Getting Lost

About

We reckon we live in the best country in the world & we want to make exploring this country easier and more fun than ever before. Fun, unique & made in NZ

Story

Getting Lost is a social space that perfectly combines the beauty of travelling around New Zealand, the stunning photography of Cat Macnaughtan and the intense, funny and helpful realities of being a blended family.

So, who are we? Our family was born in May 2015 after James and Cat rekindled their childhood romance and blended their two families together.

I met James when I was 12 years old in Stillwater – he lived up the road and I was staying at the camping ground. It was love at first sight and he became (as much as someone can at 12) my boyfriend. Somewhat unsurprisingly we broke up 4 weeks later and instead of boyfriend/girlfriend he became my best friend. We stayed friends for 25 years – each of us getting in and out of relationships, getting married and having children – but never together, until newly single in our late 30’s everything just kind of fell together in the most unexpected way and here we are – me and my best friend and our 3 daughters – all living together in one big messy, loud house in Auckland.

I work in an inner city advertising agency in Auckland and run a successful photography business as a sideline. Up until falling back in love with me 2 years ago, James was working as a Joiner and lived with his daughter in a cottage on the Hauraki Plains. We couldn’t really have been more different (our favourite song around that is Leather and Lace – “my city or mountains”).

Despite our different backgrounds, or maybe because of them our lives seemed to come together. James took me to places I never knew existed out of Auckland and I showed him Auckland like he had never seen before.

Our first ever tradition as a newly formed family was to get lost. Both literally on Sophia’s birthday and metaphorically as we muddled our way through the murky waters of blending families.

As parents in a blended families one of the hardest things is sending your children off to the other parent – you miss them. On the other hand, one of the nicest things about being a parent in a blended family is sending your children off to the other parent – it’s like being young and dating all over again – but with money this time! On here you will find some of the places that me and James have got lost together once a fortnight when we have no children.

Then there are the places we all get lost together with the kids – the adventures we plan and the ones we sometimes unwittingly find ourselves on.

We hope you like getting lost with us.