Sunflowers

Pebble painting

We picked up dozens of perfectly round pebbles on the beach at Birdlings Flat. We all had a go at painting our favourite designs. Afterwards we varnished them and they are now in use as doorstops and objets d’art in the garden.

Dalek attack

Sarah got a surprise with a home-made Dalek Cake on her birthday.

The Dalek Cake Cook at midnight the night before Sarah’s birthday.

Mysterious disappearance??

It has been noted by a rather observant orienteer based in West Yorkshire that John Hyde has vanished. There is no evidence of his existence in New Zealand on this website. I thought it had been rather quiet at the Hyde household since our arrival in New Zealand. John did mention that he didn’t really want to leave Spring Terrace…..

Any information about his whereabouts gratefully received.

Concerned of Christchurch

Weekend Escape

Whilst Sarah was away with the Brownies, the grown ups escaped to play out on their bikes! We rode from Little River and climbed 800m to the skyline and traversed the ridge to Mt Fitzgerald (826m) and then Mt Sinclair (841m). We returned via the Hilltop pub and back down the valley to Little River Domain. We had great weather and stunning views in all directions over the Banks Peninsula.

The peaks on the Banks Peninsula are very exposed to high winds!

Looking down to Port Levy.

The Good Life!

We have just made our first batch of Southern hemisphere Elderflower Cordial. The flowers are out in November in NZ which is much earlier than in the UK. John is the expert brewer. Sarah and Liz usually do the collecting and help out with the drinking afterwards. It is very easy to make and a refreshing drink on a hot summers day.

Sarah…..

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Sarah has been busy with her music. She has been having cello lessons and has started playing in an orchestra on Saturday mornings. She has also formed a band with her school friend called “The Elastic Band”. Last weekend it was Brownie Pack Holiday at Spencerville.

Boulder Bay

It’s half an hours walk from Taylor’s Mistake to Boulder Bay. A very scenic walk along the cliff tops- passing several exciting rocky bays with fishermen and paua hunters.






Paua is a New Zealand kind of abalone. The creature is black and slimey – but the shell is exquisite. Click on the picture for a close-up.

Time and weather in Christchurch

The picture shows the current weather at Christchurch airport – brought to you live by WeatherPixie.com. It’s a neat project collecting weather reports from airports around the world to show on blogs like this.

Click here to see the current time in NZ and the UK.

Mountain Biking

This is Liz burning up the Rapaki Track.

Never steep – but it keeps on and on. Starts about 1km from our house and takes you up to the Summit Road.