Another gorgeous day...

I took these while out walking Milo earlier today, you can just see the houses on the clifftop at Beachlands in the photo to the left of this writing. The water was warm and inviting so it didn't take too much for me and Milo to be in having a swim - needless to say I then had to bath him when we got home. Why is it that he will happily swim around down at the beach, but acts like his world is ending when theres shampoo involved? As I walked along it got me thinking about this wonderful country that we live in. I can't think of anywhere in New Zealand where you dont' get great scenery...how lucky we are to live somewhere not only so beautiful but also safe. I have travelled, and yep there are some amazing places around - everywhere has something to offer. But we really are a lot of wonder rolled into one small space! In the top photo you can see a flat island, which funnily enough is called, wait for it... "Flat Island!". When the tide is low you can walk right out along a sand bank and then around the actual island, or you can walk over the top of it - but you are fighting the bush if you do that. Pretty cool really. Too far to take poor old Milo now though, he's not up to such a long walk. While this is a fantastic place to live, we are getting ready to move on, so I will make the effort to get out and take more photos...Beachlands is changing rapidly as more and more houses are getting built. We have had three new 'estates' in the last two years and there is land being cut up now for one more, with the biggest one yet in the pipe line. While progress is inevitable the newbies are wanting reticulated water (we are on tanks) and supermarkets (we shop once a fortnight in 'town'), we all used to know each other and look out for each other (now not everybody says hi...)and as those changes come about we know that's not the lifestyle for us...but in the mean time we will tresure living in this place...