Waikanae Weekend

So motivation for blogging is still fairly minimal - I'm hoping at some time it will return. I know I have like a million posts to read, at some point I will catch up (who knows when!).

Anyway onto today's post, a few weeks back Rich and I thought that it was a good idea to get out of the city and have a relaxed mini break. As you my have guessed - I'm not so good at relaxing, or taking actual breaks. So I always knew it was going to be a bit of a challenge.

We decided to book a "cabin in the woods" which was more of a cottage on the edge of a reserve up the coast in Waikanae.

There were some interesting bits and pieces around the house and in the garden. This clown was slightly creepy though, although I don't like clowns - give me a zombie any day.

 We arrived on Friday night on after work and had a quiet dinner out - on Saturday morning we decided to take in some nature and walked along the Waikanae River.

Until we finally reached Waikanae Beach - the island is Kapiti Island (just so you know not everything around here is called Waikanae).

We had a spot of lunch at a cafe at Waikanae Beach and then found a cute retro shop - it was an amazing store, can you believe I didn't buy any fabric or patterns? I was pretty amazed at my restraint!

We were a bit tired from our walk, so decided to head back to Waikanae on the local bus - which was small, cute and so cheap!

Our last stop of the day was to visit the Kapiti Museum - the museum is run by the local community and is pretty cute. It's full of "the way people used to live" type displays. I liked the sewing and clothing displays (obviously).

After our visit to the museum, the skies turned black, there was a storm expected, so we thought it was a good idea to turn back to our cottage.

However, we did manage to have one final walk before returning to the city after our weekend away.

Bye bye Waikanae - I miss the beach and the bird calls and the sunshine!

Weekend Walking - Waikanae River

It's now summer and Rich is taking summer off study so its time to head out of the city and do some day trips.Our first day trip of this summer was last Sunday when we headed out to Waikanae - we decided to walk along the Waikanae River to Waikanae Beach and back (it ended up being a 12km walk altogether). 

We caught the bus from the city to Waikanae Villiage and had a quick look around and ate some pizza for lunch. I saw this in a shop window in Waikanae - I guess this isn't something you'd everywhere right?

We started our walk along the river - it was such a HOT day, so many people were in the river swimming.

It wasn't long before we came across our first bridge - I like pedestrian bridges when I'm out walking.

Then it was time for even more walking.....

We finally made it to a park where heaps of families were hanging out, having picnics and kids were playing in the playground and most importantly. There was an ice cream truck! So we had to have an ice cream!

After our treats, it was time for more walking and another bridge.

 Then before you knew it we arrived at Waikanae Beach! But we only stayed there for the few moments. We weren't planning on spending a day at the beach or anything. We just wanted to walk there for fun.

That hill you can see in the distance is Kapiti Island, its a nature reserve, I would love to visit someday soon.

Then it was time to head back to Waikanae Villiage and catch a train back to the city. We got a bit lost along the way and ended up in El Rancho - I think it was private property and we weren't meant to be there. Opps!

We saw this derelict gazebo along the track - it was quite beautiful.

I was also super excited when we came across a rabbit family - can you see them in the picture below.

Finally Rich took this photo of me on the walk - obviously I like to dress appropriately for a day of walking. 

I hope you're all having a lovely week - I'm counting down the days till Christmas break! Only four working days to go!!