Mothers Day (NZ)

Last Sunday was New Zealand’s Mothers Day.  Rather than do something a bit crazy like StartUp Weekend (which was on last weekend and was what we did this time last year) we opted instead for a quiet family weekend.

We decided to avoid the inevitably over-crowded cafes and restaurants and take a picnic out to a quiet spot on the cliff, looking out over the sea.  It was idyllic.  We ate lovely nibbles with crackers and the kids spent ages just playing in the trees and fields.  I do wonder if Lucy was some kind of hunter in a former life…

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Beaches and Picnics

Well we’ve certainly started to see the odd glimmer of summer on it’s way. Since Josie returned from her trip to the UK we have been making the most of family time.

Last weekend we hit the beaches. Armed with a picnic and a playful mood we headed off to find some free fun.  After just a few minutes of snacks we started mucking around on the beach.  Driftwood hockey took a nasty turn as I whacked a pine cone into Emily’s ankle making it bleed and send her into floods of tears.  So we turned to more gentle pursuits and flexed our artistic muscles.

Mr Whale was made entirely of sea weed collected from around the beach.

We thought he looked very splendid but also a little culturally deprived, so we gave him a picture to look at!

Here’s a link to another page with a load of photos on it.

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Granny’s Bay

A few weeks ago some lovely friends of ours offered to take Emily on a long bike ride.  Whilst she was gone, we decided to go for a walk with Lucy and headed a little North walking from the end of Long Bay up the cliff path.  There’s a lovely walk through a shaded boardwalk which winds through trees and ferns and all sorts of different vegetation.  Eventually you emerge onto a cliff path and then descend down to a small rocky beach  called Granny’s Bay!  There was a lovely big fallen tree to sit on for lunch and fantastic rock pools and amazing rock formations to explore.  Lucy is so at home on the rocks, she loves wandering across looking for crabs and starfish.

Eventually we wandered back and, as it was low tide, we walked over the rocks to the north end of Long Bay beach and wandered back to the car.

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