Creating great memories - now

Takapuna Beach

By Virginia Winder

I've been wading in memories on Takapuna Beach. 

There is a huge move to live in the moment, the now, and I'm a great supporter of that. 

It's by being immersed in right now that great memories can be laid down, like foundations. 

You see good memories, like those of summer holidays, can be so comforting and uplifting. 

From when I was aged from 7 until 17, our family camped at Takapuna for three weeks every January. 

We had an old canvas scout tent and, as we got older, pup tents for us kids. 

Our site was the closest to the beach. 

My friend Glenys later came too and so did my sister's friend Jackie.

Glenys and I lived in our bikinis, slathered our bodies with Tropical Blend and lay in the sun listening to Radio Hauraki. 

Standing on the beach today, a thousand memories came whooshing back and I basked in their joy. 

In the mid-year holidays I stayed with the camp managers, Harry and Gwen Webster, and learned to love Takapuna in the winter and later Milford, when they moved. 

When I was at university, I flatted in a giant house on the beach front at Takapuna.

What my memories have reminded me is how the simple pleasures in life can be so precious. 

Especially if you live in the moment and feel them so exquisitely. 

My Takapuna days were about fishing, shrimping, swimming, learning to skateboard, running on the beach, expeditions around the rocks to Milford and cementing great friendships. 

With Uncle Harry, we discussed the meaning of life, the great pyramids, the Dead Sea scrolls, religion, racism and UFOs. 

My Takapuna days molded me. 

We gave our kids different memories of camping at Oakura Beach. They were days of swimming, playing games, beach walks and exploring the rock pools. 

One day our son Nelson and I lay on our stomachs peering in to a pool that looked lifeless. But we waited quietly and slowly it came alive with creatures and was as busy as a city. We were utterly absorbed in the moment. 

You see to create indelible memories you need to be 100% in the now. 

And also be open to the wonders of life, people and our world.