We have always lived by the coast and have a healthy respect for the sea. However, on a recent visit to Pourere Beach, near the Te Angi Angi Marine Reserve, even we got caught out by the tides.

Wakeboarding is one of those sports I've always associated with noisy boats blasting up and down, akin to Jet Skis - terrorising the peace of the water with petrol and roaring engines. However, one of our local lakes has a marvellous set up which uses cable pulleys on its training lake. No noise and completely controlled by the operator to go slow, fast or stop depending on what stage of beginner you are. And we truly were beginner level!

You know sometimes on a long journey you see a sign for something and you spend the rest of the journey wondering what it would have been like inside? Well we passed Morere Hot Springs on our journey to Gisborne and we all went "ooh, that looks awesome" then the sign and turn off flew past and on we travelled to Gisborne.

It's the summer holidays here in NZ and we've been making the most of it by exploring a little further up the Eastern coast and returning to the sea for our first proper surfing session since moving to New Zealand. We drove up to the town of Gisborne, full of history and Captain Cook's famous landing.

The Ruahine Range called to us again...there's so much you haven't seen yet. So, of course, we returned for more exploration, more tramping and more muddy boots!

Thermal hot springs are a really common occurrence across New Zealand and remain toasty warm all year round, whatever the weather. Which means that even when it's raining you can immerse and enjoy the steaming waters!

Well, it is New Zealand after all!

What do you do when you find yourself with a sudden free weekend before the new school term starts? Climb a mountain of course!

We climbed a giant! Rising out of the plains of Hastings is Te Mata Peak, a glorious park with heaps of walking trails, forests, views and legends.

Welcome to our first blog post from New Zealand! 11,654 miles, a whole other hemisphere and a new landscape to explore.

Our newest cycle route follows both sides of the Tuki Tuki river – what a great sounding word!

It's finally chilly enough for down! We've all loved the warmer weather but with winter comes the chance to snuggle up in down jackets and furry hats.

We are lucky to live in a beautiful region with many stunning places to adventure. Sometimes though, a recommendation from a friend opens another magical door to explore.

Cooking, mud, water and tools – a perfect messy play weekend!

''Shield bugs and conkers. Earthworms and autumn, these are a few of our favourite things…''

Mountains: we love them. Heights: suddenly not so keen…

Hurray, at last – Eomer is on two wheels and pedals! There was a point when I thought the balance bike was as far as he would brave it but suddenly, the first week of the holiday, the big bike came out again, feet came up, and he was away!

I love my job as Forest School Leader but sometimes it's a pleasure to be a part of someone else's days and be on the play end rather than organiser. A friend is running monthly Family Forest play days at a Tapley Park site and the stars and busy weekends finally all aligned so we could all join in.

Near to us is Arlington Court. An impressive old stately home run by the National Trust; the history is interesting and there are the usual impressive buildings, chapel and stables but I’ve never really been tempted to take the kids. Until we discovered the GROUNDS!

May! Definitely officially camping season already! The husband needed a weekend to immerse in music and the kids and I needed a weekend under the stars so after our recent explorations (see Over Hill and Vale), Exmoor beckoned once more.

This weekend marked a significant moment in our family seasons – the first time we all got suited and booted and in the sea again together. Until May, it’s been a little too chilly for the little bears but the weather’s turned; the sea temp has matched the air temp, which means fair game for water play!

Now the little legs are longer, we’ve loved setting out mini adventure days and just building in time for a hike, explore, discover and anything else that happens enroute – such as a handy pub stop!

Wild and windy days…this Easter has certainly seen a few of them. Our favourite place to hide out and wander when the weather is squally is the woods.

As springtime lures us out with the promise of blue skies, fresh buds and daffodils, it can still surprise us how different each day can be, one minute warm and sunny, the next cloudy with a bitter chill.

Suddenly little legs don’t seem so small…Eomer’s trousers (barely touched since June) are swinging around his ankles and Ramona’s knees are pushing high on her favourite learning bike. It’s time for a change!

After last year exploring End of the Road music festival, we decided we wanted to try something a little more off the trendy trail which slotted more into our ideals of sustainable living and learning.

With all this hot weather, it’s more beach days, and a strong water theme emerging!

We love water in our family and Ramona and Eomer have always taken to it like the proverbial ducks but we tried a new toy recently… kayaks!

Half term holiday – horray! And sunshine – what a treat!

The recent sunshine beams seem to have brought everything bursting to leaf and flower before our very eyes. The buddlia and willow stems have doubled in height virtually overnight and even our own little bean Eomer is swinging around in too short trousers all of a sudden!

We love the colours of spring! It suddenly seems as if the hedgerows have burst into colour with yellows and pinks framed by fresh green leaves. Our biggest Little Trekker took me on a colour hunt up and around our countryside lanes.

Ah, Grab it while you can - Spring Time Days! Limited offer, make the most of them while you can!

Ah, breathe! It was such a treat to have beautiful blue skies for even just a couple of days and the cares of the winter just melted away for a few moments while we spent every available moment outside.

We live really close to Exmoor. Ridiculously close. But somehow we’ve always headed coastwards for our days out and Little Trekking. So this year we’ve decided to make more “Adventures on Exmoor!” (sounds like the start of a televised version of an old school Enid Blyton story…). And explore we have.

Ah, rain rain and a little more for good measure. But wet and wild as it has been we still need to be out and somehow picnics in our family have a little magic no matter what the weather. Two days on the trot, we bundled up and stomped off to a local beach for sandy sandwiches regardless of the next looming rainstorm!

Just around the corner from us is a beautiful beech and mixed woodland owned by a local farmer and its always a favourite ‘trek’ for us as we also often get to see chickens, pigs, sheep and horses walking through the farmyard!

These last few weeks I have been recovering from a hip operation which has pretty much confined me to the house and chair (with a few pining moments clinging to the window!). Just a couple of weeks to go before I’m allowed out to the beach and woods to clamber and climb about again, I can’t wait!

A couple of weeks ago, we woke to the sounds of a digger and crashing. Pretty ominous! Horror on horror, it was a huge machine smashing its way through the trees and undergrowth on the beautiful valley directly in front of our home.

I love autumn. Something about those cooler, crispier days and the thought of fires and wood smoke and cosying up in the evening.

Ever since we booked our End of the Road tickets, Ramona was SO excited and asked daily “when are we going to the music festival?” And then suddenly, 4 months later, we were finally able to say “in 3 sleeps it’s time for the music festival, yippee!” A car full of camping gear, a few hours later and we pitched the tent under the light of a beautiful full moon – a great start!

Before children I used to ride everywhere especially during time in Spain where the roads are generally wide and pretty empty. Cycling on the UK’s roads seems quite hairy in comparison and, since living in Ilfracombe where everything is very steep up or very steep down and always narrow and busy, the amount of saddle time has definitely decreased.

Trying to plaster, paint and garden are never the easiest jobs and factoring two live wire rascals into the drying paint and polyfilla mix can be a recipe for disaster! So, leaving my husband to the sweaty jobs indoors, we’ve been out and about as much as possible, even a trip to Nanny’s on Portland for some live sailing action (and, more excitingly for the kids, close up helicopter landings!).

Our last few Forest School sessions finished in torrential rain. Which no-one seemed to mind and which made the mud seem even more worthwhile...think festivals, slipping, sliding and then standing under the waterfall edge of the shelter getting all clean again – that’s the kind of feel we got!

Let's face it - British summers never quite measure up to what we're hoping for! But throw a wetsuit on and bring a couple of spades and the beach is always an adventure whether it rains or shines.

It was a perfect glassy surf, sandy beach, blue skies day in February so we spent it digging in the sand, wading through the channels, taking it in turns to squeeze into wet wetsuits (eeeuk!) and have some time out on the waves.