Sunday 21 June A not so sunny Sunday - Albi and I took a morning walk around the block under grey drizzly skies. Picking up the Pride theme for June - my Hamill rainbow top coordinated with Sara’s rainbow doormat 🌈 Louis had a chill morning then headed over to help out his mum with some more technical issues. I rashly decided to walk across to St Luke’s to get my phone screen replaced. Found a Kmart trolley abandoned at the end of our street, so decided to push it all the

Saturday 20 June Reconnecting with some of our favourite places and people in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland on our first day back, we started with brunch at Hill House Cafe with Grandma Helen. Pah Homestead - home of Hill House Cafe, is a lovely art gallery & sculpture garden and where the wardrobe was in the 2005 Chronicles of Narnia! Delicious food and we ate in the winter sunshine on the terrace with Albi for company. Such good food - a croque madam for Louis, pumpkin & feta

Friday 19 June Time for us to head north for a spot of dog-sitting in Auckland. Surprise freeze overnight in Kaiapoi - so we were pleased that we were testing out the new oil column heater we had just bought to keep Banjo warm during our house-sitting absences over the next few months. It was so cold that the drip from the hose tap was frozen solid. Packed up, hitched up, put our cases in the Pajero, swung by the dump station in Kaiapoi then parked up outside Ella & Josh’s p

Thursday 18 June Another low key day for us - not much odyssey for Banjo! Louis headed into Maidstone to get his crown fitted and I did some chores, most of my packing for Auckland & a spot of admin back at Banjo then set out for a 5-6km walk around Sovereign Palms & the Kaiapoi Lakes whilst listening to the wonderful Tim Minchin on a podcast. Lovely day for it - overcast but sunny and pretty dry underfoot. You can see we are getting closer to the shortest day - the shadows

Wednesday 17 June A chill morning in Banjo - before we popped into Rangiora Mitre10 for a plastic crate and a small oil column heater. Dropped into Woodend Beach from there and swapped our suitcase of summer clothes into the crate so we can pack the case for our Auckland trip. Then we hitched up Banjo and trekked into town to test drive a Triton and check out both a Triton and a GWM Cannon to see how they responded to dropping a big ole Snowy onto the towball. We’ll need to t

Tuesday 16 June The rain finally stopped overnight so in the morning the pack-up was not too soggy. We left Hanmer under largely blue skies and the route down to Culverden was stunning - following the Waiau Uwha River for much of the way, and the rain had swollen the waters so it was looking fabulous. There was a fascinating red lime quarry along the way - apparently it is known as Hanmer Marble in this area. A third pie choice for Louis from the Culverden Bakery (Steak and

Monday 15 June The weird winter weather continues - when we woke around 7.30am it was roughly 14*C inside Banjo and out! More like early autumn or late spring! (Ignore the date & time on the screen - we have not worked out how to change it to Kiwi time!) We had purchased discounted tickets for the Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools & Spa from BookMe.co.nz so we packed up togs and towels, hopped on our bikes and cycled up to town. I put my power on 2 this time and we whizzed up the

Sunday 14 June A surprisingly warm night - went to bed at 4*C and woke briefly at 6am to 9*C - what wonky winter weather we are getting! We pottered gently then drove up to Hanmer itself to take a walk up Conical Hill to check out the layout of the land from the lookout there. I had a quick wander in the grounds of the old hospital first - from Amuri Hospital to Queen Mary Hospital in Hanmer - this was another concrete construction from early last century; but here the focus

Saturday 13 June A pinky pastel dawn at Amuri Manor on our last morning here - we packed up slowly, said our goodbyes to Sarah & Michael who were set for another day of renovation and restoration at their huge project. Always jobs to be done - Michael got the weed killer gig while Sarah had to attend to Princess Olivia’s patting requirements 🤣 We trekked over to Culverden to use the dump station and do a quick shop for essentials and another pie for Louis. A fabulous select

Friday 12 June A frosty awakening with a fiery sky to the east and a “frostbow” to the west - beautiful! After the previous day’s abortive attempts to find a river walk, we decided to change tack and head upwards - so drove along to the far side of the Balmoral Forest Reserve, across the Hurunui River and then took the path up to the Balmoral Fire Lookout which had fabulous views across the forests and plains. Luckily we didn't have to go far up the road as it looked a bit

Thursday 11 June Frosty as morning when we awoke - Louis’ boots were frozen solid on the A-frame ❄️ Django was eagerly awaiting us at the Banjo’s door and hopped up the stairs and settled in with us for a bit - while I took a video call from my sister in rainy London from an 80s concert with Tony Hadley & Holly Johnson… relax! Debbie came looking for her pup and Frits opened up the big barn doors to reveal the most fabulous collection of retro items… what Debbie described as

Wednesday 10 June Fortunately we turned the water pump off and drained all the pipes as it was already getting frosty before we went to bed… we woke with cold noses and a heavy, sparkly white frost on the ground outside. No prizes for guessing who was waiting at our door when we finally emerged, blinking in the bright winter sun and under several layers of winter clothing… wee Django who said “about time too!” and led us on a walk around the wilder parts of the property! It

Tuesday 9 June It had been a wild & windy night, but we were fairly sheltered at The Pier POP - only the odd buffet here & there. The sea was pretty rough out beyond the peninsula - the waves so big you could see them arcing & crashing along the horizon 5km or so away. Luckily our friend the seal was all good as it was already snoozing on the jetty a few metres along from yesterday’s spot! 🦭 We’d changed our plans and decided to head along the inland route to Terako Downs

Monday 8 June One of those mornings when the outside world seeped into Banjo - bathing the walls and ceiling in a rosy pink glow. I jumped out of bed, pulled on some layers and took the camera out to capture the sunrise. The whole of Ingles Bay and Kaikōura town were swathed in a purply pink pastel hue - so serenely beautiful. The sun popped over the horizon shortly after and the reflected imagery & light on the local architecture only served to amplify its beauty. Spotted

Sunday 7 June Winter feels like autumn in Kaikōura right now - a golden morning at north wharf and blue skies over Ingles Bay. We love staying at The Pier Hotel POP, especially when we get a front row spot - great views, toilets & shower available, power option, water, rubbish & recycling facilities and The Pier Hotel right next door! And it's obviously a classy clientele judging by the whole crayfish I saw dumped in the rubbish bin - those babies are super expensive. A clea

Saturday 6 June With a grey & rainy day forecast, there wasn’t much of a sunrise, but I did spot some seals on the rocks at the end of the pier, saw two moons 😉, discovered the plug that drains the sea 😳 and found some beautiful shells in the little bay. We’d not spent time at South Bay previously so hopped in the Pajero mid-morning and parked up at the end of the Peninsula Walkway - by the stunning Māori waharoa or gateway. There wasn’t much to see in the bay in terms of m

Friday 5 June No glorious sunrise colours - just a grey blue kinda day. But nature had another treat in store for us… dolphins! Two small pods of Hectors dolphins swam slowly past Conway Flat, pausing to play in the waves, gambol out at sea, leap and splash… it was a joy to watch! Louis got some drone footage and I struggled to capture them with my long lens - but have a few recognisable images! As they passed up the coast I looked south towards the entrance to the POP and s

Thursday 4 June This is why we drive miles off the main road to find the epic park-ups beside the sea - we slept with the roar of the waves in our ears, and woke as a glorious golden red light flooded Banjo through the front window which we had left unshaded for once. From 7am until almost 8am we watched a stunning kaleidoscope of colours wash across the sky as the sun rose - magnificent! 💛🧡❤️🩷💜 First pic below is 7am, lying in bed and looking out of the front window as t

Wednesday 3 June Moving day - after ten days at Kaiapoi, the jobs were all done and we have a fortnight to travel & explore until we need to get back to town. I stayed at Treehouse Retreat with Banjo, packing, clearing & cleaning while Louis headed into town to start work on the crown which ACC approved after Shadow head butted him on the beach at Christmas! Chore of the day was defrosting the freezer which had more ice than edible contents after 18months. Sooo much ice - no

Tuesday 2 June Banjo has had her service last week, this was ELLAMY’s turn - so we whizzed (crawled tbh as it was rush hour) into town, handed over the Pajero and keys to the garage and collected the most hideous metallic orange courtesy car for the rest of the day. Our glamorous orange set of wheels for the day even came with its own Halloween style spider webs to complement the pumpkin colour!🎃🕸️ First stop in our new wheels was CMG where we were booked to test drive a G