A weekend of R & R

Well what a glorious weekend it turned out to be. Hot, sunny days that made you feel like summer is really here.  Labour Weekend is always wet, so 3 days of sunshine was blissful.  The photo above is of the Main Beach at the Mt.  So Saturday Tony did "boy's stuff" around the caravan and I went shopping in Tauranga.  Specifically went there to go to the quilt shop in town, but I got there at 1pm and they asked me to leave as they were closing. Never mind, they missed out on a sale!! Guess they wanted to hit the sun and the beach too!!

Luckily a couple of other shops down that street caught my eye and I found some Steam a Seam that Barb had mentioned in a post a couple of days ago!! And then a fabric shop was having a sale, so I spent up large there and stocked up on a wee bit of fabric ;-) Wandered around the shops for a bit more and then walked back to the Mt which is about 7kms. That bag of fabric felt like a ton weight after an hour's walking though!!

Sunday, Tony had a great idea in that we would climb to the top of the Mt. It normally takes about 45 mins to an hour depending on which way you go up.  I suggested brunch first, so we went to the Tay Street Beach Cafe which is now my new favourite cafe.  It always looks busy when we drive past, so that is usually a good sign. Exceptional service, awesome food and great coffee. Will definitely go back.

We then meandered at a very leisurely pace towards the Mt, taking in the Busker's Festival on the way.  And then we were there. I looked up...

Now this may seem like an innocuous set of steps, but suddenly the warm brioche with roasted bananas, freshly cooked bacon and roasted walnuts with maple syrup didn't seem like such a good idea an hour previously!! So deep breath, and off we went.

Ok, the first rest stop 10 minutes into it!!

Now we come to a fork in the path...the sign says we can either go left and take the difficult track or go right and take the moderate track.  Tony actually asked me which way I wanted to go. That was such a no brainer.  Without a moment's hesitation and gasping between words, I managed to say let's go right!! I think secretly he was hoping I would choose the difficult path!

Not too far to go now. A little rest stop on the way. That is Matakana Island in the background.

Yay, made it!! This spectacular view made it absolutely worth every aching step of the way!! Look at that beach.  Just gorgeous!

Made it back down to my second favourite cafe in the whole wide world..The Deckchair!! A smoothie each just hit the spot nicely!