New Year's Eve in Ohope

Cue Ohope: it was after all December 31, 2009, not just New Year’s Eve but the dawn of a new decade. Here our thanks go out to Lucy and Liam, our wonderful hosts for two days of, well nothing really, just swimming, sunbathing, eating and drinking. Factor in their cool mom Lizzy, Jamie and Tom, Helen, Lance, Glenn and a few of the beach locals to boot and the scene was set for a cracking couple of days.

Once again New Zealand served up some of the year's best weather for New Year, with the wonderful sunshine forming the perfect backdrop to a cracker-jack party; perhaps the hardest thing to do in Ohope was say goodbye – Kiwi hospitality is surely second to none. On arrival we were warned, albeit loosely, by Tom that "no one gets a hangover in Ohope" which, of course, we laughed off. Remarkably the guy was right, you can't get a hangover in Ohope, no matter your poison of choice. Beer rolled into wine, rolled into vodka, rolled into whisky ... crikey even the absinthe made made a late night appearance in a bid to undermine Tom's statement but short of turning Glenn loopy at the sight of sparklers there were no obvious side effects!

Mind you, our saving grace was surely the wonderful spread provided by all. A banquet fit for kings delivered in true Kiwi style - on the barby! Add to this the beach cricket, swimming and body boarding (Ohope's waves were made for this) and there was no surprise that the first day of 2010 mirrored that of 2009's last; beer rolled into wine, rolled into vodka, rolled into whisky ... and no hangover on January 2!

But alas, all good things must come to an end. So onwards and upwards, as they say, as we set off for the Cormandel's stunning beach retreat, Whiritoa, a magical strip of beach that has seen more than its fair share of ex-pat fun over the past three years (thanks for the invites Rich and family) as host to our previous New Year shenanigans. A quieter affair this time round, however, with many of the usual suspects off doing their own thing - by the way Liz and Tim we hope you enjoyed Vietnam.

An early morning rise and one final long drive from the east coast to the west, and a date with rugged Muriwai one of Auckland’s most remote western beaches. A haven for surfers, this 30km strip of black sand is a designated highway and provides an adventurous alternative to Tarmac roads.

In contrast to the tranquil waters of the east coast, the treacherous western beaches are forever pounded by surf and all too often swimmers are lost to the powerful rips (unbeknown to us a fisherman was swept off the rocks to his death while we played chicken with 4ft waves). But with the sun setting on our final Kiwi road trip (at least for a few years) it was time to retreat to the safety of the sand dunes with friends Emilie and Dean – and little Carmen – fire up the bbq, and crack open the rum. Cheers ...