we remind ourselves how much we have to be grateful for with this island life we have chosen, even though we are already back at work. with daily commutes into the city, we want to intentionally and deliberately savour island life in the remainder of our waking hours.
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we’ve had friends from overseas visit, spending the day enjoying sunshine & swims + been to a new favourite, 372, for drinks & snacks overlooking onetangi beach + we’ve managed (almost) daily swims at palm beach (2nd photo above) – our favourite beach, closest to home.
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we borrowed some kayaks off friends and went for a leisurely paddle around the bays + i did my first trail run with the tribe in almost two years. no more excuses – back into half marathon training this year.
we are sleeping with the french doors in the bedroom flung open to the cooler evening air and dining outside most days on the deck.
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…and no summer on waiheke island is complete without making at least one trip to little oneroa takeaways – we reckon they do the best snapper and wedges on the island.
how’s your new year been so far?
Gorgeous words and pictures as always. I hope a visit to see you both might be a possibility now we’re in the same hemisphere again!
I always find January a mixed month, no matter what part of the world I’m in! Everything about my life is different now, and I’ve been reading many books – including one on parenting, but it was written by one of my favourite psychotherapy writers and I’ll read anything she writes! – that have all had the same theme in common….surrender to the new. The old life is gone. I spent the first days of January feeling panicked, scrambling around,, full of raw vulnerability and just desperate to recreate the life we had, but here, where there could be walls, boundaries, safety. The armour I had in London is gone here and I didn’t know what to do without it. But all the reading and self-reflecting I’ve done has helped me see that being flexible and accepting my new life will be time far better spent than trying to reclaim what we’ve left behind.
As January is slowly turning into February, I feel calmer, more like myself and more secure that the woman I’ve become in the years I’ve been gone will quite like it here, back home. There is space for her here. I’ve also tried to do what you’ve done in your post here – mindfully enjoying our home, noticing all the things that make it so special and a wonderful place to live. For most of 2018 all we wanted was to be here, and now we are, so we’re trying to soak it all in and embrace everything.
Also, Tom and I are disappearing for 10 days in Indonesia this week, and we are very excited! So the new year is off to a great start, in actuality.
Sending much love to you and Nic xxx
It would make us both very happy to see you two again – on this side of the planet for a change.
It’s interesting, what you write, about accepting your new life. I struggled a lot when we came back from London, second-guessing the choice and missing parts of the London life I never thought I would. Plus the friends! Friends I thought I’d made for life that just didn’t last the distance of an ocean of separation. Some have, of course, whilst others seem to have run their course. I hope 2019 sees you settling in to your new/old outer landscape in a way that feels right and true for the place you’re inhabiting in the new internal landscape you created whilst living in the UK.
I hope you enjoyed your trip to Indonesia! Looking forward to seeing that pop up on your blog :)
All my love x
I love your island life! It’s been over a year since we moved from London to Cornwall and it’s so easy, now that we’re here and settled, to take it all for granted. Being mindful of our surroundings and the life we live now is so important. It was a longed for dream when we were living in London and I feel so lucky now that we’re finally here.
Thanks Debby! We love our island life too. I am so happy that you are enjoying Cornwall so much, we always enjoyed our travels to that part of England. We were talking to friends the other day about all the adventures we can have, even when living on a tiny island – plans limited only by our imaginations. Thanks so much for your comment and for sharing your joy of where you’re living now, it’s wonderful to hear from you.
This looks like such a stunning place:-) Glad you are so mindful about about enjoying it! It’s lovely to see summer pictures when it is winter here in Amsterdam:-)
Thanks Fanny, it’s pretty special and we feel very fortunate to be able to enjoy it as much as we do. I’ve been enjoying seeing your wintery adventure road trip photos as well!