By Mary Beth Written a month ago but not posted. We are coming to terms with the fact that, if Cora ruled the world, she would be a dictator – cut from the mold of a novel like 1984. She started off with sound, reasonable edicts. If I made one of her toys hit another …
by Mary Beth Every day when I get home, I ask Annie how her day was in school. And if it was a school day for Cora (three days out of the week), I ask Cora the same question. With Cora, I always have the same conversation. It goes like this: Me: Cora, how was …
by Mary Beth The majority of the trip was over, and it was time to think about our return journey home. There were miles to go – beautiful, noisy miles. We had one day of relaxation after all the adventure, which we spent walking around a bird park and going to playgrounds. We met some …
by Mary Beth It was our big day: a trip to Milford Sound, which is objectively one of the most beautiful places in New Zealand – a twisting fiord, with sheer mountainous cliffs rising out of the water, lush green trees clutching tenaciously to the cliff faces; mists and clouds coiling around the mountains; waterfalls …
by Mary Beth It was time for another day of travel. The day started with children crawling into bed with us, as days often do. The alternative – getting out of bed and starting the day, at whatever ungodly hour they choose to wake up – is much less appealing. It was very dark. At …
by Mary Beth We started the next morning with a brisk hike up Mount Iron. It was brisk because it was chilly, not because we moved particularly quickly. Cora moved quickly, whenever she was put down, but in the wrong direction. Unfortunately there was a deep, muddy, half-frozen puddle towards the beginning of the trail, …
by Mary Beth The next day it was time to leave Twizel behind, and travel to Wanaka, which is about two hours away. It was a beautiful sunny day but there was frost on the ground from the night before. Peter quietly started playing some music that was not pirate music. It took the children …
by Mary Beth The next morning was Saturday morning. We have a tradition of pancakes on Saturday morning. Not having all the ingredients we needed (and the weather looking gloomy, with a cold steady drizzle) we decided to go out for breakfast. The girls were very excited. Annie planned to order pancakes. “And what do …
by Mary Beth The following day dawned cloudy, but the clouds evaporated as the sun came up. It was our day to visit the mountains: Mount Cook Village, a village at the base of the tallest mountain in New Zealand, Aoraki/Mount Cook. Aoraki was the original name given to the sacred mountain; it was naturally …
by Mary Beth It was time for our last big holiday in New Zealand. We had explored the North Island, the northern end of the South Island, but we had yet to travel south, to explore the rugged beauty of the southern half of the South Island. We had meant to go before wintertime – …
