A Boxing Day tradition

It seems the Aussie tradition of heading to the beach on Boxing Day exists for Kiwis too. After lunch we took a short drive to Mirawai. The girls and I had a pleasant afternoon on the black sand - the girls played 'cat' games on the large rock in the middle of Maori Bay and I got engrossed in Just in Time to be Too Late - Why men are like buses which Steve gave me for Christmas. Steve disappeared in the waves and we didn't see him for some time. Some things never change.


The following day we ventured further north but were a little slow leaving the house and before we knew it were crawling alongside hundreds of others on the highway. It was a bit like the traffic jams you get heading up to the Sunshine Coast from Brisbane, minus the blazing heat. Did I mention we've got a DVD player in the car? Before we got it I used to make snide remarks about parents who would stoop so low. Well, it seems it is not beneath us and never did we imagine it would be such a hit - the kids like it too. We didn't hear a single complaint. The only whinging was when we actually reached the destination (Pakiri) and turned it off!