This is just a short piece about a small trip we took a few weeks ago over to the ocean. There are times when you just have to get away from things, and a short trip to the ocean is a great way to do it.
What made it special was 9apart from the fact that it was a family outing that is) was it’s the middle of winter here, with the wind and the rain, but on this particular day, we had no rain and the sun shone, though it was a bit on the cold side.
We only live about an hour from the ocean, that’s going both east and west we’d drive into the ocean within an hour, but the two sides of the country could not be more different. To the west is Raglan, rugged cliffs dropping onto black beaches (so much iron ore in the sand they literally scoop it off the beach and dump into a dredger that takes it to Japan to make into cars!) and a surfers paradise with one of only a handful of left hand breaks in the world.
To the northeast is Mount Maunganui, a millionaires playground, except they don’t really know it, and it’s shared by all.
Getting there is also pretty interesting as we drive through the kind of landscape that is the stuff movies are made of.
One movie that’s worth a visit, actually one movie set that’s worth the visit is the set that was used for Hobbiton in the movies ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Hobbit’. Yes you can actually visit the set, and see the real hobbit holes, you can even get a drink in the ‘Green Dragon’ but not the ‘Prancing Pony’.
A trip well worth taking, but then again, as a famous inhabitant of Hobbiton once said, “It’s a strange thing, going out of your door, you never know where it will lead”
Lawrence's letters 