 hours of Albi sitting until her family returns on Tuesday. We said our farewells and hopped into an Uber taking us to the airport around 11ish. Our Uber was a Tesla - the screen was

Sunday 28 June This sun just keeps on shining! Glorious blue skies as Albi and I walked round the block while Louis had a swim at Cameron Pools. I got about 75% of our packing done then after reheating the beef stew for lunch we all hopped in the car and headed over the harbour bridge to Takapuna for a walk on the beach. Turned out half of Auckland had the same idea so it was busy as up there! (Though we managed to crop them out of our pics so it looks like we had the beach

Saturday 27 June Another glorious day with wall to wall sunshine! First outing was round the block with Albi - we went one street further today as she was gonna be home alone for much of the day. Loved the house on Parrish where they were training star jasmine off an arch onto crossed ropes to create a green X fence 💚 then passed the ex-PM, Jacinda Ardern's house on Camborne, which is now up for sale. Next we scooped up Helen and headed into town for morning tea with Aunti

Friday 26 June Louis had been invited out to King’s College to visit their new recording studio and add his professional advice to the mix. Over the last decade he has worked with Gary Burton, one of the science teachers there who is a bit “School of Rock” and would engage many of the less advantaged, scholarship students and others in forming a band called “The Burtones” which regularly toured in Thailand! The students would record an album each year at Ellamy Studios which

Thursday 25 June Wow! The sunniest and warmest of winter days! ☀️ Took Albi for a walk round the block in a light sweater (me, not her) and it was like late spring out there! Here she is looking all sunny in amongst the poinsettias ❤️ By the time we’d driven over the Harbour Bridge and up to Beach Haven to see Mairi & Summer it was more like summertime (no pun intended). We felt very flattered when it appeared that Summer remembered us - we were the first people to introduc

Wednesday 24 June Ahhh - this was a reminder of why we left Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and set off on Banjo’s Odyssey… rain, rain, rain 🌧️ Luckily when Albi and I set off mid-morning to walk over to Grandma Helen’s place, we caught a break between downpours. But it didn’t last. Passed the Balmoral Fire Station - feeling sad for the "Dire" Emergency Service as they have rechristened themselves. These key services urgently need better funding. A bit further along I realised we

Tuesday 23 June I spoke too soon about the sunshine - we woke to grey skies & drizzle. Not a big issue as once we’d walked Albi round the block our big task for the day was heading over to Blockhouse Bay to sort out a bunch of our stuff in storage. We'd arranged to pop in for a couple of days with the property agent and wondered if we would meet our new tenants while we were there. Three of them were at work, but Zayd works from home as a digital graphic and arts designer wi

Monday 22 June Feels like spring has arrived in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland - double figures overnight and up to 17*C in the shade during the day. The giant poinsettia tree just down the road was looking fabulously Christmassy against a rather grey sky. Louis had appointments with GP & dentist then another catch up with Russ before joining his old swim squad; Albi & I hopped into the Polo and went over to Maungawhau, Mt Eden to tackle the summit walk in the sunshine. Happy mem