our far north get-away

we love the far north, a place to relax and unwind. this year we were delayed a little bit but it happened to pay off as we had the most epic weather possible! it was so good to get away and relax together, also having mark's parents visit for the last two days.

isaiah lights up even more in the outdoors and lapped up the wide open space and water {not literally!}.

five things to consider when moving back home

it's been just over 9 weeks since we have been living back in new zealand, our permanent move home. i have been reflecting {i am a pretty reflective individual ya know} about moving countries and continents and thought to share some things to consider if you are ever in the same situation.

there is lots that could be covered, but these points have stood out to me the most:

1** it takes t-i-m-e ** time on all accounts, time to get yourself into certain routines {like the fact i still don't actually know what day the rubbish is collected!}. give yourself that space to adjust and don't put pressure on yourself to have it all together straight away.

emerging together

A boy full of trust and joy

A man full of strength and exploration

My boys; emerging together 

In this awe inspiring moment

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We recently returned from our spring break, where we traveled to Boracay Island in the Philippines. It was a well needed break from the season we are in. Go here to see our holiday captured.

Australia in July

Our visit began in Victoria, staying in the country with Jono, Fi and Nate ~ our little nephew born in April.

We visited a local reserve; sitting in the warm sun on a crisp winter's morning next to the Murray river. And on our trip back we saw wallaby and koala in the wild.

Loving our Spring Break

This year, we traveled down to Busan ~ the second largest city and on the southern coast of the Korean peninsula. It was our first trip away with baby Hub. It was amazing how being by the sea can be so refreshing!

 The weather was a lot warmer than where we are in the north, with one day reaching 19degrees!

My favorite

After 29 hours of travel, sporting his All Blacks top and an upper-lip camouflaged with a month's worth of Movember growth, Hubby arrived safe and sound back to me here in NZ.

It's SO great to be reunited and to prepare for our little's arrival but let's just say the mo' will be going very soon!

We have lots to catch up on as we have been away from each other for the looooongest time - one whole month people! - at the start of the time it was such a daunting task but God is good and we skyped sometimes twice a day to get through... Thankfully baby Hub held on!

Here's to our next adventure as soon-to-be mum and dad and to spending lots of quality time with family and celebrating this very special time of year with the ones we love!

That view

This is the view that greets each person who ventures North over the Brynderwyns. Embracing people from near or far, for the first time or as I; returning home.

We are leaving today!

From

We are leaving for Nepal this afternoon to hike through the hills with students from our school and give these amazing items (fundraised by our amazing third graders here at GSIS) and medical supplies to villages along the way. 

I am packed with everything I hopefully may need, excited at the thought of going to a such a unique country and hoping to serve the amazing people there.

I will see you all at the end of next week!

Hopefully with many tales to share and pictures to upload.

Chuseok Break: Jeju Island

Smiles as we travel on the bus to Gimpo Airport.

We traveled to the island of Jeju off the Southern coast of Korea. On the first day we took a walk down to Jungmun Beach.

The surrounds were beautiful. It is a very mountainous island with lots of green and the blue of the sea.

We enjoyed the outdoors a lot.

I am very experimental with food but not as much as Mark's dad. He is lover of crazy food and ESPECIALLY seafood. Can you guess what I am trying here? I like to say that I am very easy going with food but this is the first thing in Korea where I have seriously wanted to hurl! It's seaweed that is like wool basically, green fluffy, cold. As you can see I buckled under the pressure...

I love this shot. We really enjoyed going to Jungmun Beach. I went for a swim in the clearest water, and enjoyed the shrieks and giggles of the others on the beach, aware that they aren't used to sea water. My in-laws enjoyed paddling and catching the views too. 

I went for a walk on the rocks to find Hubby surfing with another lone long boarder. 

Here he is. Having a bit of light fun out in the waves. It is supposed to pick up this weekend so he is keen to come back to the island again for better surf but maybe not until later in the year :)

On our second full day we took buses around to the eastern side of Jeju and travelled by ferry to Udo Island. We named it the 'Craggy Island' of Korea. It really reminded us of it! It was heaps of fun, we hired an electric golf cart and spied lots of animals along the way. In the top of this photo collection is a pool made out of the volcanic rocks that are found all a long the coast. 

We all really enjoyed circumnavigating this small island and checking out the sites.

Thank you Jeju, for the sweet times... We loved hanging out with Hubby's parents,  how low key it was here, Jeju's friendly helpful people and the warm ocean waves. Might see you again soon!

bali, 2011

bali, indonesia is rich in culture and religion.

hindu offerings laid on the street, hubby was known to run over a few on the scooter we hired, woops. 

 netting fish, bali style. step 1: light ciggie. step 2: reorganize fishing net. step 3: wade out til head height and dig pole into the ocean floor. step 4: walk back to shore laying the fishing net. step 5: wait. step 6: eat.  

kuta beach in all it's crowded goodness.

my spot while hubby went surfing out the front. 

the day I got fried :(

balinese stone masonry is amazingly detailed. beautiful.

the food was so good. bali kopi on the lower left is a must to try.

scooter adventures: we travelled all over the island of Lembongan and ceningan. one funny memory, is trying to find a point break for hubby to surf the first time. we came across an orange sign with a picture of a wave and people. we assumed it was to identify a surf spot, we followed and were puzzled when we started up these rough very steep hills. on the way, we stopped and chatted to an aussie who had been travelling to Bali for more than 11 years and he said it was a tsunami warning sign! haha fun times.  

the sunsets were epic. glorious. 

hubby getting a wave.

i believe this is gunung abang, one of the highest mountains here.

tanis villas on lembongan island, we would go back in a flash.

 trying to get a good photo with hubby while watching a sunset, not any easy task!

one of my favorite shots. we loved watching the swell come in and hit against the rocks. the water running down the rocks was amazing.

sunsets galore.

our snorkeling trip. it was lush with coral, fish and sea life. we fed the fish bread scraps and they came from everywhere.

travelling feet.

thank you bali! we will never forget this trip. we felt so refreshed and ready for another year after spending time exploring you!

NZ holiday, 2011 highlights Pt2

boy - i was supposed to get onto this post a long time ago! here are a few more highlights of our trip home in june...

NZ - holiday month highlights post Pt1

I loved being home.

Home is where everything is how you know it to be and I found that so very restful...

singapore, 2011

we stopped off in this wonderful place for 2 days before nz. 

mark lived here for a year when he was a pre-teen and so it was really cool for him to show me the sights and sounds of this unique place. it was very nostalgic for him as it hasn't changed a lot. 

the first evening we headed out on the bus to orchard road, the very famous shopping area. it was busy and hot. i was so exhausted after a busy end of the year!

this is me waiting for a mango/pineapple smoothie... the best I have ever had but no photo :( sorry...

Day 2 was off to singapore zoo! it was a place t had really wanted to visit... The day was quite cool and overcast which was so good.

here is a collection of my favourite animals during the trip. i love otters so we watched them being fed and swimming for a long time. the zoo also have manatees which mark loves. the bottom right photo was also a fave. it's of a pigmy hippo baba and his mum. they were just chillaxing but it was cute to see the rolly skin and them snuggling together.

i have saved the best til last. during our trip we went to a show about rainforest animals. just sitting there waiting for it to start and mark gets a tap on his shoulder and a signal to follow this warrior. mark's up for it and joins the actors on stage. they signal to have him strip off his shirt and do a shout and display of power to the audience and then indicate for mark to do it. 

little do they know that we are from nz - the home of the haka - check out the facials on the bottom left photo - they were impressed! the crowd cheered! 

later on in the day mark got lots of 'hellos' from people recognising him around the place. i loved it!

well it was a short trip but it was great to experience a bit of singapore. my next post will be on our trip home to aotearoa. 

bye for now x

Hello. Sorry and Rest.

Hello everybody.
Ohhh man, it's been so long. I have much to say! 
I have been out of my own personal blogzone for over a month and it feels very strange (although I have been keeping up with reading many!). 
I laugh now at the words I wrote on my last blog post 'I will be hopefully able to update you all on what's happening in our holidays as much as I can - more often than before because school is always busy!' 


Haha. Naive me.


I really want to share where we've been and some mini-adventures along the way. We feel so rested and have had great times with family and friends. It's been amazing. 
Our 'summer vacation' has basically been in 3 parts... Singapore leg, NZ leg and Bali leg.

So I am getting organized to share about each one in the next few posts. 

I have many photos to share.

See you soon.

Oriental Beauty

We took a long weekend to Beijing, China last weekend.

Had great times climbing the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. It was a 30degree day so it was especially hot (see my face!)

We visiting the Forbidden city.

It was definitely another world.

We then visted the Great Wall and it was a spectacular day to see it. We hiked it a bit and took the Gondala.

I just can't imagine how this huge wall could be built right up into the hills... It truly is a wonder of the world. 

We also experienced the Ming tombs, jade market, had a traditional tea ceremony, and visited the famous silk market where my husband (being the cut-throat bargainer) had some of the sale people even hitting him! It's an amazing place!

Beijing definitely is a must-see, it is a great city with many sights to see and experience.

Xiexie!