Into every life a little rain must fall. Even in New Zealand. We did get rain today, it was just a sprinkle here and there, but it still wasn’t an inviting day to head outside.

So we decided to have a quiet day, exploring the shops near our hotel and relaxing inside. But eventually we couldn’t ignore the beach calling us and we headed for the sand. We saw a different side of New Zealand beaches today. The waves were coming right up to the rocks, and you had to keep an eye out or you were going to get wet.

We also saw a different side of New Zealand temperatures. One thing we have always noticed is that it feels far warmer here than the actual temperature suggests. Heather suggested this is because of the ozone hole and the higher UV readings here. Sounds plausible. But that wasn’t the case today. The temperature was 23C, with a stiff breeze, and it felt like 23C, or maybe even a little cooler. We dressed up for our beach walk. A first!

We started walking, and thought we were okay, but then a big wave rolled in and we had to jump up on a rock to avoid getting wet.

We pressed on, and enjoyed our daily stroll along the beach, keeping an eye open for the next wave.

On our way back to the hotel, we passed a large house under construction along the beach. It’s rather cool – the house is basically shrink wrapped while they work on the inside.

We even briefly considered the houses for sale in Waihi Beach…

But we decided to pass, because it wasn’t Ohope Beach. For the record, that isn’t the only reason we decided to pass.

The weather for tomorrow looks similar to today, so Jan was thinking about projects. She brought her travel-size water colours, so she was looking for potential subjects, and the shells along the beach seemed perfect. Here are two pictures with the same group of shells. One is arranged by the mathematician, and the other by the artist. See if you can figure out which is which.

Just across the road from out hotel, there is a lovely little restaurant called The Secret Garden, though not the same as our secret garden at home. It describes itself as a food truck with seating. It has Neopolitan style wood-fired pizza and Montepulciano d’Abruzzo wine. We tried both, and were very impressed. It was the perfect end to a slow day.