Day 7: Auckland: Sand Dunes and Beaches

Amanda found us a gem of a location for our families to kick off summer vacation together: Lake Wainamu Sand Dunes. This place has the vast open sand dune feeling of White Sands, NM and the “run out of control laughing” fun of the dune in Pacific City, OR. This area has been used in many movies, including today, when they were filming something about the local Maori meeting a horse for the first time.

After sliding down the hill and playing in the river, we walked back through the river bed to the car. Next we drove a bit further to Bethells Beach, where we enjoyed a picnic lunch in the parking lot before heading down to the water. Along one side of the beach there was a river between the ocean and lagoon, where the water moved in and out with the waves. The kids loved this section and played there nearly the entire time. Amanda and I enjoyed a walk down the beach to a big cave at the end.

Each chance they get, Madeleine and Nicholas have been playing Uno Flip, N’s new favorite game. Cooper has been enjoying playing Lego with Elliott and has found a new super fan in Zoe who wants to play with him any chance she gets.

Rob and I have loved playing Codenames while chatting with George and Amanda each night after the kids go to bed. This truly feels like we are back to the old days when we vacationed with them around WA and OR. It is going to be really hard to leave these amazing friends, knowing that getting together is much more difficult now.