A Family Visit to Maraetai

Today we are heading off to visit my brothers, Derek, Ralph and Gavin and their repective partners, Jackie, Vicky and Gilly.  I am so looking forward to seeing them. We will be having a barbeque and a few drinks and a bit of a yarn in true kiwi fashion.

I have managed to get the timer off pat now so I am able to join the group for photos without too much trouble.  So from left to right at the back we have me, Vickie, Gilly, Gavin, Jackie and in the front is Val, Ralph and Derek. Missing from the photo are Ralph’s twin  Laura and our youngest sister Mandy, who is now living in Brisbane and has just had a baby girl on Thursday 13th.  I am looking forward to getting back to Oz to see her.

There is nothing quite like a family get together, reminiscing about the past, making plans to catch up in the future.

 Maraetai is part of the Pohutukawa coast and the name Maraetai in Maori means “meeting place by the sea”.

Maraetai was an early European settlement dating back to 1838. The beach is very safe and ideal for swimming fishing, having a picnic or relaxing on the grassed areas or just walking along the beach taking in the panoramic views stretching from Auckland city to the Coromandel Ranges.

Derek lives in an ideal position with his house so close to the beach and there is a boating ramp next to the Maraetai Beach Boating Club for when he gets the opportunity to go out fishing.

 Ralph and Vicky are planning  a trip to Australia in December (providing Ralph gets himself organised and arranges to get his passport).  The Oz family are all excited about catching up with them.

Big brother Gavin has recently been in Australia for a visit and hopefully he will come over again in the not too distant future. 

 Derek organised the barbie and Jackie dished out the most scrumptous carrot cake for dessert.  As the cooler evening set in we moved inside by the fire that Derek had lit earlier.  The nights tend to be cool in September although the days are  mostly lovely and warm. Fortunately the rain had stopped the day before so we were able to sit around on the patio in the sun.

All too soon it was time to go, so we followed Vicky and Ralph back to the motorway turnoff, as the route we had taken to Maraetai was through Brookby instead of taking the Redoubt Rd turnoff.   One thing I do find frustrating in NZ is that the motorway off ramp signs have street names rather than suburbs, so it you are looking for a particular suburb and don’t know the street names, you are pretty much at a loss. Still  for all thatwe managed to get around reasonably well.

Filed under: Auckland • Family • New Zealand

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