Abel Tasmin

We found the most amazing beaches in New Zealand. One of my favorite was the Abel Tasmin Bay at the northern tip of the South Island. It can only be reached by a very windy, gravel mountain road. When you finally reach it, it takes your breath away. The sand is the color of pumpkin bread batter with spices mixed in, and like all NZ, water it is a beautiful turquoise that you can see straight to the bottom of. Truly paradise.


I love the different ways my children approach a beach. Whitney of course immediately goes towards the birds. She always has, since our first trip to the beach in California when she was 18 months old. She has to follow them, feed them, chase them and tell you all about them.

Stevie, Daniel, and Janey go straight for the water. They just get their toes wet to begin with of course, especially if they happened to be fully dressed. They always end up drenched however, Janey ¾ dipped because she is so short. They always invent some game to play together in the waves, and Daniel loves to taunt the ocean, “You want a piece of me?” sure that it makes the waves come in further.

When Ellie approaches a beach, she goes straight for the sand. She immediately picks up two handfuls and examines it, as if judging it’s quality. She sits down where ever she is and digs, and builds and buries herself. She will play for hours alone in the sand and mud, and beware if you get anywhere near her, because she will always throw it playfully at you.

We often stopped at a beach to look at some famous or amazing sight as we are passing through, so the kids didn't always have their swim suits on. I’ve decided they have more fun in the water fully dressed, because they are not really supposed to be getting wet. This made for a laundry nightmare, but as Steve put it, “If life was only about clean clothes, we wouldn’t be in New Zealand.” It’s a good thing they usually had dry swimsuits in the car to change into for the ride home!

To see a map of the places we traveled so far in this series, click on this link: <http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&ie=UTF8&ll=-40.359103,172.875366&spn=8.067848,12.128906&z=6&msid=116765397961150020384.000451b63510a46db34d4>