A Kiwi Summer

Omaha Beach, Rodney District, New Zealand

Buckletons Beach, Matakana, New Zealand

Nanny, Aunty and BabyR aged just 1

We have had the loveliest summer here in New Zealand. It has been hot and sunny with beautiful blue skies. We spent some time up at my mothers at Omaha beach over Christmas and in early January and that was a real treat.


Most mornings I got up early with bubs, had breakfast and blobbed for an hour or so then around 8:30am I took bubs for a walk along the beach so that he could nap while I got some fresh air and exercise. We would meet the older kids and my mother back at our beach access so that we could all have a play and a swim before the heat of the day.


Omaha is a beautiful white sandy beach on our Eastern coast. Some days it is good for surfing with big rolling waves but most days it is better for boogy boarding and body surfing as the waves tend to be a big small for most daring surfers LOL.



One day my mother My sister her partner and their two kids and me and my lot all went for a picnic at another beach that has swings out over the water at high tide. The kids all had a ball but the weather was a little overcast and windy that day so us adults didn't venture into the water beyond our knees.

BabyR loves the beach.

He wanders around trying to eat whatever he finds and splashing in puddles. He also has no fear of the water or the waves and if I'm not quick enough will make a beeline straight for the water. Thankfully he still tends to stumble on his feet a fair bit so this slows him down enough for me to catch him before he gets to the waters edge.

The older kids loved going out deep up to about their waists but when the waves come in the water lifts them up and is almost over their heads. MissM7 Was very nervous at first but soon found her sea legs so long as an adult was in the water near her. MrS11 always complained that he wasn't going for a swim but then usually ended up being the last one out of the water often after more than an hour of swimming.


On our last day the boys were in the water while my mother stood on the edge watching them and I was watching BabyR1 with missM7 playing near by. A lady came out of the water and approached my mother quietly asking if she was with the boys. When my mother answerred in the affirmative the lady suggested she call them out of the water as she thought she had seen a shark swimming just beyond the breakers. My mother very calmly called the boys out and thankfully this day they came straight away. I was watching from a distance and thanks to my new polarized glasses which dh bought me for Xmas I could see into the water. And what do your know there beyond the breakers about 20 metres from my children was a dark shadow moving through the water along the beach. Eeeeekkk! I couldn't see a fin though so I wondered if perhaps it was a giant stingray instead. Anyway that was the end of our morning swim so we headed back to the house for morning tea.


Later in the afternoon when it cooled down a bit we returned to the beach for another swim. Wehn we arrived a lady came up to us and told us the beach had been closed for an hour and had only just re-opened as the surf patro had been busy chasing two sharks back out to sea.

Needless to say my kids weren't allowed to swim that day LOL But at least if provided us with a bit of excitement and a good story to tell to the folks back home. LOL