New Year's on the Beach

It is an unfortunate reality of blogging that the busier you are, the more you have to write about, and the less you have time to write. As a result, I need about six deathly boring weeks to write the six posts that have built up and are becoming shockingly belated, without new interesting things happening that displace them. While I'm sure that will happen eventually, it does not appear to be on the cards for the immediate future. I can't call up too much disappointment on that front, given that I love having interesting things happening to me and around me, but I am feeling a bit lax on the blogging front. Oh well.

On that note, I have not actually finished posting about Christmas-related activities, but I have decided to do my New Year's post now anyway, so that at least one thing I've posted recently will not be tragically belated. And we'll just have to deal with the tragedy of learning about Christmas events after New Year's.

On New Year's Eve, J and I went out to my newest favourite restaurant, Sushi Ninja. They have very lovely food, a wonderful atmosphere, and a menu style that fits me very well. You order lots of little things to share, and just keep ordering them until you're done. 

Green tea and salmon avocado rolls

Yakisoba noodles with chicken, edamame, and kumara (sweet potato) croquettes

Tiger rolls and teriyaki chicken rolls (missing one because J couldn't wait)

Also, we got a lovely date pudding dessert, but J ate it all up before I remembered to take a picture.  

On New Year's Day, we drove 50 minutes around the mountain to Opunake, which has a fabulous surf beach. We met Anna and Ollie, intending to welcome in the new year with lots of surfing. Unfortunately, the tide was out, there was a dangerous rip tide, and the waves were crashing right on the beach in a way that made surfing impossible. Fortunately, we had a wonderful day just relaxing at the beach, so all is well.

Notice how much sand there is between us and where the water starts? Low tide is not an exaggeration, and this Kansas girl is always startled at how huge the beach gets!

We put on our wetsuits to go for a swim, since we couldn't surf. (Also, I have to admit, I'm just so thrilled about owning a wetsuit that I would probably have put it on no matter what.) We played in the waves, which didn't look big until you got up near them and realized that they were taller than J, and they gave you quite a jolt when they crashed down! I have always loved playing in big waves, so I was thrilled!

Then we relaxed on the beach, enjoying the sun soaking through our wetsuits, and watching the antics of the various families and other groups enjoying the beach on New Year's Day.

(Note: Wetsuits are awesome, because they protect almost all of your body from the sun, but are black so they let you absorb the sun's warmth! Warmth + No Sunburn = Wetsuit Rule!)

Then we had some delicious ice cream from the shop right off the beach. Yum!

The sand was warm as well, so when I got a bit cold, I just used it as a blanket!

(It was not a cold day, but the breeze off the ocean was quite cold, and I have a tendency to always want to be warmer!)

J and I dug our usual tunnels, each digging down into the sand until our hands met in the middle. This particular sand was perfect for our architectural pursuits, so we even added a cross-tunnel that met it in the middle! More amazingly, Ollie accidentally stepped part way on top of it, and it didn't collapse! 

On the way home along the Surf Highway, we stopped to appreciate this glorious view of the mountain and... foothills? I don't know exactly what they are, but in New Plymouth you are on the other side of them, so that they are to the right and behind Mount Taranaki and look quite small. I was delighted to see them from this angle, where they looked so big and impressive, because they really are tiny compared to the mountain, but you wouldn't think it, would you? Perspective is a powerful thing.

Also, I am particularly thrilled with this day at the beach, because the entirety of it took place while NZ was in 2015 but the USA was still in 2014. Somehow, in my little bi-national brain, that seems like it's a hidden day, or an extra slice of time that we were given, just to go to the beach and have some fun. I realize, of course, that this utterly ridiculous, but it makes me happy, so I'm going to let it slide.

In any case, happy 2015 to everyone around the world, and I'm sure it's going to be a fantastic year!