"I believe in KISSING .... a LOT."

Auckland City at 8pm  ... from Browns Island with maximum zoom

“In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you.”  ~ Deepak Chopra

Tuesday morning sun-rise

On the beach at Browns Island ... took just under an hour and a half
to paddle across.

I took that quote quite literally on Tuesday night.  At 9pm we were paddling back in the dark from Brown’s Island.  The wind was blowing, our kayaks were surfing on the waves and we were all on the lookout for ferries.  You only realise how big they are when you’re out at sea in the dark, in a tiny little vessel, and a ferry is bearing down on you!

My city and my favourite piece of real estate, from Browns Island

Let’s not even mention the possible presence of Whales .... or, unusually for Auckland, Sharks.

Kit off and ready to explore .... after coffee, of course

Kayaking at night-time is thrilling!

So yes ... in the midst of all that movement and chaos .... my soul was calm.

We're at one end of the volcanic cone and Callum and Chris are way over on the other!

Leaving St. Heliers Bay .... before I got dumped in the waves
by my lemmings .... BAD boys!

It hadn’t started off that way.  We’d met on the beach at 5.30 and, whilst waiting for 3 fellow kayakers to arrive, had been sitting on the sand chatting and throwing shells at one another.  The shell throwing rapidly deteriorated into sand throwing and ended up with me being dumped in the waves by the lemmings.  Hmmmm .... I don’t usually get THAT wet from kayaking .... unless I fall out, which I DON’T make a habit of doing.

Heading up the cone to take photos of the sunset

Much laughter later .... and with very wet clothes .... we kitted up and headed out.

We’d chosen Tuesday for a night kayak as it was Full Moon.  Even if the sunset wasn’t as vibrant as what it can be, we’d still be able to revel in the moon lighting up our night sky. It has been a spectacular moon this past week .... huge, bright and VERY visible!

The moon was AMAZING and so close as it crested the top of the island

The night kayak was EVERYTHING I’d wanted it to be AND more.  The waves and I were one.  I only wish I’d had a waterproof camera as the night skies and views of my city as we paddled back were magical.  As for that there moon in my sky ..... humungously beautiful!

City lights before we hit the water again

And yes .... humungously is a word .... my word.

The moon at 6.40 this morning as we headed down to the beach

I’ve had the best of both worlds with the moon and the sun this last week.  The moon is setting over my city as the sun rises over Hauraki Gulf.  I see the moon as I walk down to the beach and the rising sun as I walk up to the view-site .... what could be better!

An ending and a new beginning .... it’s insane.

Morning rambles have taken on a new dimension.  

On the mornings that I don’t have to race off to work Cayl’s and I swim with the hound.  

The hound is confused ... IN A BIG WAY.

You're doing WHAT?

She can’t understand why we’re IN the water with her instead of on the sand.  The further out we swim, the more frantic she becomes ... the more frantic she becomes the more VOCAL she is.  I’m NOT sure if she thinks we’re in danger and is YELPING for help!

This is the way you wake a lemming up when they're on
auto-pilot

The YOUNGEST lemming chose to join us today too.  He doesn’t usually DO early mornings and considers rising BEFORE the sun as complete LUNACY.  Rising at midday is his idea of normality.  He asked us to wake him today though, so we did, and he dragged himself bleary-eyed and still sleeping out the front door with us.  I’m not sure if he realised that walking up to the view site before hitting the beach is part and parcel of a morning ramble.

He’d come along just for the swim and couldn’t understand why it only happened AFTER the caffeine fix and hot chocolate.  The sustenance is NECESSARY at that time in the morning!

The moon heading down behind the clouds this morning.

I think he did once he was in the waves though.  The bleary eyes were gone, the mind was wide awake .... there is something SO invigorating about an early morning wallow in the waves.

I used this quote on a birthday card today for a friend

 .... it’s one of my favourites by Audrey Hepburn and just so true of my philosophy on life!

“I believe in PINK.

I believe that LAUGHING is the BEST calorie burner.

I believe in KISSING .... a lot.

I believe in being STRONG when everything seems to be going wrong.

I believe that HAPPY girls are the prettiest girls.

I believe that TOMORROW is another day AND I believe in MIRACLES.”

Laughter IS the best medicine!

It’s almost full moon in my part of the world and guess what I’m doing tomorrow night 
when it's FULL moon?

No .... not riding on my broomstick with my black cat.  To be honest, the thought of swooshing through the air to harass all and sundry who wind me up has huge appeal
 ... but that’s NOT what I’ll be doing tomorrow night.

Instead, I’m going to be in a kayak paddling my way to Browns Island to enjoy the vista of the sun setting over my adopted city .... weather permitting of course.

I am SO excited.  This kayak trip has been postponed TWICE already 
so I’m hoping it’s third time lucky!  Yay!

The sun rise this morning was spectacular!  I walked out the front door to the most amazing red skies and knew that the vista at the view site was going to be stupendous. 
It didn’t disappoint.  The sky was on fire.

I was ALMOST late for work. 

Thank goodness I wasn’t.  I get to meet the most entertaining customers in the shop.  Today’s comedian had us all in stitches .... and her son embarrassed ... unintentionally though.

We were talking about men .... as we so often do .... and their general inability to understand a woman’s need to shop.  

On a shopping expedition in London her husband had been waiting outside the shop for her.  She exited the shop, took his hand and continued on down the street, chattering away to him nineteen to the dozen.  Expecting an answer to something she’d said, she turned sideways to see if he’d heard her, only to see it WASN’T her husband who’s hand she was holding!  It was a complete stranger who was trying very hard to suppress the laughter.  

We were in stitches as she continued with her next story, also in London, on the tube.

Both her and her husband worked in the city and caught the same tube home but from different stations.  She climbed on the tube one evening and saw her husband further down the carriage.  On exiting the tube, she headed up the escalator and, on spotting what she thought was her husband in front of her, pinched his bum.  It WASN’T her husband.

Black swan on the bay ... unusual

Just as we thought it couldn’t get any funnier she finished off her one-man show with another tube story.  One evening the tube came to a sudden stop and passengers were sent flying.  One young man came hurtling down the carriage towards her, hands out in front to stop himself hitting anything.  He stopped when his hands landed on her boobs ... and she has VERY nice boobs!

The other customers and I were in hysterics.   Laughter sure IS the best medicine.

I LOVE birthdays .....

Exploring the coastline on Saturday

I LOVE birthdays .... and especially when it’s my birthday .... and even more especially when it falls over the weekend!!!  Pressie opening often takes place in bed ..... with morning tea of course!  Thank goodness we have a big bed ... though it’s not quite big enough anymore now that a certain hound joins in all the fun!!  It used to be the kids that helped open all my presents .. yesterday morning it was the hound .... she was most intrigued by all the wrapping paper and ribbon and thought the wrapping paper was edible!  That could have something to do with her penchant for eating the cupcake wrappers from my coffee shop .... cupcake wrappers .. wrapping paper ..... same, but different .... you know what I mean.

Being a Sunday .... and because it was my birthday - I got to BOSS everyone around ... they all came along on my morning ramble. The hound loved it .... all these extra bodies to kick her ball!  Because of the opening pressie ritual we were late heading down to the beach though so walked the ‘wrong’ way round my ramble, stopping at Ladies Bay first for the hound to swim before heading down to the village for coffee.  No sunshine = no nudists ... or tourists .... or many other ramblers or hounds.  We didn’t walk as far along Ladies Bay as we did on Saturday ... it wasn’t as warm and the kids didn’t want to walk as far.  On Saturday we went quite a bit further along the coast ..... till Gav realised we were heading in the wrong direction for the coffee shop ..... DAM!  I love the solitude and wildness of the coast there .. there’s nothing man-made ..... no sand shipped in .... no mowed lawns ...... no benches to sit on .... just my ocean and the shore slip-sliding away ..... magnificent!

Wild and rugged .... my coastline on Saturday

According to Gav I sucked up all the sunshine with my camera last week ...  this weekend’s been really grey and gloomy ... with only the occasional glimpse of that huge yellow orb in the sky.  Sunday especially was wet and cold ... I think we’re feeling the tail-end of the snow that hit South Island on Saturday.

Look who's getting so tall!

Carol and Pete and Sebastian were also grabbing their daily fix when we reached the village on Sunday .... I was able to share my news about the new ‘modern’ building with Carol .... straight from the horses mouth, so to speak. On Saturday the hound got to play in the basement of the new building with her ball whilst we waited for coffee.  The friendly foreman ... he with the ditzy chocolate Labrador too .... threw her ball around for her and

filled us in on on the latest news about the building. It’s hard to believe how short-sighted some people in the village are when it comes to the old and familiar.  The Save St. Heliers Association is holding a protest next weekend outside the new building ... there is still so much animosity towards it because it doesn’t fit in with the “look” of the village.  Whilst I agree that it’s not quite in keeping with the village, one can’t stop progress .. and, ultimately, the village atmosphere is created by the people who live here .. not by the buildings they inhabit.  The Association is apparently unhappy with the awning around the building ... they want it removed ... neither Pete, Carol, Gav or I can understand why???  It provides protection from inclement weather and shade from the sun ... members of the Association quite obviously don’t walk round to my little coffee shop!  There’s been a lot of interest too in who the tenants on the ground floor will be ..... there’s provision for a coffee shop on one side but no-one was sure which coffee shop it was going to be .... I now know who holds the lease but there’s some confusion as to whether or not they’re going to take occupation ... watch this space .. it could prove interesting!

The gull's caught a fish!

This morning’s supposed to be a sunshiny day ... no rain ... that’s supposed to be coming our way over the next 3 days. I did get to see the most beautiful rainbow in my bay  .. just as the hound and I hit the beach!  As with all rainbows in my bay .. it was vividly coloured and brief in appearance .... a dazzling display of beauty in the heavy grey skies.  As expected though, rainbows herald rain ... and this one didn’t disappoint!  I managed to get a bit wetter than normal on our ramble .... almost as wet as the hound in fact!

A rainbow in my bay ....awesome!

Browns Island

I just love how different each day is ..... each and every dawn brings a new beginning that’s unlike the one before. We all, as Roald Dahl once said “need to watch with glittering eyes the world around us because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.  Those who don’t believe in magic will never find them.”  Gosh .. how right he was ... there’s magic out there every day ..... we don’t even need to look for it ... it’s right there, in front of us ... if we’d only just open our eyes and see!

The magic for my birthday came in the form of 2 vouchers for a moonlit kayak to Brown’s Island ... my birthday pressie from Gav!  I’ve wanted to visit Browns Island ever since I first set eyes on it on my rambles.  Sadly the hound can’t come .... and no, not just because we have to kayak there .... Browns Island is now owned  by the Department of Conservation and hounds aren’t allowed on DoC land.  The blurb on the gift voucher goes something like this ....

“Imagine quietly paddling across a glassy calm sea with the lights of Auckland city as your backdrop .... this evening kayak trip will take you to Browns Island, a small volcanic island close to Auckland city.  You’ll enjoy a picnic supper served on the summit as you watch the sun set over Auckland city, plus the novelty of kayaking at night”

How awesome does that sound .... now I just need to decide on a date!!  Oh yes ... I will be taking my camera and hopefully it won’t get wet and, hopefully .... I’ll get some glorious pics too!!

How can anyone think this isn't MAGICAL!