I have lived by the sea for most of my life. That was until I met my the love of my life. In 2002 my then boyfriend moved back to New Zealand and after a month of long distance dating I decided that I would go for a 2 week holiday. I didn’t come back….. well not for 9 and a half years! We lived in Hamilton which was 45 mins drive to the closet beach which is Raglan. My husband who actually loves to surf would make the drive out there sometimes once or twice a week if he could. As a family we sometimes went together but when your 45 minutes to the beach there’s no quick trips during the week. I missed swimming in the ocean like you wouldn’t believe! The thing with New Zealand beaches if you are use to Australian temperatures jumping in the NZ ocean can feel like your swimming in an ice bath and I ain’t putting on a wetsuit just to have a swim! When we use to take our kids to the beach it saddened me that they weren’t confident playing in the ocean like I did when I was kid. I have so many fond memories of summers spent on the beach, sunscreen, sandcastles and swimmers (cosies or togs whatever you want to call them) full with sand. Fast forward another 5 years and we are back! I am so happy to be home. And i’m even happier that my kids now love the water. My boys love as they call it “getting smashed” by the waves (sounds dangerous I know but they don’t ever go too far). If they have the option of rock pools or beach they choose beach always. They laugh and play and I love it. There are actually no photos in this blog post of them because they are out too far in the water for my lens to get a good enough shot. But here are some of Keita who has now become a water baby herself……
