It rained on and off pretty much all day today. I did manage to get out for a quick hike in the bush before the rain started. Mary has Fridays off from work and she offered to take Verena and I out somewhere that wasn’t easy to get to via public transport. It turned out…

It amazes me that almost no one curbs their wheels when they park on the steep streets in Wellington. I guess they must have really good e-brakes!  A sunny morning today, relatively unusual for Wellington, so I took advantage and went for a long walk through different parts of Brooklyn, ending up at the Nairn…

I’ve passed a few houses that have been for sale, the more high-end ones have large posters with a few pictures and details about the house, but none of them list the asking price which I thought was really interesting, I wonder why. I’ll have to check in the windows of the real estate offices…

Today was a catch-up day, doing laundry, tidying up a bit. After my morning walk where I saw a very colorful house, I made myself a cooked breakfast for the first time in a while, and enjoyed sitting in the warm conservatory/dining room at Mary’s house reading while the wind howled outside. I’ve been reading…

Today I set out for Martinborough, the wine tasting region 1 1/2 hours outside of Wellington. Since the train was out of service there were private buses that took the same amount of time as the train. The bus was a double decker (so of course I sat upstairs 😁) with comfy seats. Because the bus…

Today was a fun adventure. Annemarie made breakfast bagels for both of us, I stopped at a coffee shop called Peoples Coffee and got their seasonal coffee, which was chocolate hazelnut and mandarin. It was pretty good, though I have to say the Supreme Coffee has been my favorite so far. We took the ferry…

My legs were sore last night, I wasn’t sure how I was going to do this morning, but the miracle of a bit of ibuprofen at bedtime really helped. Headed down to the bus stop to take the scenic route to Annemarie‘s place and saw a group of people with hiking poles and backpacks. I…

My cabin is right across the street from the local kindergarten (similar to our preschools). If I’m here in the afternoon, I can often hear parents shouting ‘Slow down Sarah! Wait up darling!’ as their children go hurling down the street to the car or the local dairy for an ice cream. So sweet. Spent…

The people next-door are getting their house painted so I can hear the workers from time to time, a lot of ‘Mate, can you pass me ?’ ‘Thanks Mate.’ ‘That looks cracker’  ‘You beauty!’ A very friendly, happy group. Like at home there’s lots of construction going on, down the street someone is redoing their front…

I am just loving hearing the rain on the roof and seeing moisture on the trees and plants, I seriously think I have seen more rain here in Wellington in the past week than I have in the last year at home. Sometimes it will only rain for an hour or two, but come down…