Easter Monday we drove out to Makara; a place of wild, untamed beauty and rural bliss. With all the windows wound down fully we delighted in feeling the rush of air through the car as we drove the winding, narrow, road to Makara Beach. The girls faces were a picture of excitement at seeing sheep, cows and horses (Sophie kept asking, ‘Where are the pigs?’).
The Makara Cafe welcomed our arrival from the stomach churning drive. It has all the right ingredients – good sausage rolls and toasties, quality coffee and an selection of ice-creams for the young at heart! AND TOYS!
Feeling refreshed, we enjoyed a stunning walk to the most breathtaking panoramic viewpoint from the South Island up to Mana Island and Kapiti Island beyond. We didn’t manage the full Makara beach walk, which we’ve done a couple of times previously – once when I was pregnant with Charlotte and once with her in a back-pack. It’s an incredible walk – but the heat was too much for the girls to cope; with the beach and paddling in the sea far more appealing.
We spent hours on the beach tossing pebbles as far as possible into the calm, clear water. Charlotte delighted in perfecting her ‘creation’ (see the photos below). And Charlotte was very excited at the number of nursery web spider webs that adored the surrounding bush.
On the way home Sophie kept saying, ‘Look out for the purple horse!’. We were all saying, ‘What purple horse?’ and all of a sudden she’s shouting, ‘There! There!’ – and sure enough there was a horse in a purple coat. She’d remembered seeing it on our way to the beach. She was very keen to return home via as many tunnels as possible – she has a tunnel fetish! Her particular favourite is always the Mt Victoria tunnel where liberal tooting of horns is always encouraged!
It was the perfect finish to a wonderful weekend. Dan did the ‘man jobs’ in the garden on our return from the walk; whilst I went round to one of my neighbour’s houses for an Easter egg hunt with half a dozen other families. The girls were surprisingly restrained on their chocolate consumption (can’t say I’ve been so well behaved!).
Click on the album to see all the photographs of our beautiful visit to Makara beach:
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| Makara Beach |
