Beginning of the end

Well we are now just a couple of weeks away from being back at work - and all the stuff I planned to do and all the reading I planned to get done - well nuff said about that!!


We have had our annual camping trip to Maraehako - superb weather in one of the best camping spots we have found. Talking to the other regulars there ( we meet them there every year and enjoy each others company - never see each other in the town we live in!) we are all agreed there is no where better to be - sun, beach, rocks, fishing and best of all - hot showers and flush toilets!!



As usual we didn't have nearly enough time there but it was great anyway. It was the first time we had been there with just one child - Sam where were you? Luckily Lucy had a friend staying there so she didn't have to hang out with old people all the time.


Maurie managed to get out in his kayak each day and even caught a few fish although it didn't help him overcome his seasickness! ( see http://principalpossum.blogspot.com/ )


This year there seems to have been an abundance of crayfish - these were caught by the neighbours - but it wasn't a great morning as they usually got 6 - everyday!

The fishing was a bit harder and to get the big ones you needed to be further offshore than the trusty kayak driver could cope with.

We walked around the rocks a couple of times so Lucy and Maurie could fish and I could fossick (after smothering myself in insect repellent - the biting things on those rocks can drain all your blood in minutes!) I didn't get into any of the rockpools this time after seeing the size of the octopus caught in the neighbours craypot. Where were you Sam - I usually have your company on the rocks and I really missed not having you there to poke around in the pools with me! So to make you feel better and to see what you missed I took some photos of the pools for you.

One thing that was interesting, after hearing of a huge number of jellyfish infesting the water at Mount Maunganui was seeing heaps in a crevice around the rocks -

luckily they didn't actually come into Maraehako Bay - otherwise that would have been the end of swimming for me.

A great few days - and we left with plans to return before the end of summer - as we do every year!

Quiet times

Well the festive season has well and truly gone - and this one was particularly quiet! Sam spent his festive season in Invercargill, Thomas was well into relax and downtime mode and the rest of us are just getting older!! Lucy had cuzzie Phillip to hang out with so it wasn't too boring for her I hope!We did at least manage to get a tree, creatively decorated by Thomas and Lucy, and we even had a few pressies to put underneath it (although not everything that was on Lucy's list unfortunately!) I got my camera and a lot of the photos being posted by Maurie have been taken by me (where is intellectual property right here!) so if you get to see the same photo more than once that is the reason. I also got myself a jigsaw puzzle - first in a long time and I have almost finished it. I had forgotten how much I enjoy them and what excellent time wasters they are.

The weather has been amazingly summery - hot and fine ( which brings its own problems with lack of water) but the sea is warm and lazing on the beach is a fine way to spend a little bit of time.

These piccies were taken on 7 Jan 2009 at Tirohanga Beach with a view to the west (you can make out Whale Island on the horizon) and to the east looking to the hills.

And here we have a sample of the bathing belles you will often find on the beach.