I have been enjoying the new ads for our national airline....
Here is the one showing.. a fairly brave, but tasteful ad that is catching a bit of attention!
and, if you enjoyed that, here is the making of it....
Off to spend our probably last day with Phoebe's family before they fly off next weekend. We have already bought the tickets for a visit to see them in late September- prices are too good to ignore! In fact, we should really book some for Australia next year as they are unlikely to go lower and we have been discussing having a family holidays over there with them the following September.
Here is the one showing.. a fairly brave, but tasteful ad that is catching a bit of attention!
and, if you enjoyed that, here is the making of it....
Off to spend our probably last day with Phoebe's family before they fly off next weekend. We have already bought the tickets for a visit to see them in late September- prices are too good to ignore! In fact, we should really book some for Australia next year as they are unlikely to go lower and we have been discussing having a family holidays over there with them the following September.
It is a beautiful day - warm breezes, sunny and the autumn colours are sooo beautiful at the moment. The garden is looking wonderful, with the second lot of trees behind the sleep out being cut down this week, letting a little more early sun into the house.
I have always loved the spring and autumn changes here - I guess as I was from the UK, it was the main reason I wanted to move to the south island after years of the far north. They do beaches well up there, and the flowers are stunning, lush tropical colours of pohutakawa, bougainvillea and hibiscus, but I was getting tired of the humidity and heavy rain, flooding, and to be honest, the crime levels!
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Our first jump was from Whangarei to Queenstown in 1995 ... almost opposite ends of the country.
We stocked up on wool clothes, thermals, electric blankets and ski gear, and learned how to drive a log burner. Our first winter was minus 15C... and we loved it...
The autumn colours are spectacular too!
In 1997 we moved to Christchurch, and I now see it as home. I get the best of the seasons, and I can usually sleep at night, not too hot, and the cold frosts give way to clear sunny days.
I also don't miss the creepy crawlies... ants, and sand flies and mossies... we do get them a little bit here, just not in the huge amounts we had up north. I do miss the rainbow colours of the lady birds.. up there they are not just red, but all shades.
.
Our first jump was from Whangarei to Queenstown in 1995 ... almost opposite ends of the country.
We stocked up on wool clothes, thermals, electric blankets and ski gear, and learned how to drive a log burner. Our first winter was minus 15C... and we loved it...
The autumn colours are spectacular too!
Arrowtown autumn festival
Christchurch - punting the Avon in autumn
I also don't miss the creepy crawlies... ants, and sand flies and mossies... we do get them a little bit here, just not in the huge amounts we had up north. I do miss the rainbow colours of the lady birds.. up there they are not just red, but all shades.
As I grow older, I find the changing seasons have increasingly begun to measure the stages of my life. I have learned to really appreciate the colourful changes, and I look at the spring flowers with a new appreciation that I lacked completely in my youth... "yeah, pretty, so what?". Now, I know I will not be here to see them forever; they are a special treat to be savoured.
