Beach Bums

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Although we had driven past the beach our first evening here, we finally made it there for real today. When we woke up this morning, all Ro wanted to do was stay at the motel and play in the pool like yesterday, but we convinced him to give the beach a try, and boy was he glad when we got there. We took a shopping detour to pick him up a rashguard shirt, sunglasses, goggles, and a hat. The mall here is called Bayfair, just like the one in San Leandro near Mark's California family. The girls at the checkout counter gave Ro a free extra case for his new shades "because he has such a cute accent." Mark discovered another challenge when we arrived at the beach - parallel parking from the right side of the car. We left the car on a side street and walked around Mount Drury, an interesting-looking hill with caves in the side, terraced lawn, and exotic vegetation. The hill and caves were originally used for Maori burials.

Ronan can't resist petting any dog he passes

Mark & Sherry at Mount Maunganui Beach

Mount Maunganui is the big landmark around here, and a sacred site for the Maori, with a beautiful beach that lies east of the mountain and extends for many miles. There's a line of restaurants and high-end apartments along the beach road, with a boardwalk winding among lawn and trees on the beach side. There must be a classic car or hot-rod convention in town, because we saw an inordinate number of them cruising up and down the strip. There was a sailing regatta offshore today, and a lifesaving contest/tournament involving all the regional lifeguarding teams, showcasing their running, swimming and surfing skills. The water temperature was warmer than North Carolina, but not the tepid bathwater feel of Florida; in other words, perfect. And we've never seen bluer azure water outside of the nicest Caribbean islands.

Sherry on Moturiki Island with Motuotau Island in background

Ronan clinging to the piece of driftwood he found

Ronan was in his happy place, which made for a great day for everyone. He loved waiting in the shallow water for a wave to come and then jumping over it, picking up big rocks and watching them splash as he threw them, and picking up wet sand and spinning around so it flew off his hands in clumps. There's an island called Moturiki with a tidal isthmus that extended from the beach, with lots of cool walking trails, boulders to climb on, and tidal pools to splash in. We sunned ourselves on some boulders there, overlooking the sea, taking in the vistas and the regatta, snacking on fruit and crackers. There were some pretty precarious precipices, which nearly gave Sherry a heart attack, as Ronan seems to know no fear when it comes to heights.

"Not too high, Ronan!"

Ro & Mark with Mount Maunganui in background

Ro taking it all in

We finished up our excursion at a seaside cafe, where Ronan had ice cream and part of a PB&J we had brought. Sherry and I enjoyed smoothies and a platter of what was basically New Zealand's version of antipasto, with Kiwi-ized bacon, complete with the skin and hair...actually quite tasty, like eating pork rinds and ribs in one bite...lol.

In his happy place


Lunch. Note the skin and hair on the "bacon"


Walking back to the car at the end of a successful day

Ronan promptly passed out once we were back in the car, and we spent a leisurely evening at home. Sherry discovered that the tire swing at the motel's play area is suspended from an avocado tree, and she took the liberty of relieving it of a couple softball-sized avocados. Ro did sustain a boo-boo later, however. As Sherry prepared dinner, he and Mark were playing a game involving locking Mark in the closet (there's no handle on the inside of the door). Needless to say, this involved a great deal of trust on Mark's part. But when Ro finally opened the door, it slammed against his big toe, drawing a little blood and a lot of screaming.

Mark's first day at work is tomorrow. Should be interesting. Fortunately, Sherry has a park and a pool in close proximity with which to keep Ro entertained.