Yesterday was fun!

I slept really well the first night and got up early to a brilliant sunny day - but very cold! Now that is a surprise. I knew it might be chilly but yesterday morning it was freezing! But it soon warmed up and had tea sitting in the sun - oh bliss!

Tried to open a bank account so we could get an ATM or EFPOS card but the lady who does that was off sick. So we go back on Thursday. It's an easy thing to do - money, two forms of ID and a contact number.

We decided to take a drive out to Mt Manganui, sort of reminds me of Morro Rock in California except there is a great trail around it as it is easily accessible. People walking, some obviously do that daily. There are a lot fewer fat people here! Looking back at the town, or community it looks sort of 60's but there are some VERY expensive houses there, right on the water. Things are not cheap here.

It was a beautiful walk, went down on the beach which is so clean, and the trail winds around the base of the mountain. The Pohutukawa or New Zealand Christmas trees hanging onto the sides and bending over the trail. These are huge, knarly trees with a fluffy red flower that come out in the summer, hence the name. They are just starting to flower now.

On the other side of the peninsula that the Mt sits on, is the start of miles and miles of white sand beach. It was really windy though, whipping the sand, but Zoze and I went for a little walk while Chris looked at surfboards! He found out about when/where/how big the surf is.

We also checked out golf courses, and Chris and Bryan are playing later on this morning and the girls - Zoze, Jenni and me - are going to a lavender farm.

For more pix click on the shutterfly link on the left