Hello again
So SO many apologies are owed to my long time committed readers of this blog.
I abandoned you.
I’m sorry.
The belated news is that just over a year ago we actually sold the Kiwi Blog Bus 😦
We were all sad to see it go after having many happy holiday around New Zealand and enjoyed the wonderful convenience of travelling in a bus / campervan.
However – we were still travelling, but in another direction.
We moved to a lifestyle block.
We are the very proud owners of a tiny two bedroom cottage on an acre and a bit of prime NZ land.
Slowly but surely, aided by funds from the sale of the Blog Bus, we are doing up our do-er upper with the addition of some KiwiAnnison favourites: a huge veggie garden, a tractor shed (full of tractors!), a paddock for the miniature horse, a field full of Christmas trees and chooks… etc….
So for all those that may be interested in following the tales of our “Kiwi Good Life” – you can now do so via the new blog I have started 🙂
And for Kiwi Blog Bus fans – I may still dip in here and write up a few travel stories from the good old bus days, or just general NZ travel tales I think you may just be interested in.
I won’t finish with a goodbye as hopefully this is the recommencement of something that lots of you will stick by my side on.
See you soon
Vicki
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The official medal chart (Kiwi Blog Bus style)
In the spirit of the Olympics ….
(or just because I cannot think what else to blog about today!) this post is about the best of The Kiwi Blog Bus and the winning entries to date.
The positions for most popular post:
Gold medal goes to Waterworks: surely the best fun you can have with recycled objects?! Read More…
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A little bit of Kiwiana
From the Kiwi Annison Archives
Back in April this year we travelled down to Waitomo and further on to the west coast – see Magnificent meanderings to Marokopa. On our way down we went through Otorohanga , the official Kiwiana town.
So those of you not in New Zealand may now be scratching your heads and wondering what the heck is kiwiana. Read More…
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Sometimes the best things in life really are free
One of the big things we noticed when we moved to New Zealand from the UK in 2008 was the fantastic and plentiful array of kids playgrounds here.
It may seem like an insignificant thing but when you have three kids who have usually seen broken, graffiti covered, litter strewn playgrounds that normally contained a set of broken swings and nothing too adventurous that you could potentially injure yourself on – then it all came as a breath of fresh air.
Thames playground
Before I get jumped on and all the UK peeps shout at me…. yes, I agree there were SOME nice parks and playgrounds for kids. But I am speaking my opinion when I say that while we lived and travelled around the UK I can honestly say that the large majority of playgrounds were either in undesirable areas or visited by undesirables who used for undesirable purposes.
Sad but true.
Another huge difference for us here was the school grounds. Read More…
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Down at the beach… are you sure it’s Autumn?
Part of our recent trip away involved a night at Whangamata in the beautiful Coromandel.
We stayed overnight in an avocado orchard (an NZMCA POP site) which we have visited before, and then went into town for a spot of shopping and to visit the beach.
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Just to wet your appetite
My goodness what a weekend.
We had the most amazing weather (it’s Autumn here in New Zealand) but someone pulled out all the stops for the Easter holidays and we’ve had blue skies, fluffy white clouds and temperatures around 23c.
We’ve only had three nights away but we crammed in loads of awesomeness and New Zealand managed to stun me once again.
So much to post about over the next few days but for now I will leave you with this one picture that for me sums up my great weekend.
My Girl and My Guy in My Beautiful New Zealand
Hope everyone had an awesome Easter!
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A reminder of Pure New Zealand
I stumbled across a video the other day that I’d like to share, in my opinion it’s just fabulous and pure, feel-good New Zealand. Â
In 2010 Tourism New Zealand launched “Your Big Break” and asked people to capture the essence of 100% Pure New Zealand and tell the world their story of how they see the youngest country on earth.
Working Day was the winner and you can see all five finalists videos here (Frosty is my personal favourite but I also like Sweet As).
Enjoy Pure New Zealand.
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Are you a muggle or a seeker?
And I’m not talking about Harry Potter.
Although you may have been pottering through a park when you spied a seeker; a modern-day treasure hunter partaking in the popular activity of geocaching. Read More…
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Nine years ago…. and …. What to look for in a family van
I graduated today.
No cap for my Diploma in Journalism but definitely a gown.
Great fun to wear on what must be one of the windiest days in the Waikato this year!
So in honour of my celebration of success (and because I’ve had little free time to write a new blog post) I am going to flashback to my very first piece of published writing; an article about motorhomes! Read More…
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The Kiwi Blog Bus is stuck on the drive this weekend
We cannot get away in the Kiwi Blog Bus at the moment for a variety of reasons:
- Sam is mid-way through painting it. The old thing has been in need of some cosmetic work for a while now and the kind people at VTNZ that allowed it through its last COF warned us that we needed to get rid of some rust before the next test or it just won’t get passed. But… it’s looking good I have to say. (I’ll get some renovation pictures on over the weekend)
- The fifteen-year-old is currently sleeping in it. Read More…
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Kiwi Blog Bus
Campervan tales from New Zealand
The Kiwi Blog Bus - campervan tales from New Zealand 