Tapora magic

The big kid is alive and well in me.  I love walking barefooted on the beach, even when I feel the need to walk far out over the mud flats with the mud squelching between my toes.

At the weekend, my friend Chris came with me for a couple of days in Tapora, where I lived a few years ago.   We stayed with long time residents, Pete and Sheryl, the most hospitable couple you could ever dream of meeting.  Tapora is full of wonderful memories for me, I did so love living there.  It's a beautiful place at the end of a long peninsula in the Kaipara Harbour on the west coast of the North Island.  But there's something special about the place that is more than the picturesque landscape.  The people are so warm and welcoming.

The tide was out in the afternoon while we were there and a familiar sight out at the channel are tractors waiting for their boats to return from a day out fishing in the harbour.  

Around at the beach at the back of Pete and Sheryl's farm we went for another walk, accompanied by their grandkids and cousins of  the grandkids in search of birds for my shoot out this Friday.  Well, I was in search of birds, the kids found something else more interesting to them.  Dead crabs, I think.

We inspected this rather unique crab pot and spotted three nice sized crabs nearby but none inside it:

Another of the pleasures of our two days was eating apricots fresh off the tree, as Pete gathered them for us. Pete also went out fishing while we were there and returned with lots of snapper which we enjoyed for breakfast. 

Thank you so much, Pete and Sheryl, for a wonderful weekend.  I will feast of fish again tonight!