Saturday 27 October 2012

Tora!

For the first time in almost five months, we were blessed with a long weekend. And while winter came and went quite quickly, an extra day off was long overdue. To ensure we fully reaped the benefits of the time off, Kevin, his workmate Nathan, and I spent Labour Day camping in Tora. Tora is a small surf spot located on the Wairarapa coast approximately 120 km from Wellington. Never having been there before, we set out on an optimistic adventure for our first Kiwi camping trip.

The roads winded through farm land, providing me with endless entertainment of cows, sheeps, and even wild turkeys. And upon arrival, the first thing we noticed was the wind. Now I thought Wellington was a windy city, but HOLY CROW Tora was windy. 120km per hour winds do not an enjoyable camp set up make.

Below are pictures of our trip. LOTS of pictures. And they are a conglomerate of both mine and Nathan's cameras. Enjoy!

I couldn't help myself...

Can I please take one home?



Trying to set up camp in very windy conditions.

All set up, for now. Until the wind tore everything down shortly after.



We decided to screw the wind and take up an afternoon surf.

I didn't last long in the windy and rocky conditions, so resorted to resident photographer for the day.






We had to move camp because of the wind. But we made sure to take our fire-making supplies with us.

The local residents decided to pay our campsite a visit.







Nathan was this close to being blown away.

There's something about boys throwing rocks...

I may or may not have been very hungry.

Yes, I realize I look like a homeless person. I'm comfortable with that.

Stunning view into the valley from the beach.

Nathan constructed a raft to sail out to sea.


Off it goes!



The raft didn't quite make a long journey the first day. So we had to try again.



See you!


And lots of photos of waves and beach...






Sunday 14 October 2012

In the Interim

Man, I am a lazy and neglectful interweb information sharer. And I feel like I'm always apologizing for being so absent, which in my opinion, cannot be good for my health. So I'm going to stop. Deal with it. Please? Thanks!

Not much exciting news from 41° S, 174° E on the globe (that's Wellington, just in case you don't want to google it). The weather has been warming up and we are finally getting used to 90 km/h winds. No big deal--just walk on a 45° forward slant and you'll be fine! 

I spent a lovely Sunday girls evening indulging in this...



...at the Amora Hotel Chocolate Buffet. Stretchy waisted leggings were a must. 

Kevin and I spent Thanksgiving Monday with a group of fellow Canadians (and a few Kiwis and Americans as well), which was a very welcome treat.

Photo courtesy of Brooke Bateman.

And many a weekends doing this...



We are gearing up our car to be a second home, which has included a few too many stops at the fabric store for curtains and canopy material. I promise more regular updates in the near future, as lots of fun things are coming up shortly. But for now, you must wait!