Out West!

Well winter is here in the winterless north. We are certainly not as cold as our South Island friends and family but we are feeling the cool wind and cooler evenings. But mostly our noses are pressed up against the window panes watching the endless showers and bouts of rain that pass over every half hour or so.

Well......that's more my job, because even though I love being an at home mum, cabin fever can hit us domestic goddesses too!

Mark is away for work soon and I was very keen to go out for a 'whole family Sunday drive'.

We headed out West this time. We have seen a large chunk of the East coast beaches and attractions over summer. Armed with bananas, biscuits and rain-jackets we drove to Muriwai Beach.

The weather was wild and the ocean was fierce. It was a crazy day to visit, but I'm so glad we did. Little Miss P could hardly stand up against the wind and our ears were aching by the time we returned to the car. It was pretty awesome to experience the beach in such a furious state. For the kids it was a lesson in safety as they spent many days in the ocean during summer.

The West coast was beautiful, black and rugged. The waves churning and swirling all sorts of colours and debris up onto the beach.

Thankfully the hospitality at the Muriwai Lodge ust up the road was fabulous and treated us to a warm pot of tea, sandwiches, hot chips and mussel fritters. A great 'kiwiana' experience. A view of the wild coast out the window and warm friendly faces of West Coast women who treated our kids like their own grandkids.

The drive to the coast and back took us through farm land and pockets of fabulous Northland native bush. We saw gorgeous baches and coastal houses snuggled into the bush. The kind of places we could imagine ourselves writing, creating and growing. That part of the country produces many artists. How could your creative juices not flow in such a beautiful part of the world???

Oh and in the township of Helensville we stopped and wandered into the most incredible junk shop we have ever seen. The guy running it had collected beautiful and fascinating artifacts/antiques from NZ and around the world. Mark, the girls and I stood in the shop and stared, jaws gaping, looking from floor to ceiling at the treasures piled and perched before us. It was chaotic and GORGEOUS! Even Miss P, with only 20 months behind her was very quiet and could obviously sense we had stumbled upon something pretty special. What a cool guy and he took such pride to display everything so carefully and with an obvious love for collecting.

The water churning up the sand as it came into the rocks.

The sun did try to come out but didn't last long.

Beautiful black sand.

Sea spray hitting the rocks.

Wild scary ocean

Warned of its fury!

To finish a great day. Mark cooked roast chicken.

Now that's what Sunday should be about.............family and a good roast!

xx