A couple of weeks ago, we headed off to Mangawhai Heads for just under a week for a holiday (a Christmas pressie from Mum & Dad – thanks!).

We stayed in a bach not far from the beach, and Si, Jo, and Adam came to visit during the weekend (we played Scrabble Funworder, of all things!  There was also fish’n’chips at Langs Beach and other more beach’y things, of course). This was Sam’s first visit to the beach, so he got to experience sand (eating it was popular), and the sea (all good, even the dunking, although he got a bit cold the first time). Happily, the weather stayed good right until the day we were leaving – we pushed the holiday about as late in the year as a beach trip could be (which, of course, means that things aren’t very busy, which we like).

Overall, we had a really great time. It was nice to get a break (I had to do some work, but this is the closest to a proper holiday for ages, since I used up the last one moving house) and to have some time away from things and well as get to spend some time in the sun, sand and sea.

There’re a whole heap of photos (this post is a little slow, so you’ve probably seen those already), and also a short (about 4 minutes) video, half of Sam on the beach and half photos of Sam on the beach). The video is available in small (7.3 MB) and medium (21MB) [both H.264].