Summer Beach Holiday

The kids love the beach, so it was an easy decision to spend our summer holiday at the beach.  This year we stayed in a cabin at Fitzroy Beach in New Plymouth.  It’s a great campground, with our cabin less than 20 meters from the beach.  We all loved the beach and campground,  and will definitely be going back again.

When we arrived on the first day, it was cloudy and overcast.  The kids quickly ran down to the beach to have a look.  They had to be careful as there were quite a few blue bottle jellyfish that had come in with the tide.  Luckily we had brought them some beach shoes, so they didn’t get stung.

There was no one swimming when we first arrived in the morning, maybe the blue bottles kept them away.  The overcast day was perfect for reflection photos.

Day Two

The kids were up early, racing down to the beach to have another splash around.  It was another overcast morning, so more reflection photos.  Mason also took down his skimming board that he got for his birthday to try out. Luckily the blue bottles were all gone, and we only saw one or two for the rest of the holiday.

We headed into the city centre for lunch, and then to the foreshore walkway. Along the walkway they had the Te Kupenga International Stone Sculpture Symposium.  Sculptors from across the world, and New Zealand were making sculptures from the local volcanic rock.  It was a scorching hot day, and they must have been sweltering under the midday sun in their protective gear.

Scootering back to the car past the Len Lye wind wand.

Day Three

Each afternoon the sun would appear from under the clouds and it would turn into a hot day.  The kids enjoyed boogie boarding in the sea, and would spend hours surfing the waves.

The next two days were spent at the beach boogie boarding, and enjoying the waves.  On the last morning I got up early, and walked along the foreshore walkway to the Te Rewa Rewa bridge.  I got there just as the sun was rising, and luckily there was no cloud covering the mountain.  On my next blog post I will share the pictures of the bridge.

Trip to Nowell's Lake

We hadn’t been to Nowell’s Lake before, and my husband suggested we go and have a look one afternoon.

Nowell’s Lake is situated just south of Hawera in South Taranaki, and is a Fonterra Farms and Community Group Project.  There are two parts - the Nowell’s Lakes which are two ground fed freshwater lakes covering seven hectares, and the Walkway.  

We loved exploring the Walkway amongst the native bush, flax and Toetoe, and each section had signs where the children from local schools and Scouts have done plantings.

Down the track to the Walkway.

Having a rest on one of the many Children Only seats.

Asked for a serious face, and all we got was giggles.

Checking out the Bug Wall.

Looking for Crawlies (Freshwater Crayfish) in the stream.  We didn't see any this time, hopefully we can see some on our next visit.

Emme pointing out which way to go next.

Looking at her school's sign and where they did their plantings.

Some of the many birdhouses that are all through the gully.

Emme found this small bird egg lying on the ground, and picked it up for a closer look.  

Smelling herbs at the herb garden.

Looking back down the gully.

Local school children have grown and planted thousands of swan plants, so we will definitely be back between February and April to see the caterpillars and Monarch Butterflies.

We also took the 20 minute walk to Nowell’s Lake.  I didn’t get any pictures unfortunately as it started to rain just as we got there.  But we will definitely be going back, and I can’t wait to take more pictures then.

If you are local I highly recommend Nowell’s Lake as a place to visit.  For more information check out http://nowellslakeswalkway.blogspot.co.nz/