Last night we fell asleep to the sound of the native birds in the area… apparently we missed the penguin though, which according to our neighbour, sounded like a tsunami warning – she was all ready to jump out of bed and make a run for the top of the hill… hmmm.

We woke to a beautiful calm and warm morning, with people out stand up paddle boarding (or SUPing as people seem to call it). After a lovely breakfast on the deck, watching the SUPers, we decided to go on a wee bush walk to a bay on the other side of the island. It was all along private land, which is mostly a bunch of sections for sale – we found one to buy… only 1.8 million dollars apparently. Jessie found some loose Toi Toi and had fun chasing us with it, while we imagined how much it must cost to build here even after buying your section (not to mention the flash boat you’d then need as well, because you definitely wouldn’t be wanting to catch that ferry often).

The walk took us about an hour and then we grabbed one of the double kayaks (kayaks, snorkels and masks, stand up paddle boards and dinghies are all included in the room rate) and headed out into the bay – Jessie absolutely loved it, and was especially taken with the buoys attached to most of the boats. Afterwards she found her little friend and they built sandcastles while Craig went snorkelling (a whole new experience for him after he had his eyes lasered a few months ago!) and us mums chatted. Even though the other wee girl is five years older than Jessie, they’ve had such a ball together, and we’re now really looking forward to having Jessie bring a friend on some (cheaper) holidays in the future.

Lunch options today were a selection of salads and tacos, Jessie had Mac and cheese (which was probably the most expensive Mac and cheese of our lives, but she ate it – I kind of already knew, but this trip has confirmed for me that Jessie always wants lots snacks during the day because she’s bored, which causes her not to eat a lot of her main meals – she’s been so distracted here that she hasn’t really been snacking and has been eating all of her dinner… something to work on when we get home)… Craig was feeling fancy so he had a wee tawny with his lunch – he said this was because he got so much salt water in his mouth during his snorkelling that he needed something sweet. So much food led to a wee nap (at least for Craig, while Jessie watched a show, and I started writing this blog).

After our naps we hit the beach again, Craig tried SUPing (it wasn’t for him). The weather has been spectacular here today… I definitely didn’t pack for what feels like summer weather, but we spent the day in swimwear. After reluctantly leaving the beach, we headed in for our last dinner (the food here is so good, it’s no wonder people rave about it… totally justified), and then put Jessie to bed (at her actual bedtime, which was great after two late nights) and took our bottle of Argentinian Malbec (the hosts here are Argentinian) onto our little deck and enjoyed our last night before heading inside to hide Jessie’s Easter eggs throughout the suite – I’ve been using the Easter Bunny as a negotiating tactic all week, but Jessie has been calling me out on it, today especially. “Jessie, don’t blow bubbles in your drink – the Easter Bunny won’t come” “but how does he know, mummy?” “Because he’s watching, Jessie” “but where is he?” “Ummmmmm” .

But I’m looking forward to seeing her excitement in the morning when she sees that he has indeed come, before we get ready to jump on our 9.45am ferry back to the mainland, and head to Leigh for more fun activities.

I hope everyone is daylight savings ready, and eat all the chocolate you like tomorrow… who cares, life’s for living.

Laus ❤