New Zealand - Whangaumu Bay

It's such a strange feeling arriving somewhere after dark and not knowing at all what your surroundings look like.

The scenery from the house near Whangaumu Bay was out of this world. By far the best views from any place we have ever stayed. 

Excited kids doing some exploring and ocean gazing hoping to see some sea life.

We were literally out on the edge of this quiet secluded cove. That morning mum and I drove into Tutukaka to find a food shop to get some groceries for our day. The only shop nearby was a small convenient store similar to a gas station. 

The weather was strange and a bit cooler. It was beautiful so we walked down the road to play a game of boules. The wind and rain picked up and had us running back inside.

After the rainstorm passed we decided to drive into Ngunguru (opposite direction to Tutukaka) and have a look around. We found a great view point.

The bay below was just around the corner from where we were staying, we spent the rest of the afternoon there.

Hiking along the rocks was fun and we saw a few small crabs. 

The tide started coming in quickly so we had to race back.

Black sand, pretty fascinating.

Aaron, Pops and the children mounted a stick in the ground to see how quickly the tide was rising. It was nearly submerged by the time we left.

Lots of cool treasures to be found.

Before leaving they all wanted to have a go at trying to knock the stick down with a rock. After many attempts the stick had been hit a couple times but did not move.

There was this massive tree on the edge of the drop off from the house we were staying in. I was taken away with it's beauty and took pictures of it during different times of day.  It was so enchanting.

As we put the kids to bed mama and pops could be seen taking their daily walk down on the beach.

What a beautiful ending to a beautiful and relaxing day.