Last summer we took a day trip to the Manukau Heads Lighthouse .  The lighthouse is on the tip of the Awhitu Peninsula, an hour's drive south of Auckland.  The Peninsula is 40km long and 8-10km wide and lies between the Manukau Harbour and the Tasman Sea. Manukau Heads Lighthouse There are public toilets and picnic facilities next to the car park.  A gentle staircase leads up to the lighthouse.  Once inside, there is a visitor book and you can buy trinkets (payment via honesty box).  You can climb up to the balcony and take in the views. View from the Lighthouse On our way back to Auckland we stopped at the vintage township of  Waiuku  for afternoon tea. There is a selection of take-aways and cafes on Queen Street, or you can drive out to the coast to  Castaways .  It was a great day out. Lighthouse fun

A few years ago I attended a week long training course in Munich, Germany.  We were split up into groups and each given a pedometer.  The group that completed the most steps at the end of the week would receive a prize.  It was a great exercise for team bonding - not only did we get to explore Munich, we also got to know each other (we were a multicultural group from different work disciplines) and we all had the same goal - lots of steps! Before the course, I'd never paid much attention to activity trackers.  I knew a few friends that had Fitbits but hadn't seen what the fuss was all about.  After the course I bought myself a Fitbit. There was something about the competitive nature of tracking my steps that motivated me to go out and get moving.   Fitbit  was founded in 2007 and tracks every part of your day—including activity, exercise, food, weight and sleep.  Admittedly I only use mine to track activity.  There are other competitors o...

Growing up, I confused the words feminism and effeminate and often used them interchangeably.   While effeminate is having qualities untypical of a man, feminism is  the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.  They are quite different. On 1 August 2017, Jacinda Ardern became the leader of the Labour political party in New Zealand. Jacinda is 37.  One of the first questions she was asked in a public interview after taking the post was whether she would be having babies.  Not only was this question a breach of the NZ Human Rights Act, I doubt that a male leader would have been asked the same question.  Bill English is the current Prime Minister and has 6 children.  As Gloria Steinem, a feminist and activist says " I have yet to hear a man ask for advice on how to combine marriage and a career." Earlier this year I was tasked with orchestrating a desk move at work.  It was difficult, I hadn't realised just how attach...

Meik Wiking is CEO at the Happiness Research Institute  in Denmark.  What a cool job!  The independent think-tank publishes  reports on happiness.  He  wrote 'The Little Book of Hygge'  in an attempt to  explain why Danes are said to be the happiest people in the world.   Hygge (pronounced Hooga) is a feeling of cosiness, a  snug atmosphere.  There are different ways to achieve this feeling including lighting, comfort food, Sarah Lund jumpers  and great company. We're all about hygge in our household this winter.  Unfortunately we don't have a fireplace and don't burn candles  anymore after a horrific accident a few years ago.  So how do we get all cosy on a winter's night?  We turn all our lamps  on and snuggle on the sofa with a book and hot chocolate. The Danes would probably favour Danish pastries but my winter favourite is banana bread. Here is a simple banana bread  recipe   to get...

In his book, 'The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People', Stephen R. Covet's second habit is 'Begin with the end in mind.' This means to begin each day, task or project with a clear vision of the destination, and then continue to make things happen.  Covey says that 'If the ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step we take just gets us to the wrong place faster.' I just spent a lovely weekend in Tauranga with family, and my sister and I ran the 5km leg of Mt Maunganui Half-Marathon.  Usually when we visit Tauranga there is a mandatory trek up Mt Maunganui so it made a change to run round the base and take in all the scenery. Pre-run smiles Training for runs is a perfect way to put Covey's 2nd Habit into practise.  The end goal is completing the run, and training makes it happen.   I  love making lists and bucketlist.org is a good place to set personal goals and track them. You can see my bucketlist  here . September 1st marks the...