No Worries

Sunday

We had a leisurely morning around the house, watching the IRB Sevens from George, South Africa. New Zealand and Fiji both ran through the tournament undefeated, meeting in an exciting Final which NZ won 21-12. The weather turned absolutely gorgeous around lunchtime, so we walked down to the Main Beach for a day of fun in the warm December sun.

Newly hatched torea-pango chicks

Ro was a little whiny riding his bike to the beach, but as soon as his toes hit the sand he was off and running. The pohutukawa trees are in full bloom around Mt Maunganui, making the area look about as Christmasy as a beach can get. We went down to our favorite spot near the far end of the Main Beach, right at the base of Mauao. It’s not as crowded there, the trees offer some shade, and Ro likes playing in the tidepools and climbing on the rocks. Ro spent much of the afternoon digging holes in the sand, which were successively inundated by the rising tide. With Ro in his happy place, Mark and Sherry took a rare opportunity to just relax in the sun and do nothing.

Driftwood balance beam

Ro & Mum on the beach from the Mauao walking track

Who needs sunscreen when Ro is around?

Sherry's gonna kill me for this...

Ze plane! Ze plane!

Posing with a pohutukawa, New Zealand's Christmas tree

After a long day baking on the sand, we (i.e. Sherry) were in no mood to slave over a hot stove, so we ventured out again to grab dinner. As soon as we got down to our lobby, we realized that neither of us had brought our keys – we were locked out! The front desk was closed for the evening; fortunately, our kindly neighbors let us use their phone to call the manager on her cell. She was out of the building at the moment, but would stash a key for us in the safe they use for just such a purpose, hopefully by the time we got back from dinner.

We ate at Zeytin’s just down the block – the same place we had taken Mark’s parents and Cerine out to eat with Kathryn and Bill. Only this time we didn’t catch any menus on fire! Sitting outdoors in the warm evening air, we gazed up at the Christmas decorations strung between the swaying palm trees. Guess our chances for a White Christmas are pretty much zilch unless it hails. We all got wood-fired pizzas for dinner, all of which were very tasty. When we got back to The Anchorage, the keys weren’t in the safe yet, so we let Ro play in the pool for a bit while we waited. Soon enough, Lindy brought the keys and we were back home, crashed on the couch with some Hokey Pokey ice cream watching Ro’s favorite: Shark Week on Discovery Channel.

Lemon bitters...mmmm

Another beautiful end to the day