Pt Chevalier

Once we arrived in NZ we stayed at Jenni's house in Pt Chevalier (Auckland) for a few days. It was very unfortunate timing that Jenni had left for Canada the day before we arrived but actually it was really nice to have some space to ourselves in order to settle Elsie down after the long flight.


 It was weird to be back in NZ. The strangeness is always exacerbated by the fog of jet lag. It had been so hectic getting everything done on our way out of the UK that it just felt like we had been telepported to the other end of world. Joel and I kept looking at each other, cracking up, and going 'what are we doing here?!'. Then one evening we went for the obligatory stroll down to the point and suddenly we realised why we were here. There was an insanely picturesque sunset on a classic NZ beach that could only be in NZ (Pohutakawa trees...a family eating fish n chips at a picnic table...) We were home.

Feeding Elsie at Pt Chev

Sunset at Pt Chevalier Beach

We went for many walks down to the point enjoying the view of the harbour bridge and the city but we didn't venture into town once or contact many of our friends. Shell shocked in Point Chev!


I ventured out on my first run since I was 4 or 5 months pregnant. It was an amazing feeling to be out jogging again. I felt an initial rush of freedom coupled with the elation and excitement of the next 9 months in NZ stretching out ahead of me. The weather was beautiful, the scenery was beautiful, life was beautiful. Then I reached the point and turned back. Well it turned out the it hadn't been flat but actually slightly downhill all the way out. It also turned out that I was totally unfit.  What resulted was an unsightly slog all the way home. The route was all of err 4km? It took me around 30 minutes and my weirdly skinny legs hurt for days afterwards. To call it a run is a tad ambitious - but if anyone saw a strange barrel on legs shuffling around Pt Chevalier in a large amount of pain that was me.

View from Pt Chevalier

It was really warm and humid so we got to spark up Jenni's BBQ and enjoy a few evenings out on the deck. We knew we were on borrowed time weather-wise so we made the most of every bit of late summer that came our way. I even relished my first mosquito bite! The novelty soon wore off...

Our first BBQ of Autumn

 Elsie got to experience her first day wearing only a short sleeved vest!  She also had to wear the obligatory sunhat. This is Elsie enjoying her bouncer on Jenni's deck

SunSmart!