Beach Buddies

Sunday

Well, Ronan probably won't be having any more sleepovers for a while. The next day (yesterday), he was I-L-L, and we don't mean with a fever. So much so, that we didn't dare take him to a planned playdate with schoolmate Mat. Fortunately, after Ro and Sherry both crashed on the sofas for about three hours in the afternoon, we were at least able to get some food into him. The combination of sleep and a full stomach finally abated the whining somewhat. Mark picked up takeaway for us from Zeytin Cafe down the block; by the way, if you ask for the "large" doner kebab there, you'd better be really hungry as Mark found out. If there's one thing this area has plenty of (besides sheep), it's good Turkish restaurants.

Ro & Sherry sacked out hard

This morning, Ro was in a much brighter mood. Barnaby and Craig called us to see if Ro wanted to climb the Mount with them, but we couldn't very well snub Mat again, so we had to decline. We all drove over to Mat's since it looked like it might rain. Mat's father Bill is actually from Rarotonga, where we took our winter holiday, and they've lived all over the world. Most recently they lived in Syria, and Mat speaks arabic pretty well. As we found out from his mom Kathryn, though, all the international schools in Syria closed down after the last time the USA bombed Syria. American and British teachers were given 24hrs to leave the country! Thus, Mat's family had to come back to NZ so he could go to school.

Arriving at Mat's house

Mat and his family live in a house on Marine Parade that dates back to 1959. They're planning to raze it and build a new one, but it looked pretty nice to us - especially the view! The boys played with Mat's toys while we chatted in the sunroom overlooking the beach, drinking espresso and eating biscotti and Iraqi dates (refrigerated, not dried) which were sooooo good. Sherry looked for them at the grocery store later, but no luck; apparently New World only carries them occasionally.

Deck view to the south along Marine Parade

Mat showing Ro his toys

Easily Ro's favorite

We soon headed across the street to the beach, then walked north along the sand until we got to the rocky outcrops near the Mt Maunganui main beach. Ro, Mat, and the dads enjoyed climbing the rocks, but our foray was cut short by the incoming tide. On our way back to Mat's house, Ro started walking hand-in-hand with Kathryn; Sherry joked to Bill, "I think my son is making a move on your wife." By the time we reached the dunes in front of their house, Ro was still holding her hand and Bill said, "I think you're right!"

Flowering dunes with Matuotau Island in distance

Clambering among the rocks

Our outcrop of rocks about to become an island

Kathryn showing Ro some cool shells

Heading home

Enjoying the view from the dunes

It had started raining by the time the boys started playing in the playhouse in the backyard, so we called it an afternoon and came home. For dinner, Sherry made steamed veggies in a garlic butter parmesan sauce, with a small Porterhouse for her and Ro and a lamb rack and mushrooms for Mark (Sherry doesn't eat mushrooms either). The Hokey Pokey cookies she made for dessert were good although a little too sweet, but hey, who's complaining? Gotta love a woman that bakes, right?

This playhouse was made in Syria