Winter beach day...

Last Monday we had a public holiday for the Queen's Birthday so we decided to 'hit the beach' even though it is winter here and we had had some shocking cold weather of late. This was our first glimpse of the Southern Ocean as we came over the hill. We are very lucky that this coastline is only a 2o minute drive through some sand dunes from where we live.
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This spot is called McIntyre's Beach - a sheltered little spot where we have had some lovely barbecues.
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First Gus got the fire pit ready...
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...bear in mind that it looks warm but the temperature was actually about 13C (55F) but with the sun out and not much wind, it was just perfect for a campfire and barbecue.
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Ahem ... er, the Pioneer Woman regularly had gratuitous shots of her Marlborough Man's... um, Wranglers (here)... these are my man' Levi's!
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Entree - sausage with sauce in bread.
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It's lovely just to sit and watch the sea, waves crashing, barbecue sizzling...
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This is Ruby...
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Main course - steaks and shasliks...(normally I would do some salads but we kept it simple)
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Uggies kept our feet warm around the fire...
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I went for a walk along the beach. There was so much stuff washed up which must come off boats out at sea. Quite disgusting really - I found a large light globe, a paint roller covered in barnacles, plastic detergent bottles, rope, lots of bits of plastic which I suppose came from plastic containers...
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... a Coke bottle covered in shells...
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... cuttle fish...
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Now onto dessert - S'mores (because when you have one, you want s'more!)
This seems to be a traditional American camping treat which is said to date back to the late 1920's where recipes were found in Girl Scout publications (Wikipedia). Anyway, I simplified it by buying chocolate coated biscuits instead of the traditional Graham crackers and chocolate.
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Sandwich marshmallows between two biscuits, wrap in foil and place near the fire where it's hot enough to melt them a little...
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... waiting, waiting, waiting...
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Voila! Yummy hot, melted marshmallow, choc and crunchy biscuit!
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With the sun starting to set, we packed up and ...
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...left only footprints.

~The track home. A lovely way to spend a holiday Monday.
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Cheers - Joolz