Late summer blast... of colour.

Colour that's courageous. Loud, clashing primary shades, neon green, orange, classic blue and yellow beachey stripes. 

It's loud, it shouts and it's happy. So happy.

Many of Melbourne's bayside beaches are lined with beach boxes. They're sought after and expensive.

I think they're fabulous.  Just like summer.  

Farewell to summer...

Summer is slipping away... and the air in Auckland is fresher again. Humidity here can over around 98 percent at the height of summer but as the temperature is rarely higher than 25 (centigrade) it's rather pleasant.

The sea has been unusually warm this year. Blame La Nina. Or thank her.

The boys have been getting braver and braver in the sea. Now the lunatic two year old thinks he can surf too thanks to a quick lesson from his grandfather. I dress them both in red rash vests (not the grandparents, the boys). It makes them so much easier to spot in the waves.

There might be a few more swims in the coming weeks before the autumnul weather sets in.

And yes I did just post this so that I can use the word autumnul. It is one of life's rather lovely words. Au-tum-nul. There, done.

Summer in the Sounds...

My thoughts today are with Queensland. For the families who have already lost so much and the city folk preparing for a pretty tough couple of days. It puts my whining about our wet Queensland holiday well and truly in perspective. Australia is a pretty tough old place to live sometimes.

I thought I'd press on and show you a little patch of Kiwi paradise...

We've just spent a lovely week away.. most of it in the Marlborough Sounds on the tip of New Zealand's South Island. We've returned feeling refreshed and relaxed and as though we've been away for weeks. I think you only ever feel like that when water is involved.

We stayed in Queen Charlotte Sound with friends who have a family bach you can only reach by boat - a privilege for us to be invited to stay. They built their holiday home themselves twenty years ago, digging out the site mostly by hand and then bringing in all the building materials by barge and lugging every piece up a steep winding path. Incredible. Even the sofas we sat on would have been a job and half to haul up there. This is the view from the deck...

Much of the Sounds is inaccessible by road and of course that's what makes it such an incredibly beautiful spot.  Lush thick native bush sweeps down steep mountains straight to the water. Much of the more accessible bays were farmland fifty years ago, now the bush has taken over and in between are baches and boathouses.

We went to visit friends staying a little further out. It's hard to believe that some of this was ever farmland. Their bach is one of only four in the bay and has no power - just gas and solar panels for the lights. A simple delicious lunch, stone skimming, swimming, kayaks and cricket on the shingle beach. A day to remember.

Actually, all in all, a week to remember. 

Oh and it may look warm and inviting but the water is pretty refreshing (as in pretty damn cold) - if it wasn't the place would be overrun.

Now we are six...

When I was One,
I had just begun.
When I was Two,
I was nearly new.
When I was Three
I was hardly me.
When I was Four,
I was not much more.
When I was Five,
I was just alive.
But now I am Six,
I'm as clever as clever,
So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.

AA Milne, Now We Are Six, 1927

Our boy is six. In his words a 'big six year old boy'. 

His proudest achievement is that he can now skim a rock and make it bounce three, four or even five times if he chooses the right one. He nailed it on Friday and dashed back down to the shore the next morning, the last of our holiday, to check he hadn't lost the knack while asleep.

We also discovered that he can kayak by himself, jetty jump and swim a lap freestyle and breathing properly (that averages out at about a two hundred dollars a stroke if you add up all the swim school fees - well worth it of course). 

He may be all grown up but all my new six year old wanted for dinner was cheesy pasta. That's plain old pasta, white sauce, grated cheese and peas. And he insisted on a tickle pat at bedtime, so I'm pleased to say he's still our boy for a little while yet.

We've been holidaying in a marvellously untouched part of this end of the world this week. But that's a story for another day, tomorrow perhaps.

Home, home now.

We finished our holiday in Queensland. Queensland, sunniest place in the world. With place names like the Sunshine Coast and Surfers Paradise and marketing slogans like 'Beautiful One Day, Perfect the Next', expectations as a visitor are pretty high.

But there was not a lot of sunshine and it was not much of a paradise for surfers. In my one quick dash to the stormy beach I was whipped by the sand and slapped by the foam skipping across the beach as the waves came in. Invigorating but only a fool would swim.  

Of course those who live in Queensland haven't had a great week, with sandbags and road closures. To be fair to the Queensland tourism board there was some sun and we swam and took the boys to Dreamworld. 

You're never too young for a theme park but I think you can be too old, it might be my last little journey there. The teacups ride at Wiggle World made me feel queasy. Actually the whole thing made me feel queasy. The husband and kids loved it. We also had a great catch-up with old friends and family.

I rather loved our trip back. I had some rare help from my other half... we're rather like the royal family and never fly together (not to preserve the line of succession like Charles and William, normally just work commitments that never quite line up with holiday plans). And even better with my husband's frequent flyer status came an upgrade to business class. You can never be too old or too young for business class

Now we're home in Auckland I'm going to give my blog some love. And my kitchen floor, my washing basket and my life.  

After three weeks away in my home country I'm feeling slightly dislocated but that will disappear in a few days.  Jet lag perhaps. Can you get jet lag from a two hour time difference? Prising the kids out of bed this morning made me think you perhaps you can.

Holidays...

We're holidaying in Hobart... spring one day, snow the next.  It's a fickle place weather wise but that's part of its charm and the only place I know where the sun can shine while snow flakes drift down. I was watching it do that this morning.

Summer almost came on Saturday, we had a simply amazing day at one of my favourite little spots near Port Arthur. This is what I think of when I dream of my home state. How nice then to have my boys revel in it too..

We had a night away at a friend's shack. That's not a shanty, it's what Tasmanians call their holiday homes - like a bach in New Zealand. 

I have been coming here for more than fifteen years... and what fun we've had.

Now when there are ten adults there are ten kids too and sometimes more. Kids on the beach, on bikes, kicking footballs, fighting and playing and the adults chatting, cooking, reading, snoozing and relaxing. How I wish we could come more often.

Of course my friends spent much of their time asking my five year old closed questions that would elicit one answer - Yes.

That's because he now says 'Yiss.' He's becoming a Kiwi and Kiwis say 'fush' when we would say 'fish' and 'chups' when we would say 'chips'. They also say 'sex' when we would say 'six' and Australians will never ever tire of teasing. Ah well, at least he won't say Austraya.

Day tripping...

I couldn't end the week without sharing a few more pictures of our weekend away on the coast north of Auckland. It has been a gloriously sunny July week for the school holidays. We have been too, too lucky.

We went to Pakiri Beach at sunset. The drive down through a steep, wooded and oh-so-green valley was breathtaking.

 At the bottom is a white, white beach with that sand that's so fine and clean it squeaks when you walk.  We're going back earlier in the day next time  - and with our swimming gear when it warms up.  

The sharp eyed among you may have noticed I have been playing with my blog layout. When I started this blog I did a bit of a DIY job and thought I'd fix it rather sooner than I have. Now I have a professional on the case - my much more talented brother who is a graphic designer and has a far more hip and funky approach than moi. Stay tuned. And let me know what you think!

A weekend away...

Omaha Beach, on the Matakana coast about an hour north of Auckland... our mid-winter, mid-school holidays long weekend away.

Beautiful sunny weather. Basking in the sun on the deck of our rented bach, reading, playing lego, hunting for crabs in the rockpools, playing football on the sand, chasing seagulls, drinking red and toasting marshmallows on the open fire, grazing at the farmer's market, marvelling at the Kiwi countryside, revelling in the clear, cool air and sleeping, quite a lot of sleeping.

Beautiful isn't it?

Day tripping...

I wanted to take you back to Piha - our day trip last Sunday.  It was truly stunning... helped by a gorgeous, sunny and warm May day.

Piha is about a 45 minute drive from Auckland - longer if you like to navigate from a map printed at the last minute from the internet which could have been zoomed in a little more... We did an extended tour of the western suburbs on our way to the Waitakere Ranges.

The west coast is wild, the sand is black and sticks to everything - it apparently gets baking hot underfoot in the summer.

We spent our time on North Piha - there is another smaller beach to the south of the majestic Lion Rock.

We've decided it's the perfect autumn and winter beach for us. Way too wild for swimming with children... the littlest was dunked by a very strong rogue wave and we could see more rips than we could count.

There are lots of great walks to go back to and we'd like to climb the rock without a toddler in tow.

Our weekend...

Piha on the wild west coast. Simply stunning on a bright Sunday in May.

I'll tell you more when I have a little time to spare.

Favourite places...

Swims after work. Paddling in the bogey hole. People watching on the beach. Breakfast bacon and egg rolls and milkshakes. Ball games in the park. The kids' train.  Australia Day families. Surf you could die in.  Weekend nippers. Much property envy. 

This is my favourite place in Sydney.

I've been sorting through old photos while the boys play lego - one builds and the other destroys. The skies are grey here and it feels a little chilly outside. The blue of the water in these pics we took at Sydney's Bronte Beach before we moved is almost too hard to look at.

Definitely my favourite colours and one of my all time favourite views.