16 Days

We loved our time at the beach on the Coromandel Peninsula. Justin was totally in his element, commenting about every five minutes that he wants to one day live at the beach. After Mt. Mounganui we went to Bowentown where we were supposed to stay at a cute little B&B right on the beach to give ourselves a break from the van/tent but when we arrived we found out that we had been double booked. This was a gigantic bummer since this is the high season and it can be very tricky to find places to stay. We ended up camping two nights at the Bowentown Holiday Park which was a great location - between two amazing beaches - but it wasn't very peaceful. Our neighbors, all Kiwis, were taking full advantage of being on holiday and carried on most of the night laughing and drinking. We were pretty beat without a good night's sleep in far too long so instead of camping on the beach at Opoutere we checked into a little motel in Whangamata for a night. After a long walk on the beach, a good night's sleep, a great morning run and some breakfast we are felt renewed and refreshed and ready to head up the peninsula to Hahei. We stayed two nights at the holiday park which might be our last camping.
While in Auckland we're trying to get the car cleaned up and see if the dealer I bought if from would like to buy it back, we did about 25 pounds of laundry this morning and tomorrow we're seeing a movie Justin's really excited about: Avitar in 3D on IMAX. I'm a little dubious, but game.
Our friends Jon and Sara are currently traveling in Japan. If you'd like to check out their adventures they have a blog (that's super creative and fun to read- we're hooked): http://whitesquarereddot.tumblr.com/

Catch up on Book Reviews:

Mudbound by Hilary Jordan
 I read this book while on the West Coast but I guess I never got around to reviewing it. This novel is really a beautiful and heartbreaking piece of fiction. Set in 1940s Mississippi the book navigates the hardships of farm life, the strain of family and of course the failure of so many to act humanely to one another. Somehow Jordan manages to gracefully and rarely over dramatically or graphically navigate her way through the tragedies born of the race relations of this time and place. Not a light and casual read but certainly one that I would recommend.

The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown
After Mudbound I guess I needed something quick and somewhat silly to sink my teeth into. While not nearly as fun as Angles and Deamons, The Divinci Code or Deception Point, The Lost Symbol was interesting. It's a typical mystery book based on Mason lore it has all the requisite twists and turns to keep a reader engaged.

Currently reading: A Brief History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson - so far really interesting and remarkably entertaining!  Justin's working on Tipping Point and a book about the history of the CIA in Afghanistan.

Pictures as Promised:
Bowentown

Hahei

Cathedral Cove

Justin's hasn't tired of the real fruit ice cream yet: