Mötley Dü: Kapiti Coast.

A couple of days ago, we decided to take a road trip and drive up to the Kapiti coast. We'd heard that it's beautiful up there and also that there was a miniature train railway at Raumati Beach. The drive was easy-going as the traffic was light and the scenery was green and gorgeous. We passed by plenty of what you'd expect...green rolling hills covered in sheep. We hit the coast and followed the ocean to our first stop, the town of Paekakariki, which is a block long, but very quaint and full of character. We got back on the road and drove a little farther, past Queen Elizabeth Park, until we reached our exit...Raumati Beach. Right next to the beach was a fantastic play ground that was adjacent to the railway and since it was a warm day, Ronan felt that it was best to jump into the playground's pool and go for a swim.

Liam went on the teeter-totter with an older girl and she gave him a fun and gentle ride. He had sooo much fun. (Lisa's fantastic top is courtesy of the fantastic Vashti via the U.K.).

The boys hit the playground and let off some steam after being stuck in the car for so long. The structure that Ronan is pictured on was 3 stories high and each story had a tube walkway. Ronan was on the top floor and Liam was on the bottom and the pair of them were like giggling hamsters in a "Habi-trail".

After the playground had been thoroughly played with, we moved on to the miniature railway, which had 4 trains to choose from. One was internal combustion, 2 were electric and the neat one was an actual steam-powered one where the operator fed it coal. The track was around a 1/2 kilometer long and ran through tunnels and over bridges. I took the boys for a ride around and they both had a lot of fun.

After the train, we hit Raumati Beach, had a late lunch and played in the sand....or ate sand if you were Liam. Later that evening when we changed Liam's diaper, we found out exactly how much sand he ate...about 75% of the total output.