Took a hot! cold! hot! very cold! shower this morning. The outdoor shower evidently doesn't work very well. Alison put little flowers on my pile of clothes while I was in the toilet. How sweet of her.
I found Kaori, the Japanese girl & asked what her name & town was again so I could write it down. She was hanging out the wash.
I borrowed the "Lord of the Rings, Location Book" from one of the German women. Took a walk down to the beach with Nina while Alison looked at the book. Picked up a couple shells. The pathways, archway, pond & alter were ornately tiled in a Buddhist sort of way. Everything was placed in a calm, serene, fung shui sort of way. Very beautiful.
I said goodbye to Kaori & off we went. Over the hills & around the inlets. We played "Spotto" again.
Stopped at PuPu Springs. The water is so clear that 10 feet down looks like 3" of water. I think they said it's one of the clearest bodies of water in the southern hemisphere. It's against the law to swim in it because that would disturb the environment. Special permits are given to professional divers to explore the waters, & instructions on how they are to climb in are posted on signs, & NO DIVING.
Next was Golden Bay / Farewell Spit state park. We walked over hill & dale, down to a beautiful, clean, golden sanded beach that only a family of 4 was on it beside ourselves.
Tansy & I got in the water. The rest were too cold from the wind & laid their towels out in a sheltered area to sunbath & read. When I got back to the sunbathers, I was so exhausted from swimming. I laid my towel out, plopped down, & just lay there for a while, too pooped to do anything. Then the cookies, crackers, & such were pulled out & the munching on crisp apples was too much to ignore & so had some.
After a bit I dried off & got most of the sand off me. I put my shirt on to protect from the sun. It was burning every place that I had missed with the sun block.
We all had fun trying to walk across a piece of driftwood that sat between two sand banks. It was tricky but I finally made it across on my fourth try. Even Frank got in on it. A bunch took off to cool in the ocean but I stayed behind. I took my camera out & got some nice pictures of driftwood, sea grass, & wind blown trees.
On our way back to civilization, we took a different route. It was interesting walking on the sheep trails that terrace the slopes. Found a big gnarly tree to take a picture of. My feet were swelling & my shoes were getting awfully tight.
Off we drove, stopping at a few galleries & places, including an interesting restaurant called Whole Meal. It took at least an hour to get our food. A live band started up & played Nina's favorite tune.
By the time we got to the campground, it was almost dark. Alison & Tansy slept in Tansy's tent & I got Alison's tent to myself. I had to get up in the middle of the night & couldn't go back to sleep for a long time. It started getting light when I finally did & then Alison & Tansy woke me up when they loudly started to discuss sand flies getting into their tent. Then they asked me if I'd like to go down to the beach & watch the sun rise. I said I'd meet them there. They got back before I was up. They said the sun had already risen before they got there.
