Piha

We are in Piha at the moment which is a beautiful little coastal town close to Auckland, at the foot of lush green mountains, slightly reminiscent of El Salvador. You wind your way down the greenest, windiest road to get here and then find yourself on a beautiful beach with huge rocks on each side, one is called Lions rock because it is shaped like a sleeping lion. You should google it, it’s lovely. The campsite is 2 minutes walk from the beach down a winding walkway and the site is very cheap to stay on and run by really welcoming people.

In the kitchen there are 'Instructions for Life' written on the wall. So in honour of my new found hippy travelling spirit (which Will keeps putting a dampener on by being grumpy) I have written them out for you all:

1) Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risks.

2) When you lose, don’t lose the lesson

3) Follow the 3 R’s: Respect for self, Respect for others, Responsibility for all your actions

4) Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck

5) Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly

6) Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship

7) When you realise you’ve made a mistake take immediate steps to correct it

8) Spend some time alone everyday

9) Open your arms to change but don’t let go of your values

10) Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer

11) Live a good honourable life. Then when you get older and think back you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time

12) A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life

13) In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past

14) Share your knowledge it’s a way to achieve immortality

15) Be gentle with the earth

16) Once a year go somewhere you’ve never been before

17) Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other outweighs your need for each other

18) Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it

19) Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon

Dalai Lama

Nice eh? Well it's 9am here and Will is surfing and I now have the increasingly more difficult task of peeling Sam out of bed, don't know if it's because he's 13 now but he reeeeally likes to sleep in. We will head up to the lovely local cafe, drink coffee, eat cakes and learn French overlooking the ocean, now who wouldn't want to get up for that?! Pic attached of Sam opening his camera from his Dad on his birthday, I think his face says it all.