We’ve just spent a week in Wattle Bay on the Awhitu peninsula and this was the view from the deck of the bach. The sun shone for six days in a row and it felt like paradise. On our first afternoon at low-tide, we walked along the beach to the next bay and back, coming across a pair of breeding dotterels scurrying to distract us from their nest, listening to the squawks and clicks of what seemed like hundreds of tui feeding in the bright pohutukawa trees, watching the tide coming in, the water glistening in the late afternoon sun. Back at the bach we put some lamb on the barbecue, opened a bottle of Oyster Bay sauvignon blanc and gazed at the view, not quite believing our luck!

We left New Zealand a week ago. After the shipping agents had packed up the belongings we are sending to Malaysia, we spent two days clearing out our little house in Ohaupo. We took several loads to the recycling centre and spring-cleaned the house. Lunchtimes were spent in the empty living room, sitting on the floor eating our sandwiches and fruit, looking out at the trees and paddock beside the house. This spring we’ve had calves as company but last spring there were lambs in this paddock. It was a delight to wake up and see them standing on their mums’ backs, hoping this would induce the ewes to stand up so they could have their first drink of the day, tails wiggling furiously. In some ways, it seemed the quintessential New Zealand experience and we were so lucky to have it.