Canada Day in New Zealand
So today was Canada Day, one of my favourite days of the year. There is no better way then to spend 'Eh Day on the lake and tubing, having a BBQ and just spending time with family and friends celebrating the awesomeness that is CANADA! Just imagine 34 degree weather spending the whole day by the water, getting a tan, accompanied by your favourite people. There is possibly nothing better.
It was the first time in 3 years that I didn't get to watch fireworks over the Shuswap. In New Zealand, Canada Day is obviously a non-event. However, after what felt like two weeks of non-stop rain (not the drizzling kind either) we had a gorgeous sunny winter weekend in the land of the long white cloud. And what a weekend it was!
New Zealand's west coast is lined by black sand beaches. In the summer these beaches are hot, literally, it hurts to walk on them. In the winter, they are warm and radiate the heat. Piha is one of these spectacular beaches. As you drive out of the Waitakere Ranges, you come around a bend and there it is. The ocean. In a pull out on the side of the road (that I'm pretty sure is actually a drive way) you can see the lush forest mapping the coastline with the ocean beating away at the shore. You can see the Lion lying in all his glory.
Today the beach was a quiet hive of activity. Spread out over the northern and southern beaches were families, couples, dogs and surfers. Of those only the kids and the surfers were brave enough to hit the water, and the kids got wet on accident. Now theres something to note, even in the summertime you don't go to Piha to swim. The water is wild, but with its wildness comes its beauty.
Theres something about being on the beach hearing and watching the water roll in. Its a sound I have always loved. Its a sound that I missed while being in the interior where the bodies of water are rivers and lakes. There is something freeing about the waves and their constant movements. Its the pull of the ocean that makes me so eager to explore this beautiful world.
Though I may not have been in Canada this Canada Day, New Zealand isn't a hard place to have spent it.
Ps. You found Lydia xx
