Spirit

When we came back to NZ and decided to settle here for the rest of Luca’s schooling, there were two educational opportunities I wanted for him, that are quintessentially Kiwi, and another reason to finish his schooling here.

The Spirit of Adventure (https://www.spiritofadventure.org.nz/ ) and

Outward Bound ( https://www.outwardbound.co.nz/ ).

Our parents sent my brother on the Spirit and I put myself through Outward Bound when I started nursing.

For me it was life changing, it gave me the courage and skills to travel off overseas into the world alone.

Luca is booked on voyage 931 and will be sailing around the Tasman area next January…

It is not cheap, so booking early and paying off over the year is doable for us. Luca has be aware of these two courses for years and been so looking forward to them. It is exciting to have started the journey, the aim is to do Spirit, then 2026-27 Outward Bound.

It is difficult for us to get our head around the fact he is so close to leaving school. It is the last year in school uniform, for Year 13 they can wear their own clothes.

A shot of he and Lemon in uniform as they walk home from school and another at a recent non uniform day (sent by one of Luca’s friends) , you can guess which they prefer : )

Homework sessions have begun. This year the most important in NZ, the results are what the University’s use for entrance into them, no pressure! 🙂

The cruise ships have been coming into Port thick and fast, this time of the year so lovely for visitors to see the area at its best.

Speaking of visitors a friend stayed recently, she is an acupuncturist and gave Rich a session for his aches and pains. Rich thinks it helped, but think he probably needs a few session to see the most benefit.

Flowers fill this place at this time of year,I love it! The hydrangeas given by a friend who green thumb is incredible!

February is a month of harvest and my beehive has outdone itself this year!

I am so proud of them 🙂

The produce at this time of year comes in large quantities and so Rich preparing a lot for winter and baking up a storm, turns out he is amazing at it all so I am out of a job 🙂 Lemons family sent over a huge bowl of plums and our zucchini are coming fast…

Plum muffins and zucchini chocolate brownie have gone down a treat!

My strawberries are late coming this year, but now they have they are incredible, so tasty, I just woke the kids insisting they try them, they gracefully indulged me 💕

The animals all very content and happy living their best life. Pigs almost as big as the ponies now!!!

We have been really busy but always make time for hikes and the beach, this photo taken at Canoe Beach, my favorite one and so close to us.

The below photo blurry, but I love it SO MUCH, snuggled in and content watching TV and chatting at the end of another busy day, this is our evening ritual and I feel so grateful to be this fortunate!

This popped up on my feed recently and it resonated with me, its so true, listening, truly listening is vitally important!

Happy March everyone, hard to believe it is March already but here we go!