14 October 2006

Journey's End Revisited

We decided to head back for another look last Saturday, and invited Dan to come along. At the last minute, Miranda was called to a birth, so Dan and I headed off by ourselves. I took Miranda's camera with me intending to have a play with it and see what I could manage, but in the end, I left all the photography to Dan. The combination of cold and strong westerly, and Alice tugging at the lead made any complex learning an impossibility.

We arrived at just about dead low water

photo by dan hawthorn

We head along to the left. A few yards down the beach is a New Zealand icon, and by the look of it,

photo by dan hawthorn

it has probably never been further than a yard or two from the sea in its life.

photo by dan hawthorn

Around the mangroves the sand, though slightly muddy is still quite firm. The aerial roots of the mangroves trace the pattern of the main roots, and we are amazed at the distance from the tree these roots travel.

photo by dan hawthorn

When Miranda and I were here last time the tide was in much further. This time, further out, there are hundreds and hundreds of crab holes, with evidence of recent excavation. I've never seen this before - or certainly not as prevalent.

photo by dan hawthorn

We head south along the beach to the end of the spit.

photo by dan hawthorn

Even up here near high tide mark the sand is firm enough for vehicles. The vegetation shows just how strong the westerlies are, even in the lee of the long offshore island. I am shivering even with a thermal T under my shirt.

photo by dan hawthorn

Beside a driftwood log, a small patch of Salicornia australis is thriving. The Latin translates literally as the European name, Southern Salthorn. I don't currently have a Maori name for this.

We follow the vehicle tracks round the end of the spit

photo by dan hawthorn

where two streams join, and the sand gives way to mud.

photo by dan hawthorn

Just to the right of middle you can make out a dead tree on the far bank. It's the nesting tree for a shag colony. So acid are their faeces that nesting trees do not survive long.

Dan switches to telephoto

photo by dan hawthorn

The rain looks as though it might set in as we start back towards the van, and the wind is, if anything, even stronger.

photo by dan hawthorn

On the way back, we detour for a closer look at the mangroves. This lot are all wearing gumboots.

photo by dan hawthorn

You'd have a job bushcrashing though this stuff without a chainsaw.

photo by dan hawthorn

Even a small splash of colour stands out in a landscape like this

photo by dan hawthorn