If you haven't been to the beach yet this summer you are really missing out – the water is warm and these long, hot days are the perfect remedy for a long year. The surf has been a little lacking this past week and I'd normally be quite upset by that, but the still ocean movements have created the warm shallow waters and given the ocean its incredible clarity.
 
It was a bit of a game of beach-crawling for us each day choosing which beach to swim and surf at with the family. Yep, we're pretty spoilt this summer.

We escaped the city to the Catlins a few days before New Years (photos to come next week!). We chose Purakaunui Bay for its great Doc campsite, huge white cliffs in the south and quality surf. What a magical spot this is and less than two hours from Dunedin. There is plenty to keep the whole family entertained with the nearby Purakaunui Falls, lots of sea lions, a shallow sand-bottomed river and beautiful beach.
 
We joined our good friends Kate and Grant, from Cromwell, and enjoyed a car-free four days filled with surfing, swimming, playing with the kids and eating. We'd drink beer, wine and scotch around the campfire each night and reflect on how busy our lives had become and how important it was to just chill out once in a while. Camping definitely makes you do that and you can see the result in the faces of the kids who just seem to hit a development accelerator after day two of existing barefoot, salt-encrusted and unwashed ...
 
New Year's Eve was spent the same way – poking marshmallows into the fire and laughing as we recounted stories with good friends. It's a good life. I hope yours is too.
 
Here's to 2011 and hello to 2012. Let's make it a ripper.
 
See you at the beach ...