sea creatures, great and small

The water was chilly, and I hate wetsuits so I ended up taking a walk. 

Extreme tides made walking on the beach more interesting. 

Lots of sea creatures from tiny jellyfish to green-lipped mussels to sea stars. 

Tide pools big enough to swim in. 

Plus the occasional car or motorbike. 

And horses and herons. 

And revelers. 

beachcombing

Endless Summer, named after the surf/travel classic partly filmed here at Shipwreck Cove, is at the top of the north island. 

That's my room in the upper left looking out at the sea. 

It's not especially warm, and there were hardly any waves today on Christmas Eve. 

A perfect day to go for a long walk at low tide. 

You can drive on the beach, which seems a bit questionable unless you're the lifeguard patrolling in a Scooby Doo-style dune buggy. 

Most of the guests are German plus a few Swiss and Austrians; they are extremely gracious about switching to English when I'm around. We've all been asked to make a dish from home to share. 

This involved lots of slicing 

and peeling

and adapting recipes to local ingredients. 

Tomorrow 21 of us will gather around this magnificent kauri table for a truly global feast. 

At 9 Anna brought us together for punch and carols as the moon rose. And at midnight we were the first time zone to celebrate Christmas and post on social media. Rumor has it Santa will make an appearance tomorrow. And far from home in this idyllic corner of the world, we will eat and drink and maybe even surf.