A Weekend at the Beach

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We spent a fine weekend at the beachside resort town of Raglan where we hooked up with another touring medical family (a neuroradiologist and his family from Arkansas who are currently living and working in Tauranga Bay). We actually “met” through our travel blog.

While most of conversations involved the positive aspects of our experience, we were also able to share some of our “frustrations”. Talking about our common experiences with another North American family was somehow cathartic, whether it was the joys of low electricity prices and large dryers, or the bewilderment of making windows without insect screens.

Avery and I spent Sunday afternoon surfing. Avery was a natural - riding a wave all the way in on her second try. I suspect that her snow boarding experience was an asset. My surfing was much improved from my last effort at Sumner Beach. I think the trick was a longer board. In addition, the conditions were almost ideal. Relatively slower water, with midsized regular breaking waves. Ironically, our instructor was a Californian surfer in New Zealand for a few months.

In Raglan we stayed in a typical Kiwi “bach”- what Ontarians would call a cottage. It was small, simple but perfectly adequate. Curiously the entry way had the same pattern of linoleum as was on my mother’s kitchen floor 20 years ago. What are the chances?

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