Sunday, February 20, 2011

Karekare, and the winner is...







The other day I went to Karekare, my local beach. This is one of my favourite places in New Zealand. If you have seen the movie The Piano, you may recognize it, this is a popular spot for filming.





In fact the light here is unique, the sand is black, and the landscape wild and breathtaking.




To reach the beach you must cross a stream (up to your knees, so wear shorts, or a skirt, and sandals).


Every two weeks my kids do surf life saving here, and to reach the surf life saving club house you must also cross the lagoon (up to your belly button, depending on your height, of course!)




Here is the surf life saving club house


I like to go to Karekare in the afternoon, the light is at his best, and for me this is a place for long beach walks: the current is too strong for me to swim, and I don't surf, but it is great to see my kinds learning to handle big waves. Surf life savers patrol the beach and they are all volunteers. They start training young, like my kids, and most of them are locals.


But this afternoon for the kids was horse riding rather than wave surfing. They go every Monday afternoon, after school, in the bush. Today they had a long ride, they were taking the horses from the bush paddock down to the beach paddock.



At twilight they reached the beach, and took the horses to roll on the sand. They are really lucky to learn to ride in an environment like this. My 11 years old girl has been riding for a few years now, she loves horses (a real girl!). Her younger brother is learning now, it is going to be good for him: when he grows up he wants to be an archologist-explorer.







 

After each day at Karekare they come home so hungry, they eat like wolves, go to bed early, and sleep like logs!

 
Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

And now for the winner of last week Giveaway:


List Randomizer

There were 22 items in your list. Here they are in random order:
  1. Civette
  2. Arabafelice
  3. Frances
  4. Anna Luisa e Fabio
  5. Zia Elle
  6. Arfi
  7. Enza
  8. Torie
  9. Astrofiammante
  10. Peasepudding
  11. Eleonora
  12. Elifla
  13. BarbaraGF
  14. Barbara
  15. Feliz
  16. Claudia
  17. MariCrea
  18. Red nomad
  19. Ananda
  20. Swati
  21. Angela
  22. Mary
Timestamp: 2011-02-19 20:22:32 UTC


Congratulations Civette! Congratulazioni civettine, mandatemi il vostro indirizzo a alessandra@clear.net.nz
Thank you to all who took part, till next time
ciao
A.

26 comments:

  1. i tuoi figli sono fortunati ad avere l'opportunità di fare queste esperienze.
    anche se poi credo sia questione di testa, l'avventura potrebbe essere dietro l'angolo, se avessimo gli occhi per cercarla.

    bellissima karekare, struggente direi

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  2. Si' Gaia, hai ragione, la fortuna conta fino ad n certo punto, bisogna farla!

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  3. beautiful clicks, congrats to winner.

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  4. The West coast beaches really are very special not matter what time of year. Great pics.

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  5. My heart! Aches! Kare Kare is my spiritual home.

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  6. mah ...mah...avevo partecipato a qualche cosa? sembrerebbe di sì ^____^
    queste immagini sono davvero fantastiche.... abituata a vederle nei film fa strano trovarle qui nel tuo blog che è molto più reale di un film....ciauzzzzzzz

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  7. Astro, avevi partecipato senza saperlo (come follower e per aver risposto), mi sa che vincerai la prossima volta :-)

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  8. It is a wonderful place!
    I love the sea because I life in the mountains!

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  9. Queste immagini mi hanno rapito!!!E' Meraviglioso!!!!Baciotto!!Vieni a dare un' occhiata al mio nuovo contest se ti va...
    http://gattoghiotto.blogspot.com/2011/02/mise-en-placeil-mio-nuovo-contest.html

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  10. Vengo a dare un'occhiata Ambra... ma quanti contest fate in Italia?? Non vi fermate mai!

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  11. *sigh* that beach is just amazing. And it is also one of the reasons why NZ is one of the most beautiful countries on earth!

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  12. Oh my goodness...this place is amazingly stunning..thank you so much for sharing.What a blessing to have your children grow up with such lovely memories.

    Happy new week to you. xoxo

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  13. Wow those photos are absolutely breathtaking! Thanks for sharing! I love the New Zealand landscape. I simply must go there -uni's starting soon though so I'll have to wait until my break. What is it like in winter?

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  14. It's amazingly beautiful. Nice to spend a weekend there!

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  15. Ciao piacere di conoscerti grazie per essere passata da me! passero presto a trovarti tutto bello e che foto!!
    un bacione Anna

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  16. Lucy, in winter is still full of surfers! For me just walks on the beach, in winter is coldish, but beautiful.

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  17. Ma abiti in un paradiso!
    E' un vero piacere conoscerti!
    Vado a godermi con calma il tuo blog!

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  18. Oh mio Dio, ma cosa mi sono persa di qua??! Che posti e che foto...appena le vedrà mio marito...
    Un abbraccio, buona settimana.

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  19. Che dire Ale..mi fai sempre sognare!!!!Fortunati i tuoi ragazzi a vivere in un posto così incredibilmente bello!
    Grazie per aver condiviso con noi questa meraviglia.Un bacio

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  20. ciao!!complimenti per il blog da oggi ti seguirò con interesse!!
    =) a presto vale
    ps.se ti va di venire a curiosare da me mi farebbe molto piacere!

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  21. You must live in paradise, Alessandra! Your children are lucky to have such a gorgeous landscape, with horses, at their disposal, and, of course, a Mom who cooks like you!

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  22. Evviva...evviva ..evviva....!!!!Sognamo o siamo deste..?Grazie...siamo proprio fortunate...e ..superfelici..di ricevere il tuo regalo...ne faremo buon uso...ora dovremo sorteggiare chi delle 3 ricevera' questo pacco..a casa propria:è elettrizzante ricevere un regalo proprio dall'altra parte del Globo(fa un certo effetto..e che figura meravigliosa con il postino!!!!!)...Cara Ale..non stiamo piu'...nelle penne!!!!Kiss x 3...Civette

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  23. ok ok ho capito, arrivo sul primo aereo, scappo a far le valige!!!

    bacioni

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  24. Ciao sono contenta che sei passata a trovarmi!!! Abito a Mestre-Venezia quindi so benissimo dovè Feltre!!! Complimenti per le foto sono bellissime, e del resto sono posti da sogno!!! Veramente fortunati i tuoi figli che possono vivere queste esperienze!!!
    Alla prossima

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  25. Che posto bellissimo... massima invidia!! :)

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