Mangawhai May - June 2009

We had stayed put for a few months and our itch for traveling and exploring had to be scratched. Taking advantage of the Queen's birthday weekend (the last long weekend until the end of October), we went on another trip up North. This time we chose a little community nestled along the Pacific coast and the banks of an estuary.



Mangawhai Village and its sister town, Mangawhai Heads, are popular seaside holiday destinations well-known to Aucklanders, but kept a secret from the tourist crowds (we found out about the area from a Kiwi colleague of mine). The two towns are linked by a picturesque causeway surrounded by native wetlands and bush. They are home to many artists and craftsmen (of whom we met one, by chance... more about this amazing encounter below). The area is also known for its thriving chocolate making (a bizarre chilli flavoured chocolate seemed like an interesting concept - not so much to E's liking, though), avocado, wine, and olive oil industries.

For some historical information about the area, visit Mangawhai Historical Society, Inc.

We rented a bach (we really enjoy staying at people's holiday homes - they all have so much more character than your regular hotel rooms and they all tell us stories about their owners, which suits well my voyeuristic nature).



We started our adventure in Mangawhai with a short stop on Surf Beach.









I then did a three-hour walk along the clifftops. Eric did his hike the following day so that each of us could enjoy the "me" time and the beautiful scenery without the challenges of "schlepping" a toddler along... especially since the said toddler's normally pleasant personality has been recently overcome by the ugly traits of the "Terrible Twos."



















At low tide, one can do this hike in a loop: walk along the cliffs all the way to the Pebble Beach (that is what I named the beach for the obvious reason) and then walk along the beach back to where the hike starts - on Surf Beach. My timing was not very opportune, though, so after 1.5 hrs of a rather easy hike, I spent a bit of time on the beach (all by myself) watching the water, the islands in the distance, and enjoying the beauty and peacefulness of the place.



















On my way back the scenery managed to enthrall me again.













After my walk, we visited the Animal Park (see: farm) which unfortunately, and despite the ads heralding to the contrary, turned out to be closed. Disappointed as we were, we tried to make the best of it: we took advantage of the presence of a lone goat munching on grass (the creature made a natural model).



Before we left home we had printed out a list of local, kid-friendly attractions. I made a few phone calls while the boys were befriending the goat. At one of the places, a donkey farm, a nice lady, Jo, told me that her place had been closed to the public for the last 5 years but, if we were keen, we could come over because she was just about to go out to feed her animals. Speechless (at her kindness) and extremely excited (anything to occupy the whiny "monster-of-a-son" we are currently putting up with) we drove quickly to Penrose Farm. I'm sure that my pictures will not do any proper justice to the place. Suffice it to say, I felt like we entered an enchanted country the moment our underpowered-pathetic-excuse-of-a-Subaru rolled onto the premises (it did not help that half-way through the visit the battery in my camera died!).







Jo and Malcolm were our hosts - an extremely kind and friendly couple who had lived in the area for over 40 years. They were incredibly welcoming, thoughtful and comfortable with E; He was able to feed the pigs (Honey and Molasses), feed the donkeys and groom and ride one of them - Jacko, feed the chickens and look for eggs with Jo in the coop, and feed the doves.









Eric and I were truly moved by the generosity of the Roberts'. After we came back home and I was googling the couple to find their address, I stumbled upon an article about Malcolm. Turns out he is a well-known local artist (Mangawhai Artists).

Still speechless and feeling warm in our hearts, we stopped at a local bar, Smashed Pipi (ok, so I really do not know what it means however I'm leaning towards this translation: "Drunken Pipilongstockings," which is really weird since Pipi was my idol when I was much younger and poured over the stories of her adventures). At "Smashed Pipi" E was given a grand tour of the kitchen (to satisfy his ever starving curiosity) and was allowed to place logs on the fire. By then, Eric and I were ready to claim that Mangawhai is the most hospitable place on the face of Earth!

The following day, hungry for more gestures of uncommon human "big-heartedness," we accepted an invitation to an Alpaca Farm. I had called Chris and Dave the day before looking for some interesting activities for E. Again, even though their place was not open to the public, the couple invited us over to their place to meet their animals. And again, our experience was that of uncommon graciousness, openness, and friendliness. E was allowed to hang out with (see: touch, chase, scream at, and feed) the alpacas, while Eric and I were learning interesting things about those animals.









Before we left, Chris and Dave showed us and let E feel wool they had from their "girls." We purchased the cutest, hand-made sweater for E - he insisted on wearing it for two days straight afterwards.



To end that day we tried to get to the estuary for a walk along its bank. Unfortunately,the access "road" was flooded.





The last morning, before we headed back home, was devoted to some time on the beach.















While Eric and E were flying the kite, I was taking in the amazing scenery and felt sad about needing to leave this wonderful place.

Mother's Day (or Life as We Knew It Is Over)

On Mother's Day morning I was woken up by a sound of small feet stomping in the distance. I opened my eyes and heard Eric announce: "E is out of his crib." Well, we had been anticipating this day for a while now. I believe that we have gotten more mileage out of the crib than normally expected. Even recently we spoke about the matter and decided that E was too laid back to jump out of his crib and risk breaking his neck. He simply sat there in the mornings singing our names out: "Mooommyyy! Daaaddyyy!"

Well, as it turns out, E has grown tall enough and athletic enough to safely climb out of his crib. Thankfully, he still has not mastered the door knobs in our new house!

Having reluctantly left the warmth of our bed, Eric went to say "Good Morning" to E and I went downstairs to the garage to find some tools and dig out the toddler bed attachment that had come with the convertible crib. We had agreed we would not make much of a deal out of the event to avoid unnecessary excitement. E posed for a few pics before we converted the crib into a "Big Boy's Bed."





E loved the old-new bed! We let him enjoy the novelty for a while before we resumed the matter-of-fact approach.













Fortunately, and knock on wood, our nonchalant attitude has so far prevented E from getting too wound up about the "new" bed. He has not yet tried to take advantage of his new freedom. He went quietly down for nap yesterday and to sleep two nights in a row.

Fingers crossed we will get over this milestone “unscathed.”

Back in (the Water) Business

Soon after we arrived in New Zealand over a year ago, we were advised that E should stop swimming indoors due to his frequent ear problems. With reluctance, we obeyed the doctor's instructions. A few months later, in August while in Fiji, E seemed to feel quite uneasy in the pool. We thought that the previous five months (without weekly swim classes) had impacted him much more than the earlier year of swimming and truly loving water. It seemed like such a shame!

Well, after eleven months of monthly ear check-ups, several Amoxicillin-treated ear infections, a hearing test, and a burst eardrum, we bit the bullet and had grommets inserted into E's ears. E was a trooper through the whole process too. Last week our ENT doctor told us we could go back to swimming! We did not waste any time at all. Last Sunday E resumed his classes. He was so excited. He smiled and laughed most of the time he was in the water. Once the class was over, he kept saying "Ephraim try again!"