I've just returned from a weekend in Heaven.
Not the celestial one, of course, but someplace a little bit closer to home.
Sandy Bay. A little slice of Kiwi Paradise on earth.
Unlike celestial heaven's golden gleaming, this Kiwi paradise is laced with seaweed and cobwebs, but it is paradise nonetheless.
The sort of place I dream of living One Day.
Going to sleep with the sound of the waves crashing.
Waking to the call of gulls, as the sun peeks in my window, revealing a breathtaking stretch of sea and sand.
I dream of evenings swimming at dusk, walks at sunset collecting driftwood for the fire.
Painting the tides, the sea in all its shades. Writing at a desk overlooking the ocean.
I can imagine wild winter nights, storms crashing as firelight flickers.
Summer days in the shade if the pohutukawa, watching grandchildren climb and run and splash.
Did I say grandchildren?
Yes. I'm figuring this dream might be some time in coming.
I'm not asking for a mansion, just a cottage by the sea, with enough room for loved ones to come and share weekends and holidays.
"It would be very isolated," Mr G cautions me when I speak my dream to him on the return journey.
OK so maybe a Sandy Bay location is a little too far from the rest of the world, but somewhere like that.
A cottage by the sea, me, my honey and internet connection.
What more could a girl want?
Well, dreams are free.
.........................
We had a wonderful weekend at Sandy Bay which is like our home away from home, in technology-free paradise. Mr G went fishing (but caught nothing), the kids were in and out of the water like dolphins. We hosted our Swiss friends and they agreed that Sandy Bay is indeed, heavenly.
I thought of Gail, and how we had planned to return to Sandy Bay as soon as they return from China. We are still waiting. I hoped for a glimpse of PaisleyJade, but she must have been busy. I was reminded of my first time meeting Leonie, when she wandered up the beach to find us last summer; how we swam together right here. Sandy Bay is a great place to hang out with friends.
We didn't want to come home and managed to make a weekend feel like a week. I hope to return to Sandy Bay with Gail before too long. Come home soon, Gail!
♥