After our "rest" day, we are ready to do some exploring. Following Gordon's advice (our innkeeper, who has lived here for 27 years), we take off for a "wild West beach walk". A twenty minute drive which takes us forty (pictures, curvy hiways and byways, one lane bridges...
When I saw this sign, I stopped to see why......a nursing home is hidden from sight.....by the way, I ordered 30 of these signs from their Dept of Transport for our neighborhood!
We were on this gravel road for 4 km....that is 2.4 miles, as you know....it seemed like 10! Lots of DUST!!
Our destination, Wharariki Beach!!!! We are getting closer....
Gordon's description indicated there would be a one mile walk across a farmer's pastureland. Naive as we still are about this country, we thought pastureland would be fairly flat...
To cross said farmer's land, one must mount 4 sets of these steps.....quite clever, actually. Eliminates the need for hardware and the worry about a gate being left open to his livestock.
Did we mention ONE MILE!!!!! of pastureland????
Note how we are climbing....and the verdant green pasture.
We are STILL climbing and not how narrow the path is becoming....is there a sea OUT there?
This one is for you, Kara....sheep poop!
Our first look at the Tasman Sea on the west side of the base of the Farewell Spit.....just keep walkin'
Our path has become shady and all sandy....pure white sand....shoes off....yea!!!! We have just transferred from pasture land to sand dunes with heavy vegetation on top to hold them in place.
The most massive dunes we have ever seen...Farther on the vegetation lessens and open sand increases -- still huge dunes.
This picture is taken from the downside of the dunes after we crossed, looking back.
An all-sand beach that is 200 meters plus deep -- just beautiful. Note the size of the bluffs, right on the beach, by measuring against those two people walking beside them. Another wonderful thing about Wharariki....it's deserted, isolated, private.....glorious!!!!!
These are two views of the same rock from different angles.
We chose to walk, not ride.....and VERY happy with our choice. We get to do so much more exploring being on foot.
Another for you, Kara....the horses.
INCREDIBLE!!! This delightful seal colony was not even mentioned!!! A total, wonderful, stupendous surprise for us!!!! These are pups....mamma is out fishing for their meal, which she will regurgitate for them to eat upon her return (we learned that at the Antarctic Center in Christchurch....and REMEMBERED it). These are fur seals, which is quite evident on this last picture. We watched them for an hour or more, returning again and again to see what they are doing.....never got a good picture of it, but they jump in the air like a dolphin or a whale....so cute....fighting with each other, barking now and then....fun, fun, fun.
Huge, deep caves, not even visible till we right in front of them.....each few yards of walking revealed yet another unique discovery.
There were several crevices just wide enough for a person -- even a holiday bloated big person -- to walk through.
The crevices were coated with clusters of shellfish,
some kind of cherry-looking growth, and fist size rocks held together by sandstone.
Speaking of holiday bloated bodies!!! There were also huge arches that had been carved out by the sea. Again, this looked like one huge rock until we ventured closer to explore!
Tide is coming and it is time for us to leave....what a wondrous experience
Hello, again....more of you on our return trip....
The solid color horse on the right came right up to our car and stuck his nose in the window....scared the _____ out of Kathy, the driver....we stopped in a few feet to take this picture.
I have no scientific proof, no study and not even any pictures to prove my thesis that the sheep and cattle in NZ are LAZY.....how many times, driving down a road, do you see cattle reclining???? They are always eating, right? NZ cattle AND sheep spend a LOT of time lounging around....does that make them better to eat? (sorry, vegetarians)
Collingwood, population 500, a perfect spot for lunch.
This on is for you, Jane Tuccillo
Licenses means "full bar"
Looks like potato pancake, but is really vegetable "fritters"
Back home at Adrift, I wander the pathways,
through the archway to the vegetable garden,
to locate the nest for the little blue penguins, living on this property. They were nesting under Gordon's house, but they make such a racket, he requested the government for permission to move them....yet to keep them on his property.....a very unusual request and a most unusual grant.....we never did see them, regretfully. They go to sea in the very early a.m. and return after dark.
Kathy is blogging....
as Tom captures another gorgeous sunset.
