Puriri Bay... The Coastal Walk...

It was the most perfect day... Sunny, cool... A great day for walking...
So I put on my boots... Wore my raincoat - just in case... Took my stick...
And left my bus behind...

And started off... Up the road... This is where I am headed...
First to the top of this  hill.

The track is dry and easy but the ground very churned up by the cows that are sometimes here.

This is a Department of Conservation walkway... Well marked with orange posts and pointers.

I'm up the top... It's through the gate... Mind the electric fence...
In New Zealand there are a lot of walks like this one.
Electric fences are common... Just don't touch them.
Also the rule when walking is to leave farm gates how you find them.

And a bit further up the hill here are the gates that separate the farmland from the bush.

On the other side there is the lovely bush and dappled light and shade.
I love walking in places like this.
It's a very easy and well maintained walking track.

I potter along...

Past amazing old trees...

And fallen branches and over tree roots...

More orange markers to point me in the right direction...

 These are Epiphytes...
Plants that grow on trees with no contact with the soil but get moisture and nutrients from the rain.

I came to these signposts... Much to my surprise the way I had come said 15 minutes back to the camp...
It had taken me 40 minutes... I dawdled along...
I took the path to the right...      Coastal beach 1&1/4 hours!

Me and my shadow...
The path changed into lots of steps...
Going down which was good as there were about 700 of them...
Out of curiosity I counted but lost count a couple of times!

And more steps...

 Out into the open and sun again and a glimpse of the sea...

The mighty Pacific Ocean... In the distance the Poor Knights Islands, a marine reserve and diving and snorkling mecca.
Read about them here...

Beautiful old trees and fantastic views.

Some more of the lovely native clematis...

And more steps...
And I arrived at the coastal bay that was the destination of this walk.
It was down a long way from the path I was walking on and although I could see footsteps in the sand decided getting back up would be harder than sliding down there... So I didn't
 
I sat in the sun in the long grass for a while, it was very sheltered from the wind and the only noise to be heard was a few birds calling and the wind in the treetops above me.

 
Eventually I continued on... Reluctant to leave.
The way was more open and scrubby... Lots of Cabbage trees and Manuka trees.

It was quite swampy through here... Probably why the Cabbage trees are so prolific,

Last glimpse of the Pacific before I continue down the other side of the hill towards home...




Another orange post...


And orange arrow... So I'm not lost!


And here are the gates at the end of the bush part of my walk...

I
I'm back onto the farmland... But there are a whole lot of cows... And they are bigger than me...
And they are curious creatures...


But they are very considerate and all move over so I can safely walk past.

 
And here I am... Back to Puriri Bay... A welcome cup of tea in sight.
The walk, according to the DoC signposts said it took 1&1/2 hours.
It took me 3 hours... I was slow and stopped lots and took lots of photos!


This is a map of the walkways. I am parked at 'You Are Here'...
I walked the biggest yellow line...
There was some doubt from a friend that I was looking at the Pacific...
But I surely was... It's too big to be anything else!