Here you can read recent Blog Posts from our Team.

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A Letter from Jamie

Kia ora e te whānauIts been week of extremes in Taranaki.  Ranging from beautiful, unseasonably warm days with our majestic maunga in full view, to torrential, unstoppable rain and flooding.  The streams we have on stie are mostly gentle trickles around the site.  Yet...

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A Letter from Jamie

Kia ora dear whānauWarmest greetings to you from all at Taranaki Retreat We've experienced e-newsletter overload in recent times, and the constant stream (sometimes from the most extraordinary places!) has made us a little reluctant to add yet another one!  There is...

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“Me time”

Quite often we make a lot of time for others. And that's wonderful - as you are a caring friend, an emphatic partner, a loving parent, a supportive colleague, a customer- or patient-focused professional.We are listening to joyful, funny, exciting, sad or sometimes...

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Brookies

Do you think food can make you happy? I think so. But have you ever been to “dessert heaven”?During my childhood I loved when mum was doing some baking – my sister and I used to be there just in time to make sure we won’t miss out on some cookie dough or cake batter.I...

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A Letter from Jamie

Kotahihanga - It ain't easy, reaching out​Kia ora, e te Whānau,Always been the strong one? Find it massively awkward to ask for support? Are you caring for others? Sometimes it feels like a juggling act!  Sometimes the hardest thing going can be putting up your hand...

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“I’m not creative.”

Something I hear very often.It is often followed by a story about an art teacher or another influencing adult saying something that stopped us in our tracks.  We could have been drawing away totally happy, and then that thunderbolt comes in and cuts us to the core. ...

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Light was on the other side…

Yesterday I pushed myself to bike 10 km before turning around to return to the Retreat. Today I set out and as I commenced the undulating road towards the sea end of Hurford Road, my mind reflected on where I have come from and how similar my journey has been to...

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A Letter from Jamie 14/5/2020

Another week of changes announced and adjustments needed.  We now know what Level 2 looks like and are all busy preparing for more change.  Even though this change is a positive - another step closer to "normal" life without restrictions, it can takes is toll on us. ...

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Goodbye 2020, welcome 2021

2020 has been hard.​Sometimes it felt like it will never end and other times you might have wished it would never end. 2020 has been eye-opening in so many ways. What I have learnt:1. It doesn't lead to happiness if you try to please everybody around you. You are more...

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The Sheep

Sometimes it's so hard to just be and to enjoy the moment.How often are we mind-wandering in the past and the future and the here and now literally slips away.We are super excited when we do or see things for the first time. But when we start to get used to them, we...

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