Easter 2018

Once again, Easter Weekend saw us off on our annual long weekend away; this time to the West coast of the North Island. About 1 hour up the coast from New Plymouth is a small settlement called Mokau. We were booked in to a bach which was named "Mokino" due to the fact it was situated between MOkau and AwaKINO   :)

This year was always going to be a bit different as some family members were unable to make it so it was going to be a smaller group than usual...or so we thought!

Upon arrival, we hurried indoors-everyone eager to grab a good bedroom! Mum and Dad had already stayed one night and they showed us upstairs to the main rooms. Upon opening the bedroom door, Briar took one look inside then quickly closed the door, with a very strange look upon her face...huh?  So I go over, open the door ...and let out a loud squeal!!!! 

There, sitting on the bed with huge grins on their faces, were my brother and sister-in-law, Arthur and Dawn-all the way from Canada!!! They had decided to fly over for a couple of weeks and kept it a surprise until we all met up. OMG-best kept secret ever!  :)

So, it was a long time before we all caught up with each other and stopped grinning stupidly at each other, hugging whenever we felt like it and generally reassuring ourselves that they were actually here in NZ in person! It seemed like such a long time since we had seen them, although Arthur had been out in November 2016 for Mum and Dad's 50th wedding anniversary but Dawn had been unable to come with him. So it was fantastic to have them both together and we loved every minute we spent with them.

 This was the view of Mount Taranaki from the deck of the bach.Perched on a clifftop, we saw some amazing sunsets (and one sunrise!) and spent a lot of time sitting on the deck admiring the views.There was a track that took us down to the beach-a 3 minute walk going down and only a fraction longer coming back up!

Here you can see the views from inside the bach-it was the perfect place for a holiday and so well set up for large groups/families like ours. The downstairs area had its own bathroom and bedrooms-ours opened out towards the sea and the garden. Upstairs was 2 bedrooms, another bathroom and the open plan kitchen/dining/lounge area. 

We spent three days exploring the area and especially enjoyed thee area known as the "Three Sisters" at Tongaporoutu-a 10 min drive down the coast.

I am unable to download my own photos that I took so you will have to make do with the links for now. Just believe me when I say, if ever you are in the area DO take the time to explore this part of the coast-it is picturesque! Just one word of warning-you do have to be aware of tides; it is only accessible at low tide and you certainly wouldn't want to get trapped by the incoming tide!

So, yet another wonderful part of NZ that we have stayed at- we have been doing our "Easter Holiday" for 10 years now and have visited some spectacular parts of the country.