Vision of gorgeous

We've been at the water. Firstly a river, then the beach.

I think I'm a bit more in love with rivers than the sea. There's something so magical and romantic about a babbling stream that widens out into welcoming swimming holes along the way. And the sound... divine. I only like them if they're surrounded by abundant and beautiful vegetation - a stream through a paddock does nothing for me.

We stayed at Te Mata Lodge on the Coromandel Peninsula. This was the river. We had fun relaxing, kayaking, swimming, sleeping.

The two bedroom cottage we had was simple, comfortable and charming. Reasonably priced, too.

The river regularly throws out gems and crystals, and the children spent much time searching for them, coming up with a few - quartz, etc. There was a bit of gold-panning, too. Fruitless, of course.

Our super friendly host told us that sometimes moa gizzard stones are found. Moas swallowed them and held them in their gizzards to help grind their food, much the same way as our chickens swallow grit and stones.

Then, one evening, he gave us one! This is it. It's made of quartz, which moas apparently preferentially swallowed because it is so hard.

Mother duck thought it was a good river... "Six little ducks went swimming one day."

Highly recommended.