kiddie cove

This past weekend served up some not so nice weather, but that didn't seem to stop our kiwi neighbors from attempting to teach us how to surf. We took a "roadie" up north, through rolling hills, fields of cows, sheep, hobbits, and the like, to get to this wonderfully secluded beach...

(view from the drive)

...while Monday (unbeknown to us) was the coldest day in NZ's winter of 2009. Of course we thought it was a great idea to get our second lesson. At least our teachers put us in "kiddie cove," where the waves were smaller and manageable. That was until they all started getting bigger and the 20 or so actual surfers started gravitating towards what had apparently become the big kid area. I wore two wetsuits; my hands and feet are still cold. And no, I don't have pictures...thank god.