Nine bays in a day, hey?

The Sanvicens' Kiwi summer is ticking along nicely, so I thought I'd send out another update of a recent day trip to Auckland's East Bays...

A few weeks ago we had to go over to a place near Long Bay to pick up a mah jong set (we are obsessed, see). And not wanting to miss out on any of the nearby action, we decided to drive back along the coast via nine beautiful bays.

I am digging how beach centred life is in New Zealand. In fact, we just got back from a beach front dinner of Chinese take-out, L&P and a bottle of Pinot Gris, chased by a civilised game of Pétanque. I can't decide if I prefer this to dinner from Tesco in a cold and cramped flat in London or not. Close call.

The above volcano is Rangitoto by the way. What a great name... And an iconic boat found in bay seven I believe.

Have I mentioned that the sun here is brutal? And not in a good way either. It's like it's tasked with dishing out skin cancer or at the very least, deep red burns. You can identify who the smart people are at the beach at mid-day - they're in the shade.

Anyway, I didn't get a picture of every bay, but I thought this would be a good taster.

Have I tempted anyone to come out and visit us yet? That's really my intention. We're here till June you know. And we'll give you free sunscreen...