My eyes are softly gazing through heavy lids, it would be so easy to close them and doze off. Not yet, first I want to write. I’ll try and type the words that sing about the beauty of the past long weekend, our little winter holiday. It’s easier to paint the colours while the memories are still fresh and the starry sky sparkles in my mind.
A weekend away with a bunch of new friends in a beach house seven hours from home, that was the plan. We added some extra days and extended our time on the road, ready for impromptu adventures along the way. On the first day, long hours of driving through rainy landscapes were cut into smaller pieces by stopping at every op shop, trying on sparkly seventh hand pieces aka treasures and loading the van with funky finds.
Also: coffee. In every drive-through-town there are at least four cafes. Along the highway, in the middle of green rolling hills and grey clouds: another three cafes. Mountain roads with endlessly winding sharp curves, all of a sudden behind a bend: hello cafe. So buzzing on caffeine in a van packed with dress-ups, fluffy PJ’s, velvet blankets, food aplenty and even the good ol’ goon (3 liters of the finest cheapest box wine), we tried our best to get to Napier safe and sound and when we did… We celebrated.
Drinking bubbles, lounging in hot pools until our face turned red, dressing up in our fanciest gowns (golden dress and animal jacket) and taking ourselves out on what must have been the fanciest date of our lives! Which was pretty much eating seafood from cute little plates on a Mickey Mouse table cloth and getting out our disposable camera to save the memory of our shiny faces forever on a shiny piece of paper.
Sweet friends offered us a bed and delicious breakfast before we hit the road again. More rain. More coffee. Arriving at Riversdale Beach was like Christmas morning running down the stairs doing happy dances with excitement. A magical wooden beach house filled with friends awaited us and the rest of the weekend was like a dream.
A dream of laughing so hard I cried, beautiful conversations, juicy silliness, epic dancing, beach and forest exploring, skinny dipping, eating the most delicious meals and freshly baked warm out of the oven crispy on the outside perfectly soft on the inside sourdough bread. At 2 AM. I fell in love so many times.
The drive back was a trip of stories and emotions as the sky turned from blue to grey to rainbows and bright sunset colours. Nature working her magic. As soon as night fell, we found a freedom campground right by a rushing river. There is something about arriving somewhere in the dark. The surprise is revealed only in the light of the early morning sun. Before another snug night in the van, we watched millions of stars shimmering brightly. I saw three shooting stars just like the night we first met, pinched myself while making a wish thinking magic really does exist.