Catching Up...New Year's

New Year's has come and gone, and I hope so far that everyone is off to a great start!  My New Year began a bit different than what I'm use to.  For starters, it's summer here in New Zealand.  Secondly, I live less than 30 miles from the beach.  You guessed it, Ben and I made like good little kiwis and departed Hamilton in search of sand and surf.  It didn't take us long to find it, and we managed to find a spot away from the rest of civilization.

See this...this was what it looks like on the ride to our secluded hidey hole...oh, and the white dots amongst the green are sheep.

After parking and hiking walking down to the beach, we were rewarded by the fact that we were the only people there!  That's one of the perks of the west coast...it's not as touristy as the east coast.  FYI...touristy does NOT mean like Panama City during Spring Break.

This is the view I had while sprawled out in all my preggo glory...

For the record, those waves are no joke.  That particular day, the waves were around the 7 foot mark with 3 seconds between.  I kept to being a beached whale for the most part...it was an actual workout to be in the water, and I don't particularly like waves that go over my head when I'm standing waist deep.

There's a quick look at the wave size...this pic will probably be gone, and I'll probably be choked once Ben realizes I've used him for demonstration purposes!! :D :D  Hi, honey!!!

Anyhoo...back to the beach...  The water is a lot more chilly than it is down on the Gulf Coast.  I shivered a bit when I got in, but it was great compared to the hot sand.  I'm sure it comes as no surprise to learn that the black sand is in fact rather toasty.  It's got iron in it, so yeah, it holds quite a bit of heat.  The bright side to that, it felt amazing to have the warmth of it under your back with the cool breezes blowing off of the ocean.  It didn't take long for me to fall fast asleep...and wake up blistered.

Sunscreen is a must down here.  I don't mean apply SPF 30 or 40 once and you're set....I mean you better reapply hourly.  NZ has the highest melanoma rate in the world because of the extreme UV rays here. (thanks to the hole in the ozone layer being over us).  People are advised to "Slip, Slop, Slap, and Wrap".  Slip on long sleeved protective clothing, slop on at least SPF 30, slap on a hat, and use wrap around shades.  That's my public service announcement on sunscreen, now back to my story...

Being blistered wasn't so much fun, and it cut into our scheduled beach time for New Year's Day.  After waking from our naps, we packed up, headed home, and crashed hard.  We were sound asleep before midnight, and didn't get to enjoy being the first country to ring in 2013...LOL!!  The next day, we were lazy around the house and tried not to move too much.  We didn't have black eyed peas, greens, or cornbread...come to think of it, I'm not even sure if I can get black eyed peas here!  We'll see how my luck holds out this year.  It may be that I have my Momma ship black eyed peas to me, and I'll start a new tradition here in NZ next year!

So, there you have it, my first New Year in my new country!  My year is looking great so far, and we still have a lot to come!! :D