This morning Sophie and I met up with good friend Marrisa and her beautiful daughter, Bethany. It was a tad windy at Island Bay playground and us ladies were keen for a coffee. We drove round to The Bach. This cafe, from the outside, is just like a traditional Kiwi bach – a simple, wooden, building with a deck rolling out from the side to make the most of the sweeping vistas over the Cook Strait.
Inside is a warm ambiance of creativity with sweet scented floral arrangements and the works of local artists for sale. It’s the sort of place would-be authors and artists could while away a morning over a coffee. It is frequented by a mixture of locals and tourists. Even business folk from the city take a ride out to the South Coast to have a meeting here.
However, the service and food isn’t always the best (see reviews at DineOut). Nevertheless, on a fine day it’s a great spot to take in the view (but when a southerly is blowing in, take shelter by the log-burner and cosy up!). Thankfully, on this occasion, the big breakfast brunch was superb and the coffee just the ticket. Unfortunately the basket of toys was close to empty (this is something we almost expect in Wellington cafes; as most are extremely child-friendly). But toys weren’t necessary as Bethany and Sophie were happy to browse through the fashion magazines and take in the view from the comfiest arm-chair in The Bach! I also found a bonus bottle of bubbles at the bottom of my ‘Mary Poppins’ bag – along with the moldy banana and leaking suncream tube!
In the afternoon we went for a swim and Charlotte was incredible at diving under the water and swimming to retrieve toy crabs and starfish. She’s swimming well with a float now and can swim underwater for a good few metres. Her strokes are getting stronger and soon I can see her taking off. It’s so wonderful to see how happy she is in the water. Little Sophie was keen to follow in big sister’s footsteps and dipping her face in to blow bubbles.
With a bit of luck the girls will go to sleep at a reasonable hour this evening!
