Today we are off to the beach! I wake up warm and excited and I think I might be one of the first up, so I creep about getting myself some breakfast and go sit outside to take in the amazing view.
I bath myself in insect repellant...
... I am very much that type of traveller - the one you giggle at for being over the top in terms of lotions and potions and then you come to when you need my bite-ease ;)
After a short while the others get up and join me and we chat and eat delicious fruits for breakfast with tea and the kind of view that people marry into money for ;)
We start getting ready and the map comes out so the beach selection process can begin. It sounds like there are soooo many amazing beaches. I doubt people get board here during the summer :)
Abby has suggested taking some fun photos on the balcony with props from the batch. I'm game and head outside in my new orange and purple swim shorties.
Gotta 'love' this place...
The weather hadn't looked so good in the early forecast but it looks like things may have changed for the better :) Fingers crossed!
We did the ironic thing of deciding to sit near shade but not actually in the shade. Smart huh?!
We finish getting ready and jump in the car next to which a little group of small ground dwelling birds have clustered but they scatter before I can take an adequate photo. New Zealand wildlife is very entertaining :)
We arrive at Hahei beach and it is simply stunning! Soft, warm golden sand caresses the coastline and is lapped by the shallow boarder with the sea. A consistent cooling wind blows along the coast making the intense sunshine deceptively tolerable. I reapply sunscreen many times.
We set up our pitch and one of the first things that grabbed my attention was said by Alice
"Erm... Where has the beach ball gone?"
We had brought an inflatable beach ball with us from the batch and immidiatley lost it on arrival as it had been whipped off by the wind. We started looking around and we see a nice looking couple carrying a beach ball up the coast. They headed towards us. Ah ha! ;) The man hands us back our ball and we thank him. We then let the ball down so we don't have to worry about it ;)
Abby takes a picture of the dry start :)
I brought my modified hat. The strap I added meant this trip I kept my hat despite the wind... Spoiler alert - I no longer have this hat! Keep following the blog folks to find out how I lose both this one and my lovely white one - This trip is currently at -3 hats! I need to find a source of free hats to have any chance at recovering this. :( Life lesson - never buy more than one hat because then you won't lose more that one hat! Imagine if I'd bought three! Arg! Anyway let me leave my hat rant for another time and back to our lovely day at the beach! :)
Me and Abby attempt to write a birthday message on the beach which results in Abby getting stung on the foot by bumble bee buried in the sang! (We later name her resulting red, black, blue and swollen foot 'Corora' after the Maori for penguin... because a penguin is black, white, red on the inside and blue because they are cold.
I go for a walk along the beach and discover this little creature:
Here we are, the lovely ladies with the bright sun making me squinty because my glasses are on my head.
Beach yoga sounds like a good plan!
Alice and I pose for picture and the suddenly we hear someone say 'Dolphins!' and we jump up and look out to sea and there they were....Wild dolphins! We run into the sea!
We watch the wild dolphins as they swim by and then waited to see if they would come back. Emma and I are super excited. Eventually they do swim back out and I try to join them. I probably get within 30metres. :)
We splash about for a while, diving into the waves and then head back to the shore to play a strange Vietnamese game.
After some dedicated attempts at keeping a series of wired-up disks and feathers in the air. We then finish up and head back to the car.
We head back via the store and pick up stuff for fajitas and natural fruit ice cream! Nom!!!
After showers and getting changed the other ciders are tasted :D and dinner is prepared by Alice, LJ and Abby while Emma and I discussed life :) .
We eat a yummy fajita dinner and chat with wine and cider until late and we all wanna crash out from excess sun, sea and booze.
P.S. The sun is frickin' hot hot hot hot UV-blazing here! Re-apply often and all over so you're not comparing burns like we all were! :(
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