Jan and I have three adult sons and were both fortunate to have parents who loved holidaying at the beach.
We always had a two-week summer holiday at a beach somewhere, whether it be in a family tent on one of my Dad’s mates' sections, later in a caravan, or in my grandparents bach at Lang's Beach or my other grandparents home at Paihia. When I was about 15 my parents bought a bach at Oakura Bay and we spent many happy summers holidaying and boating there.
When my parents relocated from Northland to a farm in the King Country and sold their Oakura bach we carried on holidaying here in the camping ground at Pirutahi Bay, just over the hill from Oakura. Eventually we bought our own beach house at Oakura and have holidayed there regularly since 1999.