Day 24 - Sand, Sea, and Sky

Binyamin trying out the Noam-carrier

This week we felt we had to take advantage of our unique situation -- no baby to worry about, and there are only 8 of us, meaning we can all fit into just two taxis.  So after much deliberation, I decided we need to go to the Palmachim beach and nature reserve.  Turns out, it was a good decision.

Sand

We took a bus to the far side of Rishon LeTzion, and from there we caught a pair of taxis to take us to the edge of the nature reserve.  From 5 meters into the trail, we were treading in soft sand.  With four kilometers ahead of us, it didn't look like such an appealing hike after all.  The kids all wanted to take off their sandals and plow through the sand barefoot, but the surface of the sand was searing hot.  Panic quickly ensued.  Much whining was heard, until our ears began to ache, and we eventually found a paved path to take us part of the way.  In the end, it turned out to be about 50/50 - half the trail we were walking in sand, and half the time on solid ground.  It wasn't as fun as it could have been, but we all survived the trek nevertheless.

The trip's sponsors enjoying a quiet moment by the water

Exploring a dam we passed by at the beginning of the hike

Sea

About two hours later, we reached our long-coveted destination.  It was a wild and empty stretch of Mediterranean goodness, with a nice breeze and playful ocean spray.  The kids got right down to business, playing in the water and in the sand, collecting seashells and interesting stones.  Except for another small group of people far down the beach, we were the only ones there.  It was perfect.

Where the sand meets the sea.  The upright speck just to the right of the greenery is Amiel running towards the water

Since we had the whole place to ourselves, we decided to make the beach clothing-optional

Sky

On the way home, we were all on a hi from the fabulous time had on the beach...

And it was quite a wild sky