A Day on Wainui Beach

A sliding door opens wide and this picture, taken from the giant comfy bed, shows why we booked this airbnb. Art's unpacking his homemade grill. Steak and greens for late breakfast.

But first, it's a beautiful morning for a long walk on the beach.

This is a serious beach house, but I like it.

Wainui is a surfing beach.

And also, apparently, a place to take your ponies for a nice run.

Houses fronting the sand come in all shapes and sizes. That little pink bach is pretty cute. 

But back to the steaks.  We are officially hungry.

And I'm doing my part.

 Happy

There's a walking path to the beach adjacent to our little apartment. A woman with something that looked like pastry in a paper bag stopped to say hi. I asked where she'd got her sweet and she told us at the dairy just up the road.

NZ flora

When we first visited, I thought a dairy was a place to get fresh milk and cream (am I living in the 1800s or what?). Turns out a dairy is a convenience store, much like a 7-11 only usually privately owned and run and without the giant soft drinks. We walked up to the dairy a few blocks away this afternoon for a flat white. I should have taken a picture of it but I liked this place across the street more.

There's also a kitchen in this dairy, the cook making pork belly and greens for dinner in or take-out.
Newspaper featuring a wee local chess champ.

Back in our rooms, a non-stop view scrolls past. See the calla lily at bottom? They seem to naturalize here.

Grey skies part for a final glimpse of sun. We're rested and ready for the next leg.