Utea Park

Te Oneroa a Tohe (the long beach of Tohe) really does look to be 90 miles long when you step on to it at a point where it stretches away into the distance both north and south.  Apparantly in the days when travel was by horseback an average horse could travel 30 miles in a day before needing a rest.  So, because it took 3 days to travel from one end to the other, it was called 90 Mile Beach.    They didn't take into account the slower pace of the horses walking in sand - the beach is really 55 miles (88 km) long.  

Looking south:

Looking north.  That is Chris off in the distance.

It just looks like an endless stretch of sand flanked on one side by the Tasman Sea and sand dunes leading to the Aupouri Forest on the other.  But there is plenty to look at.  There is the occasional seashell that is different from those we are used to seeing on the east coast.  The sea weed is different and the kelp impressive.  

The only drift wood is the big stuff left by the last big storm.  But some of it has been there long enough for Jayden to find it and leave his mark.

 There weren't many birds, just one flock of gulls.

And then there are the little mysteries.  There weren't a lot of these things but every now and then there would be a bunch.  Some bunches only had three 'things', some had a dozen or more.

 

Thanks, CJ, for identifying yesterdays kelp eating things.  Jumping kelp bugs describes them perfectly. What do you think these are?

For someone seeking a quiet place to ponder the grandeur and beauty of nature there can be no better place, with only the roar of the sea to distract you.  The beach was a bit busier at low tide with mussel spat harvesting going on but at high tide there was glorious solitude.

We stayed in a little cabin at Utea Park.  There was no power but a gas stove for cooking and plenty of hot water - what more do you need?

When I lifted my head while laying on the bed and reading on Friday afternoon, this is what I saw.

And, at the end of the day as darkness gathered, rather than turning on a light, we sat and watched The Nature Show.

 I certainly don't need anything more than that.

What is this?

We went north in driving rain.  

My friend, Chris and I enjoy a mid winter break each year in the north.  We accept we are doing so in the middle of winter when the weather is more likely to be rainy than anything else.  Maybe we have been lucky or maybe the weather really is better in the north but again this year we were blessed with glorious weather.  

Not that we were terribly worried.  It's winter, it rains, if it rains we will sit around and read, no problem.  

 

But the weather cleared as we drove north and when we reached our destination late Thursday afternoon, it didn't matter what the next couple of days held, we had this image of the beach and our beach access.  
 

 And when we entered the cabin, there was The Window.  Ahh, The Window - since we discovered this place last year on our break, I've dreamed of going back there. 

 More about all that tomorrow or the next day.  In the meantime, what is this?

It seems that wherever there was kelp washed up on the beach there were these mounds of something attacking it.  They looked like teeny weeny little white flies but they seemed to come up out of the sand. 

Any ideas? Anyone?

FSO–Fresh

This Friday our theme is Fresh. “New to one's experience; not encountered before. Recently made, produced, or harvested; Free from impurity or pollution; pure. Many choices here for fresh.” 

All my shots were taken last weekend in places I have never visited before, or not for a very long time.  Nearly all of them are taken on or near beaches while enjoying the brisk, fresh air.  I think they are all pure, unspoiled.

The Far North of New Zealand is very narrow, a quick drive from one coast to the other.  First up, a little mountain of froth blown from the wild surf on the west coast.

 And the pretty coloured kelp of the west coast freshly washed up from the sea.


 On the east coast the kelp was more the colour I see more often:


 Bit of wood very recently left by the tide on the east coast:


 More wood freshly delivered by the sea on the west coast.  I thought this looked like a little abandoned ship.


 East coast baby mussels:

 West coast weed peeking through pine needles:

Don’t know if this is a flower or a weed but it was growing wild on the east coast.  Chris knew it as Pink Sour Grass as a child in Western Australia.

 Heading for home again we decided on a little detour to revisit St Barnabas Church at Peria.  A year ago when we last called in it was in a very sorry state and two dedicated parishioners were taking down the fittings in preparation for a make-over.  Look what a difference a fresh coat of paint has made:

 Last stop on the way home, fresh coffee in Kawakawa.