Omokoroa Raining

The car park at Omokoroa down by the store by the wharf was a big puddle when we arrived on Friday 12 June. We parked as best we could to be able to step out onto dry land, and settled down. It rained off and on through the rest of the day.
On Saturday morning we woke to a brief thunderstorm, and a bit of a cloudburst. This made the puddle bigger. But then the rain stopped and it cleared a bit, and was warmer. We drove into Mt Maunganui to watch Wyn’s grandson play rugby, and afterwards brought him back to Omokoroa to stay the night with us. After lunch the rain returned, so we hunkered down. I found a pad of pre-printed darts, with complicated instructions – sort of aerial origami. This kept us occupied for a while, until we gave up on them and just made our own from blank sheets of paper. Then a competition emerged between the males, to see whose dart would fly the best. So passed a fun afternoon. We had fish and chips for tea from the shop up the hill. Snapper was an option, so snapper it was, and nice it was too. After tea we went across the road to the boat club to watch the All Blacks lose the first test to the French.
Sunday was a bit drier, although there was a cool breeze. Fishing was first activity of the day, off the wharf. Friends Dave and Lyn from the packhouse called by for morning tea. After lunch and another dart flying competition, we went for a walk around the beach with the rugby ball. So there was lots of passing and catching and kicking, and a few new muscles pressed into action. When Wyn’s grandson’s mum came to collect him later in the afternoon, it was hard to tell who was the most warn out.
By Monday morning the rain was rained out and the sun was even shining. The puddle was rapidly drying up. This is how our visits to Omokoroa seem to go. We went for a walk around the walkway to the east. By mid-afternoon we were packed up and ready to leave, driving separately again, to Tauranga.