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Published: January 1st 2020
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Finally we’re off to the beach! Russel is a peninsula in the Bay of Islands, 3-4 hours north of Auckland. It’s an area of 150+ small islands scattered around an area with a rugged coastline, amazing beaches and beautiful nature. Almost everywhere you look, you can see the ocean. So straigh away, we felt right at home.
We arrived in the late afternoon, but the boogie boards had to be testet straight away, so we headed for the beach even though it was a bit late. The water was freezing (about 19 degrees), but it was so much fun in the waves that you forget about it when you’re out there. It’s only when you come back in with blue lips and tingling fingers, that you really start feeling it. Luckily we all brought full wetsiuts, so the fun can last a lot longer. I even got a few decent swims in, but if I want any chance of keeping up the swimming pace od lasst year, I think I need to spend a lot longer in the waves. Or be serious about actially going to the swimming practice after I’m back in March.
We
had really struggled to find somewhere within our budget that was available for the Christmas time. Airbnb had 96%!o(MISSING)f the properties are booked for this period, so we definitely were NOT spoilt for choice. In the end we had found a campground cabin with 4 bunks. The campground ended up being the perfect place to go to the playground, meet some people and be in good company during Christmas.
For Christmas we needed to set up some base expectations. Like what day is Christmas? We usually go by the rule of follow the custom of the country you’re in at the time, so in NZ it’s Christmas on the 25
th. But not to make everything strange and different, everyone is allowed to bring their favourite food and activity into the day. So we took requests before the big day J Our Christmas Day went something like this: We started the day with a yummy breakfast followed by presents. The Christmas tree was a kitchen roll holder covered in a green towel on the floor of our cabin. There weren’t many presents on the day, but everything was perfect. Ollie and Alba had already had the early
Christmas presents both in Denmark and in UK, and also the Boogie Boards (they would have been way too difficult to hide in the car!). We managed to surprise them with mask, snorkel and fins, and they had bough some toys for each other. The morning was spent in the waves on the boogie boards, then pancakes for lunch – as per request. Afternoon of fun and games including Cluedo, another favourite present that Olliw had in the UK. And then a second improvised trip to the beach, where the waves had grown bigger and the surf was even better. Winner! Dinner was burger, and everyone was happy. What an awesome Christmas!
Russel had everything. Awesome beach, good company, beautiful surrounding, good runs, nice food and decent weather. We have SO much time on the hands, but time flies, and often it’s just too late to do all the things you plan to do in one day. Even if it’s only go to the beach, drink coffee, eat an ice cream and play a game. And we get caught out. Again and again. But it’s because we’re having fun in the moment, and not wanting to stop.
Or something else that you hadn’t expected happened. Like on the way to going to the beach, we go to say bye to some people we met, and Ollie ends up learning to play Cricket, because they’re in the middle of a game. Or Alba startet to build a house or a parachute for her teddy, and we all end up getting involved in the project, and hours pass.But I guess that’s also why we do this. To make time for these things, that are normally hard to fit into the tight schedule of two full time jobs and free time activities.
We met some good people that we might see again later on in our trip. Ollie and Alba made friends, and it was great to stay for a whole week in one place. It won’t be the way we do things for our whole trip, but it was awesome for Christmas.
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