Raumati break

Hi there

Sunday, NZ time

Last week, I spent a few nights in Raumati, about 45 minutes "up the line" from Wellington.  I went for lots of lovely walks on Raumati Beach, visited several cafes, caught another cold....

I cannot believe that I was four days free of my last head cold and, then, I come down with another one!  I figured I was free of a cold for my glaucoma surgery on Wed19th, but now I'm in the fifth day of a stuffy nose, I'm beside myself with stress.   A decision by the hospital will have to be made over the next day or two.

As I was walking along Raumati Beach, passersby kept telling me about this weird tree stump that had recently washed up on the shore, with some sort of living shells on it.  One little boy said the tree stump was like a seal.  When he touched a shell, other shells sort of shrunk away.

below: view from my rented holiday home at Raumati Beach.  That's Kapiti Island.

Traumatic Raumati swimming

Hi there

I was visiting the little coastal village of Raumati last week and I decided to go for a swim.

I stepped into a pair of Crocs.  I don't usually wear Crocs in the water but, hey,  I'm a fast learner when it comes to walking through the waters at Raumati - no way did I want my feet torn to bits on broken shells.  Been there before and done that.

Before I'd even reached ankle-depth in the murky water I'd crunched down on a full-sized paua shell (abalone shell, for my one American reader).  Shells and thousands of twigs carpeted the sea bottom.  Similar sea debris swirled around me.  I trudged for ages before the water got up to my waist.

Oh, and did I mention that it was cold? The air temp that morning in Raumati, just a few hours previous to my swim,  had been 1c.   1c!   I was the only person in the sea and nobody was walking the shore.  I was a long way out and, honestly, had I got into difficulty, who would know?  So I didn't spend too long in the water.

That's six sea swims for the month so far.  This year, seven swims minimum per month is the goal.