Monday, June 6, 2016

NZ Day 12 - Pohara Beaches



Something adorable about New Zealand is that most of the hotels we stayed in gave us a tiny bottle of milk (for tea).  Greg was able to use it on his cereal.  


This day, we spent time wandering the beaches of Pohara.

 We had planned to go kayaking, but this is what we discovered when we found the little kayaking hut: "Sorry we are closed for the season".  We were travelling in April, which is Fall in New Zealand and which can get pretty chilly, but there was no reason why we couldn't kayak!  Most of the places weren't open, so that's something we planned that we didn't get to do.  But we still enjoyed the beautiful beaches!



The kayaks were still there . . . 






We decided to walk the beaches.
I took my shoes off right away and had them off most of the day . . . 
which may have been a mistake, since there were sand flies (bites last for weeks!)
and since the beach was mostly made up of ground seashells.
The soles of my feet were tender and pink for many days after this!


Ouchie!


Owie-owie!


And sharp shards like this were all around, too.





The water was CLEAR.

And somehow the water made a rainbow of colors
(reds starting in the front at the bottom of the photos)! 




And we got to see more of these cute little creatures!
The one on the right only stood on one foot at a time, but he had both feet. 
Perhaps he knew more about the sharp sand than I did!







There were piles and little shelters all over the beach that people had made out of driftwood.
I've never seen driftwood used as beach art by people before.







Someone had decorated these branches.









The seagulls acted as if the sand was soft.
(But we know better!)


Another crazy pine tree!



I found a couple of sad little dead bleached crabs.




And as we walked, we saw a lone seal sunning himself on a rock.




As I ate my lunch on this big piece of driftwood, these two gulls were screaming and swarming.
They really very much wanted my lunch.
And after we walked away, they searched for any crumbs and were angry I hadn't left any. 




See them in action!








I clambered over a rocky area like an excited mountain goat and found a a lovely little private bay. 







Somehow the water there was even clearer!







Water lapping:


Thankfully I left my shoes behind on this one, because I needed my grippy gecko feet on the rocks.


Another seal!


See him?







My little cove made me very happy.










Greg joined me in my little secret hideaway.




New Zealand also has these funny ducks that are bigger than normal America ducks but that are mostly only brown - except for the head of one of the pair, which is white! 



Clear water, small smooth seashells. 










And these weird tree roots fascinated me. 






 






Then we headed back to town . . . . 


As we were getting dinner for Greg, we saw how Kiwis handle tabacco products.
They remind people that tabacco causes gangrene - and they show icky pictures! 


Greg ate his ice cream first!


It was a lovely slow day and we were thankful for it
(and each day after it, too!)

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