April 10, 2025
Finally a sunny day! It was our last day at the Coot Club so we had to call off home school to cram in all the things we missed on the rainy days. We did our best and think we got it all.
We started nice and early and headed to breakfast, which we finally got to enjoy outside under the canopy of their crazy trees. We practiced some bike riding and played rugby during/after breakfast.
We scheduled some activities with Ruben for later in the day, much to the kids excitement.
We briefly played soccer before it warmed up so much we had to move on to water activities. It was back and forth between the inflatable slip and slide and the smaller of two pools until we headed to the boat for some tubing.
The slip and slide was pretty cool but the boys needed me to toss them if they were going to make it to the end with some speed. I tried it myself and went way to fast only to realize the end was just an unpadded kiddie pool with dirt and rocks under it, whoops.
We ate some quick lunch and hurried to the dock to meet Ruben for our tubing. The tube was very comfortable and fit two people. There was little risk of getting thrown off but it was bumpy enough to get us wet and make it fun for the kids.
Lenny’s happy place, anything with a wheel he can drive.
Then it was one to the surprise star activity of the day, sand boarding! We road in the back of a raised pickup truck to get out to the Walkers Bay beach reserve. The truck had 3 rows of 3 seats in the bed and was quite comfortable over all the bumps.
We were joined by another family with two young boys, Barney (2) and Eddie (4). When we arrived at the dunes before the beach Ruben grabbed the boards and we all ditched our shoes and climbed up the dune. Once we made it Ruben took out four sand boards and a can of cooking spray to help them glide over the sand.
I tried first to go down standing up and was surprised how quick it went so bailed very early in the ride. Everyone started to ride on their butts first to get a feel for it but soon gained the confidence to try standing again. Kayleen was the first to complete a standing ride without leaving the board before it stopped. Lenny was fearless and took a few faces straight to the sand but kept trying until he got it. Ollie did it and was very proud that he was the first of all the kids to complete a ride. I eventually completed a few rides too.
Ollie quickly fell in love with it after his completed ride. He did it over and over again, tried to do it on a different dune, and did it on his butt to go off a “ramp” that had been calling to him since we arrived. He has requested that his 8th birthday party be sand boarding…he seems to fall hard for things. “I want to bring my friends here for my birthday next year!!”
After the sand boarding we walked 1 kilometer down the beach to meet Ruben and the truck for some snacks and a drink. We found these snails on the walk which I thought were hermit crabs at first and picked one up. When we realized they were snails Kayleen recalled the poisons cone snail she had seen on a nature show so we quickly put them down. These were not cone snails luckily.
It was windy on the beach walk and at points it felt like your feet and shins were getting sandblasted. The boys complained enough that they got picked up at points, it was pretty uncomfortable even for the adults.
Ruben told us that in the winter southern right whales swim along the bay just past the last breaking of the waves. This past winter they had > 750 come through the area for mating season. Ruben noted they are essentially busy all year round due to the mild weather (~50F at the coldest).
The big day finally got the better of Lenny. He passed out on the ride back to the hotel and remained asleep for all of dinner. Shockingly he continued to be asleep for the car ride home, carried to our cottage, and until 6:45AM the next morning!
