RAGLAN (A MID-WEEK GETAWAY)

When I was young I used to love getting lost in the world of Enid Blyton books, particularly the ones where children run away to join the circus.  I would lay in bed at night pretending I was snuggled up in my old wooden caravan while outside the circus folk were cooking sausages over a crackling fire and playing the guitar.  Somehow that dream has never really left me! 

The minute we unlocked the creaky old door to our overnight train I knew at least part of my fantasy was coming true!  I had actually been wanting to stay at Solscape in Raglan for years now because they have these amazing tipi's in the bush.  As fate would have it though they were going to prove much too cold to sleep in at this time of year so I reluctantly checked out their other accommodation option... earth domes, cabooses,  eco baches and *gasp* a 17 metre long original train carriage!!  SOLD!  We spent a cosy evening inside cooking up a feast while outside the wind howled and the rain pelted at the windows, even the lighting and thunder that woke us in the night somehow only added to the magic.

Raglan itself is a pretty stunning place.  It's a small town about two hours out of Auckland that is nestled in between a rugged coastline and a huge harbour.  From all accounts there are two reasons why people move here, to surf and/ or to do yoga!  All the locals know each other and life moves at it's own pace.  It's safe to say that we fell in love with this little place almost instantly.  We'll also definitely be coming back to Solscape over summer to try out the tipi's.
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THESE SUMMER DAYS

This has been one of the longest, slowest summers I can recall since I was young (remember how endless those used to be??).  My usual hectic, stress freak self  has put her feet up and decided to let it all go for a while.  Yes the house isn't as clean as I'd prefer, the unfolded washing is piling up and dinner is reasonably basic BUT it feels good!  Our days have fallen into quite a distinct rhythm of getting up (still at the crack of dawn thanks to Ayana and the hundreds of birds that have decided to nest in our bamboo), laze around the house until a reasonable hour, run errands if need be, visit friends, come home for lunch, take a nice looong siesta (I live for those siesta's right now), wake up when we please, swim until dinner time!  That's it, day in and day out.  We will get onto that long list of chores (errmm like painting the house, doing up the kitchen, clearing a path to be able to walk through the garage again) but for now it's just too hot and we're too busy enjoying summer.  I may have slacked off a bit in terms of blogging too, so I will try to muster up the motivation to turn my laptop on more often.
Hope you're all having a great summer (or not getting to blustered by snow storms if you're on the other side of the world).
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Coatesville

Coatesville feels like the last little pocket of countryside around these parts.  Suburbia is suffocating this town and the beautiful old fruit tree's, roaming chickens and ramshackle farm houses are quickly being swallowed up by vast concrete jungles.  But not Coatesville, not yet.  There's not much there and that's part of the charm.   The two roadside cafes* are bustling with activity on the weekends, their carparks jam packed with shiny four wheel drives that have never had a spray of mud on them (city folk), the pony club is full of eager young riders and over the fence the chickens are scratching in the neighbours yard.  Unless you're there for the monthly Coatesville Market, you're best to settle in at the cafe for a cup of coffee, go for a wander through the paddocks and breath in that country air (faintly scented with horse poo).

*We love the Fernilea Cafe because it is super kid friendly which means you can almost drink your coffee in peace!

Escape to Aroha Island

Holidays are not really our specialty.  I mean that's not to say that we don't like them, we love them... in theory!  It's just that we somehow either get rained out, or we end up in some pokey little beach town in the middle of winter where we're bored to tears and decide to come home after the first night.  We're action kind of people.  We don't like hanging around in resorts sipping fruity cocktails.  We like to throw on our trusty sneakers, grab a camera and go exploring until our feet hurt.  That's of course a little more tricky with a toddler in tow.  So we spent an evening online and found ourselves drawn to Aroha Island, a little kiwi and wildlife reserve up north near Kerikeri.  As we wove our way through the seemingly never ending country roads we glanced at each other.  Where the hell are we??  Where are the miles long white sand beaches?  Where are the rickety little beach side baches? And then suddenly there we are on this beautiful little island with the water lapping up against our grassy campsite.  Within moments our welcoming party arrives in the form of a gang of teenage ducklings. Hi, hi, what are you doing? Where are you from? What kind of food have you got there?  Need any help eating it?  Ayana was in heaven!  When they greeted us every morning by coming into our tent while we were still in bed it all felt a little close though.  The next few days were spent by the water, figuring out how to bbq pancakes for breakfast, exploring Kerikeri, and finally finding our white sand beach!  It was a great little trial for our first trip away as a family.  The minute we got home we started planning our next trip... further afield this time.  Europe? Thailand? Samoa?  Who knows but it's going to happen soon!
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