Breaker Bay

It is 8 am Tuesday here in NZ, but only 2pm Monday back home. I've just gotten up and it is a beautiful morning so I thought I'd take advantage of it and drag a chair out to the shade of the big cedarish tree at the front of the house. There is a slight mist in the air, the birds are singing and I can hear the rooster at the other side of the house. Lovely :-)

Yesterday I spent the morning with Tammy and Freya, I slept in, but we still had time for a good visit before Kirsten and the girls arrived to pick me up. We first drove over to Breaker Bay where Kirsten and Shawn own two houses that are just across the road from the ocean. What views! Both houses are at sealevel, and not perched high on a hill like Olaf's so the views are quite different. If I lived here I'm not sure which one I'd pick - I don't think I'd ever get tired of watching the city below me and the jets taking off from the airport, but at the same time the ocean view at Kirsten's places are Presquille to the power of ten (at least)!

While Kirsten finished up some real estate business, the girls and I puttered on the beach looking for interesting paoau (sp) shells. We saw the remains of many shelled creatures, including some that are round and covered with what looks like plants. Shenna shared her knowledge of sea creatures with us - it was like having a 2 legged guide book :-)

After we finished at the beach, we drove along the coast a bit to a walking path that went (where else) up a hill. Another spot with breathtaking views. The sky started to clear as we were up there and the beams of sunlight hitting the land across the bay were very lovely. We didn't see any penguins but the signs showed that they frequented that area. Kirsten and the girls had seen them in the past.

We loaded up on groceries and then dropped back at Tammy's so that the girls could see Freya.

By the time we got home and got supper started it was late enough in the day for Shawn to join us for the meal (after 9!) and then it was time for bed. We did find a few minutes to go online to start looking for a destination for a 2 night trip somewhere. Unfortunately Hobbit Town is over 8 hours away, just a bit out of reach for us. If anyone has any suggestions of what to see within 4 hours of Wellington I'd love to hear it!

Oh - Carm corrected me on the number of flights for Kirsten's hill - not 40 but closer to 60! no wonder my legs hurt that night.

Here's Kirsten with coffee (and I noticed a square of chocolate on the plate ;-) so I'll end now.

p.s. they had rain in Ottawa yesterday and then a flash freeze which closed the highways - it is hard to remember that it is January when I'm sitting in the sun!


Happy Tails!