Yesterday, Jan confessed she was getting a little tired of the sunshine and warm weather, and starting to look forward to being home. Today, as we were walking barefoot through the surf, Jan turned to me and said “forget what I said yesterday”.

Part of the problem yesterday was that it was a travel day. We’ve been generally spending two nights at each stop and then moving on. It was a conscious decision on our part because we wanted to check out a lot of towns to discover places that were worth visiting again. And it has worked, even if it does get tiring. Every time we think we’ve found the best-ever beach, we find an even better one. That happened again today.

As we were walking on the sand, the waves occasionally washed over our feet, so we would move higher up the beach. The Variable Oystercatchers were also walking along the sand, and when the water came in, the oystercatchers would also run up the beach toward dry sand … just like we were doing.

This beach was very flat with a shallow grade, which makes it a very wide beach, perfect for walking or swimming. I think it was even better than the beach at Mount Maunganui. As the water drained out after a large wave, the surface of the wet sand was like a mirror. Here’s another picture with a reflection, similar to the one from yesterday.

At the very beginning of our trip, when we were in Queenstown, we bought two folding camp chairs so we could sit on the beach. We’ve been here four weeks and the chairs haven’t moved from the back seat of our rental car. We just haven’t found an opportunity to use the chairs. That changed today!

I know we could sit and read all day at home, in front of the fireplace. And yet, somehow, it just isn’t the same as sitting with your bare feet on the cool sand, listening to the waves.

We didn’t have the beach to ourselves, but it was pretty close. There certainly weren’t any people encroaching on our spot against the cliff, under the shade of an overhanging tree.

The original plan had been to head back into town for lunch, but it was just too relaxing. A quick search found a small cafe 350 meters from where we were sitting, so I walked over and picked up sandwiches to eat on the beach. We were worried about seagulls, but in the end there was only one, though he insisted on being allowed to clean up the few crumbs that had fallen in the sand. Then it was back to reading and watching the surf.

Doing nothing all day can be pretty exhausting (in a good way) and about 3:30 we packed up and headed back to our hotel. After a cool shower, it was time for a very local brew – a KPA, where the K stands for Kiwi.

Tomorrow is another travel day. Next time we’ll likely stay here for at least a week. We are planning to stop at Hot Water Beach along the way to our next hotel – everyone says it is a must-see. We’ll let you know how it is.