No Poo Beach

What do you do when it's so hot outside it feels like a Bikram Yoga studio?

You go to the beach. 

 

The past two days were scorchers, with temperatures reaching 35 degrees Celsius, humidity nearly 90%, and UV Index 11. Naturally, once chores were out of the way (like getting a cell phone, an embarrassing but delightful shade of pink, and picking up dish soap), my new mates and I were drawn to the beach like magnets. It's about 30 minutes away by bus, or faster if you're lucky enough to have a friend with a car. 

The kiwis of the group were torn between New Brighton and Sumner, but due to a recent sewage leak at the latter beach, the "No Poo" option won. On Saturday, despite the sun in the city, the beach remained under permanent cloud. We had better luck on Sunday, when the sun was shining brightly enough for us Northerners to hang in the water for a little while, that is until our legs tired of fighting the massive rip tide threatening to pull us out to sea.

New Brighton Pier

The ladies (l to r Beck, Livvy and Arleen) catching some rays

I apologize to all those back in snowy Canada who weren't quite as fortunate to be able to spend Waitangi Day in the sun. Instead, I'll pepper your day with a few of the latest New Zealand antics, brought to you by the grocery store: chicken flavoured chips (Becks says they're delicious, not sure I agree), eggs sitting out on shelves (apparently they don't warrant refrigeration here), my trusty cereal Raisin Bran disguised as Sultana Bran, and dog food packaged like a hefty sausage.

Till the next adventure,

Ally

p.s. Felt my first earthquake on Friday (don't worry Mum, it was only a 4.6 ... just enough to shake the building a little bit) ... check out New Zealand's latest here!