Birthday Camping

For my birthday I wanted to go camping with friends. I said all I wanted was to sit around a fire with friends and a drink in my hand. Since it was Easter weekend, most people were busy, but it meant we could take a few days to go camping, and there was at least one other couple who was free to go with us. We went out the Mangawhai heads, which is a place we had quickly stopped at before, but had been wanting to go back to.

We left home Friday morning and got to the campsite around 3pm. We pitched our tents, got all set up and went for a walk to the beach with their dog, Taco. The nearby beach is really popular for surfers and we could definitely see why. It was a stunning beach with massive crashing waves and it was fun to watch the surfers. We walked back to our campsite, had a shower, and as soon as we got out, it started raining. There was no rain in the forecast, so we didn't really worry, and then all of the sudden it started bucketing. And it kept pouring all night long. We went into the kitchen area to have dinner but there were holes in the roof of that as well. It made for a fun adventure. I was concerned because we didn't properly close the tent up, thinking it was only a short sprinke, but fortunately everything inside was dry.

our campsite

the beach

Saturday we woke up to a beautiful day and went kayaking in the estuary. It was hard work because the tide was so strong, if you stopped paddling for a second you were twice as far back from where you had just been. We went across to the sand dunes for a quick walk. The couple we were with went back to our campsite, but Sean and I went to do the walk we had tried to do the last time we were there. It followed the coastline and it was a beautiful walk. We hadn't realized how exhausted our legs were from walking in the sand so much and by the time we were finished all we wanted to do was sit.

We got back to the campsite, had some dinner and sat around the fire and had a drink, just what I had wanted. Since there was a burn ban, we could only burn pinecones, but they burn really interesting and it was fascinating to watch them burn.

Sunday morning we packed up and headed for one last trip to the beach. Taco made a new friend, and we cracked confetti eggs on the boys heads without them expecting it, following family tradition. Sean and I did one more walk on the way home, but Sean was so exhausting from playing in the water earlier, so we had to turn around before we finished. We came home and relaxed. This week, we also found out that Sean got his first speeding ticket that day from a speed camera.

The next week we regrouted our other shower. It was a lot harder work than we anticipated, and so gross, but so worth it. The shower looks completely different now, and we don't have to feel embarrassed by it anymore.

Thanks to you all for the birthday wishes! I always feel so loved on my birthday! I had exactly the day/weekend I wanted, and just before summer decided to end.