Five on a Friday

1. It's autumn here on the edge of the world and there is a definite chill in the air. But on Easter Saturday I was taking the dog for his morning walk and the sun was shining and it was positively warm and I thought to myself, "I think it is the day for a bonus swim".

So we ditched our work plans for the day and threw some water and snacks and towels and swimming gear into a bag and caught the ferry to Waiheke Island.

We had to run to catch it, and it was pretty packed with people going to the jazz festival and, to judge by the attire and presents they carried, a couple of weddings as well. When it docked we couldn't face the thought of a packed bus so we opted to follow the signs through the forest and walk to Oneroa village instead.

Once there we bought some books for Daughters-One and Two (50c each) at a church book fair, then some fish and chips, then carried on over the headland to Little Oneroa beach more than ready for a swim which was lucky because it looks like this:

After a quick lunch shared with the seagulls we all swam. After the recent cold weather, the water was absolutely freezing but it was the best kind of bonus swim. In fact, the extreme cold seemed to redirect all our body heat to our core (no doubt an attempt by our bodies to protect our vital organs) so there was a pleasant warm and toasty sensation there accompanied by a numbness in the extremities which added a delightful near-death-experience frisson to the whole affair. (Not to mention an excuse for lots of shrieking and splashing and laughs with the few other brave people taking a dip).

2. Daughter-Two was pretty tired by the time we walked back to the village so we caught the bus back to the dock and were among the first back on board the ferry. With all the seats free, we chose a long table by the windows on the upper deck.

And then we acquired a bonus Chinese grandma. She had followed us on board, then followed us to the table where, despite all the other seats being empty, she snuggled up next to Daughter-Two and they happily spent the trip home like that. Daughter-Two wrote in her notebook and Grandma looked at brochures and smiled at Daughter-Two and I tried to desperately avoid catching The Husband's eye because whenever I did I couldn't suppress a fit of giggles.

 

3. Today is the last day of the school holidays. They are back to school on Monday. It was a very quiet couple of weeks, thanks to me having a deadline and the weather being so wet and miserable (apart from bonus swim day). Daughter-One even managed to talk Daughter-two into watching a DVD with her (a Japanese animated film). Daughter-two just doesn't do unfamiliar movies (she prefers science documentaries or short cartoons like Thomas the Tank Engine on video -but NOT DVD!). She reserved the right to leave the room but curiosity made her give it a go and she did enjoy it and watched till the end - though it ended in tears. Daughter-One, on the other hand, can't understand why Daughter-two loves watching documentaries about the end of the universe and doesn't find THEM upsetting.

4. I took today off to spend with a friend visiting from Australia and we talked about oil dependency (past and the future ), which made an interesting change from scrapbooking and parenting. I miss that, living in my work at home bubble. Must make more of an effort to catch up with old friends and at least act the part of an intelligent, well-informed grown up now and then.

5. Yesterday afternoon I quickly scrapped an Easter layout with my "Sugar rabbit" kit bunnies and some new papers that are coming to the store this weekend - and today I got the lovely surprise of seeing it here.

digital scrapbooking NZ, digital scrapbooking New Zealand

 

 

Comments

[esther_a]

lol at the "Chinese grandma"!! You are very brave tackling such cold water. I'm currently thinking that a flight to somewhere with WARM water would be very nice - like the Cook Islands perhaps?! ;)

[Heather T.]

Wow, what a beach you guys have! And a Chinese Grandma to boot! ;)