Sunday 15 March A glorious sunny autumn day - long shadows and golden light across the old graveyard first thing in the morning. Then, after saying goodbye to darling Bonnie, we completed a few morning chores, had lamb & haloumi burgers in the sunshine for lunch and entertained a visit from an adorable but rather forward Frenchie who invited himself into Banjo! Bonjour mon petit chien! Où habites-tu? 😂 Hopped on our bikes to go exploring in the afternoon sunshine - first

Saturday 14 March Second big sunny Saturday in a row - this time was our return trip to the fabulous Wanaka A&P Show which we loved so much in 2025, we just had to come back for this year’s event. We packed a picnic, hopped on our bikes and were through the gates at around 10am. First thing we spotted was the motorbike stunt show with Jake Whitaker which was pretty cool, then next door was the Rural Village with wood chopping, shearing and farrier competitions. The latter was

Friday 13 March After being rocked all night by a howling gale (had to bring in Starlink it was that wild out there) we packed up in a leisurely fashion and hit the road into the Lindis Pass around 10.30. It was a cold morning and not far to the summit so the engine performed brilliantly and we were soon on the other side of the range and heading to Tarras (obligatory stop for the sign selfie - and this time another real fruit ice cream) and then on to Wānaka. Weirdly forgot

Thursday 12 March Another glorious sunrise as we took Harley for an early morning walkies. Got back and settled in to watch the horses on their morning gallops over breakfast and a cup of tea. They generally cantered 2-3 laps solo or in pairs, then put in a gallop sprint on the final lap - extending long & low as they thundered past. In the centre of the track and round the outskirts of the racecourse, the youngsters & trotters were being exercised mainly behind a ute, but

Wednesday 11 March Always a joy waking up to the thundering hoof beats of the racehorses on their morning gallops at PharLap. Glorious sunrise as I popped my head out of Banjo at around 7.15am, then fifteen minutes later, Abby, Harley & I set off to walk Jez to work and take a sneaky detour back via U-Bake to get Louis a giant croissant 🥐 for breakfast and half a dozen hot cross buns just because! Should have put my Fitbit on Harley as he was dancing around like a maniac an

Tuesday 10 March On the move again - we left Treehouse Retreat a lovely collection of stones as our calling card (I had to cull my rock collection - so left these beauties on the fence post) and took our dirty Banjo off to the Harewood Tunnel Wash for a big shampoo & rinse. This place is awesome for caravans and mohos as they have a mobile ladder 🪜 so you can get up high and clean the solar panels on the roof, and the foaming shampoo brush is on bonkers overdrive, making it

Monday 9 March After the whirlwind of travelling for the past 6-7 weeks, and the boogie wonderland of Selwyn Sounds, Monday was another quiet day of chores. We popped into Papanui so Louis could have a training swim at Graham Condon (12 days to the Wakatipu Legend swim!) and I got my quarterly blood tests, stocked up on “big city” stuff that costs more on the road, then we ate a huge donburi each for lunch and went home to Banjo to sleep it off, after a quick visit to Ute Nat

Sunday 8 March After a big day of singing & dancing in the belated summer sun, Sunday was a whole lot quieter! We woke up & wished each other “Happy anniversary!”, marking 29 years together… not bad eh?! Packed up & left Lincoln at around 11ish, heading up to Kaiapoi to one of our favourite POPs - Treehouse Retreat. Settled in and promptly had a leftovers lunch then a big siesta - getting old! 😴 Took a stroll into Sovereign Palms to stretch our legs and when we got back John

Saturday 7 March Becoming a tradition… Selwyn Sounds is an epic one-day music festival which we loved so much last year, we booked tickets again this year! Parked up at the school next door with a hundred other campers so it was just a short stroll over to the venue in the morning - laden with chairs, a mini table, gallons of sunscreen and an extensive picnic. Huge queue to get in as the gates opened for regular punters at 10am but we were through by 10.30 and snagged a decen

Friday 6 March Such a beautiful morning - currently enjoying a late burst of summer it seems. Took advantage of being on power & water to wash & blow dry my hair before we left Peski, one of the last to leave, heading to SH1 and north the Ōtautahi Christchurch. We got diverted in the long straight roads of the Canterbury Plains, so I decided these easy & quiet byways were ideal for my next Banjo driving experience so we swapped seats and I piloted us about 30km out towards t

Thursday 5 March An easy morning - checking out the view from our hill at 8.30am (the crowds of vans were already thinning out even at this early hour) then watching streams of people climb our hill, marvel at the vista, take the requisite photos then move on. Some stayed for a while just soaking it all in - such a privilege to be able to spend time in such natural beauty. We spotted a Goldie so went over and introduced ourselves - turned out to be a lovely couple, Denise & R

Wednesday 4 March An emotional morning as we said farewell to our travelling companions of the past 6 weeks as they head back to Manapouri to tackle the Milford Track this weekend. It was a beautiful dawn with golden light on the ranges and flecky clouds across the sky. We took our last selfies - happy because it happened, sad because it was over - then waved adieu to the Fernandivan. Meanwhile we started off on the long route back to Ōtautahi Christchurch - via Alexandra, C

Tuesday 3 March A day of extremes in St Bathans - we woke to the first frost of the year and recorded -2*C on Banjo’s outdoor thermometer!!! The grass was crispy, Banjo and the Pajero were all sparkly and the trip to the long drop was super chilly - but we had the diesel heater so all was not lost! It was the Fernandi's last full day with us and the freezing temperatures demanded a slap up hot breakfast so I steamed up Banjo cooking bacon, eggs & mushrooms while they got t

Monday 2 March We woke up in a bit of a swamp after a night of heavy rain. Gumboots on we waited at 8am to help out with morning rounds. The light was amazing - steamy clouds rising from valleys, rainbows, stormy grey skies and golden morning sunshine all at once! Steve was running a tad late so just Nickie & I ended up helping with the feeding and had a lovely time hanging with motley crew - Anthem the bull, the Friesian bullock who is a little behind his compatriots so stil

Sunday 1 March Time to say goodbye 🎶 Farewell Tomkinsons - they snuck out early so Jez could compete in a 10km run from Cave to Timaru, and we followed suit a couple of hours later, but headed South rather than North. Our destination was Otago Fresh Milk on the outskirts of Palmerston where we parked up amongst the cows, sheep and other farmyard animals. Shortly after settling in, Abby F arrived from Dunedin and we piled into RUSSF and headed back up the coast a wee way to v

Saturday 28 February We’d originally planned 3 nights in Oamaru then on to Palmerston for a night at Otago Fresh Milk… but Shelli from OFM said she’d be at the North Otago A&P Show on Saturday and as that was in Oamaru we decided to stay & go along. Glorious day for it - Louis & I cycled in early and checked out the produce & crafts tent, I watched some show ponies doing their thing and we met Shelli and the team in the cow pens - her Jersey cow had just won supreme champion

Friday 27 February Nickie & Russ got a wiggle on and completed their respective bits of study & work by 11. We packed picnics and hopped into RUSSF to explore the Waitaki valley, up through Duntroon and Kurow to the first couple of the dams. First stop was historic Duntroon where we scored some rhubarb and a stunning dahlia at the Veg Shed, used the florally decorated public conveniences and had a wander. The historic buildings here are well preserved, but they really do need

Thursday 26 February Another abrupt change of weather - rain half of the night and most of the day. Nickie & Russ were working, but we set off to check out a potential house purchase at 130 Maudes Road. At least in the rain you see whether a place leaks or floods! It was a nice 2hectare plot with a 3 bay garage, 3 paddocks, several woodpiles, a hen house and a neat little single storey, 3 bedroom house beautifully clad in Oamaru stone. I think we both agreed it was cute, but

Wednesday 25 February Time to pack up and leave the galloping horses and the working Tomkinsons - Russ got his hours in then we said adieu to Abby & Harley (Jez was already in the office), and hit the road south to Oamaru, with an obligatory stop at Ubake for travelling snacks and lunchtime pies. Reader - some of them hardly made it out the door, let alone to lunchtime! We turned up at Old Bones and found it was quite busy - 4 others already in situ and many dogs - but we got

Tuesday 24 February So familiar - waking up to the pounding of the hooves of the racehorses on their morning gallops. Popped out of Banjo to enjoy my breakfast earl grey in the sunshine and watch them thunder past. So lovely watching the horses canter twice around at a leisurely pace then do a final speedy gallop. We were surprised to see how many other campers had rolled in after we parked up yesterday. Nickie had finished her first week of study in one day so had the morn