Worst Blog Ever

We both woke up pretty early this morning; around 6:00 am.  We awoke to crystal clear skies and the high tide of the ocean lapping against the shore about 20 metres below us; We made a quick breakfast of oatmeal and toast, cleaned up the breakfast dishes, and then rushed down to the beach.  We took the dogs down with us to find a beautiful, pristine, soft-warm sandy beach that stretched on for about a kilometre in each direction...And it was virtually devoid of people!

Beaches like this on Waikiki, are so jam-packed with people, you can't walk two steps without stepping on a tourist.  Here?  There virtually wasn't a soul in sight!  As the beach was empty, we let the dogs off leash so that they could explore.  We walked to the west end of the beach, where the sand turned into some volcanic rock with lovely views further on.  We then walked all the way back to the east end of the beach that was very similar.  All along the beach, there were hundreds of puhutakawa trees that were growing out of the beach sand.  Puhutakawa trees, for those who don't know, are kind of like bottle-brush, with vibrant red flowers that bloom in November/December.  Unfortunately, we were too late in the season to see them blooming, but we want to come back again next December to view what must be a spectacular sight.

Along the beach, we would occasionally pass by some people taking advantage of the beautiful morning and the empty beach.  We also bumped into a few people who had dogs with them, so Walnut and Angus were quite happy too.


Following our beach walk, we drove back into Manganui to explore the town in the daylight.  It is a very small town, with a few gift shops and restaurants, and a nice little harbour for the residents.

After exploring the town, we came back to the batch to have a quick lunch of BBQ grilled PB&J tortillas!  Yummy!

Following lunch we drove back to Kerikeri to explore the town in a little more depth, as well as taking the opportunity to stock up on supplies while at the bach.  Kerikeri is an absolutely wonderful little town, that I would love to spend more time in.  On the drive out of Kerikeri we stopped at a veggie stand to pick up more food supplies and also bought some home-baked goodies for desert.  We made one final stop at a fudge shop where we picked up 50 grams of creme brulee fudge and 50 grams of carmel fudge.

When we arrived back at the batch, we went for another beach walk with the pups, and then made dinner.  Tonight's dinner was grilled portobello mushroom burgers topped with home-made hummus and a side of freshly made (and garlicy) guacamole!  ...thank you Marci.  After cleaning up from dinner, we were both feeling kind of tired, but it was too early to go to bed, so we watched an episode of Hell's Kitchen.

Now that it is a bit later, and my blog entry is done, it is off to bed.

Note: You can view all of our photos here: Picasa Web Album.