This one is a little later than I had hoped but better late than never I always say, and Bob keep quiet I can hear you now ;) Since we are on this little (biggish) island we just had to see the cool little surf towns that are spread throughout the country and we had just found a place so we took a great drive as a treat for working so hard to get settled. Even on the van ride from the airport people had been raving about a little ocean town called Raglan, even one offer to couch surf there from a lady..... with no house!!!! This was also the 3rd or maybe the 4th time drive a great distance and it was like I just got my license at 16 again, butterflies, anticipation, freedom, and pure FEAR. It is tough to get used to the other side of the road and the car so I always just say "stay on the left" to help remind myself and with my great co-pilot with me we got it under control......somewhat. Ok enough about the driving but seriously the drive so fast and fly around the round abouts and sharp curvy roads and the posted speed limits are 100KPH or 60MPH, they are both some of the best and craziest drivers.
Alright back to the point here, we start out on the drive and the landscape here is just stunning. The views are amazing and the amount of open unused country is just incredible. You drive and drive and all you see is farm land with cows and sheep then out of nowhere boom you hit the town with no warning. The greatest way to see the people and culture is to hit the farmers markets, so we went straight there and grabbed a little lunch and bought some pictures from a guy that he took of places here all over the country and he went on and on about what we should see and do and he kept saying the south is even more stunning and if his pictures are an indication then he is so right. A good trip already and we hadn't even gone to the beach or the town yet so off we went and were greeted by helicopters and cars flying through town for the World Rally Championships. Not that we are car people but it's just one more thing that makes a day great.
We hit a few surf shops and got a couple lessons set up for a few months down the road and to the beach we went. It was a black sand beach too, which I had never seen and is really soft much softer than white or our gravel sand back home. First thing Laura does is rip her shoes off and go running towards the water, I must say she does keep it fresh and fun so I had to follow suit. After playing in the water for a bit we started our walk down the beach and couldn't help but see these beautiful shells everywhere and started picking them up and well since Laura was carrying her shoes they became buckets for the shells. Most people wouldn't even think about filling their shoes with sand and water but not LB and we found out just how much a chuck taylor aka "The Travel Shoes" can hold and now thanks to her we have a huge vase full of shells for decoration :) I know I rambled a bit on this one but it's all the little things that don't cost money that you don't plan and let yourself do that make each day great and exciting. Next time you're at the beach don't hesitate to fill your shoes with shells and walk barefoot the rest of the day cause you'll have a great time and we are all better off when we let go a little bit. Love ya'll and missing you guys.

mk