Life Lately #11

John's 33rd Birthday

FRIDAY

Last workday, and we rushed to the grocery store to buy food and a cake for John’s birthday. We wanted to grill steaks for his birthday the next day, but we had planned to drive to Putaruru for a walk. And because we apparently can’t resist grilled steaks, we ended up cooking them as soon as we got home.

We did a birthday-eve celebration instead—grilled the steaks, prepared a very healthy and green salad, and lit the cake and candles. We always celebrate birthdays together, and we never really throw parties. We keep it private most years, just like this year.

We played video games afterwards, and I did the dishes gladly, of course, because the birthday boy is exempt from doing chores this week.

SATURDAY

We travelled early, around 8 a.m., to Putaruru—about a 1-hour and 15-minute drive from Taupo. We stopped by Cow Café for breakfast and ordered the big breakfast and some creamy mushrooms to prepare for the long walk ahead. We checked out the Paws shop next door and bought four paintings. We were stoked to find real paintings by real people with real brushstrokes. They were beautiful.

The painting we bought from the Pet Animal Welfare Shop in Putaruru

We then made our way to the Putaruru Blue Springs / Te Waihou Walkway (link to the travel guide click here). It was beautiful and refreshing. There were many tourists at Blue Springs, but only a few ventured onto the walkway, which is a 9.4 km loop. The weather was beautiful—very sunny. I was grateful I was wearing thin shorts and a shirt!

After the walk, we bought an ice cream at Leslie Park and asked for directions to the swimming area downstream. The ice cream man pointed us to White Road car park, and off we went. There were more tourists than Kiwis at Leslie Road car park, but more Kiwis than tourists at White Road car park. People were jumping off logs and cannonballing into the river.

Well-deserve ice cream after 11,000+ steps!

We went swimming in the shallow area where the kids were. The water was freezing—my legs went numb as soon as I got in. We only stayed in the water for about five minutes, then went back to the car to drive back to Taupo, still wearing our speedos and dripping wet.

When we got to Taupo, I asked John if we could swim at the lake and make the most of our bathing suits. I’ve swum in Lake Taupo countless times since we moved, and the water was the warmest it’s ever been. We got home and were so tired that we couldn’t cook proper food anymore. So, for John’s actual birthday, he went out to order Burger King, and I made spicy noodles with dumplings, kikiam, eggs, seaweed, and scallions (his request). We ended the day watching anime.

SUNDAY

We did grocery shopping again to get ingredients for sweet spaghetti. With renewed energy, I couldn’t let John’s birthday pass without the traditional spaghetti with cut-up hotdogs. So I cooked, and we had a beautiful lunch with giant bowls of spaghetti and lots of cheese.

In the afternoon, because the weather was beautiful, we went back to the lakefront and swam once again—this time for longer. The water was wonderful. The beach was crowded with people like us, swimming, sunbathing, and hanging out. We ate chips on our picnic blanket, and before heading home, we went back into the water and swam some more before finally calling it a day.

At home, we grilled fish and corn. John enjoyed the fish so much that I barely got three bites before he polished it off!

All in all, his birthday weekend was a glorious mix of good food, sunburn, and long walks—enough to justify the cake and ice cream intake. Mission accomplished!

No Rhyme, Just Reason is a Taupō, New Zealand–based blog by Ariane about books, good food, long walks, and unapologetic naps.