Cappucino's, festivals and a birthday

 

In the last little while of roaming we’ve partaken, partook of, partooken, thoroughly enjoyed the following (in no particular order):

1) Pasifika Festival in Auckland.  Shea’d been mumbling about it for a while, asking out of the blue

“So, do you want to go to Pasifika?” which, canny wife that I am,  knew to mean,

“I’m really keen to go to Pasifika but don’t really want to make the decision myself. Could you do it for me?”

We went and it was pretty cool. It’s a musical/cultural gathering of folk from Pacific Islands like Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands and Tahiti. As skinny little white guys we were definitely in the minority. The media estimated there were about 200 000 attending. 

2) A Library Bar in Auckland.

Books and espresso by day. Books and booze by night. Maybe my ideal world. Shea took me there as a surprise. There were books everywhere. To top it all off, we were actually allowed in with Adelaide (awesome Kiwi licensing laws).

3) I turned 33 in Raglan, NZ (thankfully not Raglan, NSW). After days of rain it dawned sterling blue and hot. I went for an early morning Adelaide walk and indulged in a cappuccino in trendy Raglan. On my return to the camper I was greeted with a Marigold in a glass on our picnic table and a pancake brekkie. There were pressies all day (none of which were a surprise – he’s not too sneaky this one), as many cappuccino’s as I could drink and a boozy seafood lunch. He also managed to organise a massage for the following morning in a nearby coastal town.

I’m not sure if all the treats were to celebrate my first birthday as a Mama or to counter the daggy depiction I enjoy painting of him on my blog. At any point during the day, when he’s done something of which he’s particularly proud, you may hear him boast,

“Now, why don’t you put THAT on your blog!”

4) Following a corrugated, dirt track through acres of farmers fields to arrive at a 300m long tunnel chipped into a hillside that opened out onto a hidden beach. We were directed there by a new friend we met in Raglan and the spot was gorgeous. Isolated, secret and sunny. We went for a dip in the warm ocean despite having left our swimmers in the car. As the three of us wandered starkers back to the van, we hurriedly turned tail back down the tunnel when we saw the silhouette of a car pulling in at the other end. 

5) Imagine for me a big fat sun setting directly on the ocean horizon. Pretty cool, right?

I also think ocean caves are incredible. And multiple sea arches that you can walk through. And I think the silhouette of a volcano is one pretty neat sight. And isn’t it wonderful when you can only access beaches or coves by low tide, especially when they’re in remote places.

Birthday pics

 

 

 

 

Pasifika

 

Library Bar