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!

A Fossick Around The Beach...

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day and I decided to walk around the headland to the next bay.
This is Puriri Bay, where I am parked. I was out taking photos and saw some wooden steps going up the hill... Curiosity was the deciding factor... Where did they go to!

Off I went to find out...

Through the trees and along this track soon bought me a
 view of the next bay.
As I walked I found a sign post 'Picnic Bay'... for those who don't want to stay in the DoC camping area.

 

This is Picnic Bay... Very secluded and nobody here today...

On the way I found some Kowhai trees bursting into flower.
It's early spring and just as  the Clematis are bursts of
white flowers in the bush...
These Kowhai are bursts of bright yellow on the hillsides.
The Tui's love them... Full of sweet nectar.
 

Amazing Pohutukawa trees...
They are a coastal evergreen tree endemic to New Zealand...
Renown for their vibrant colour and abiity to perch on
rocky precarious cliffs.
They grows 25 meters high in a spreading dome shape.
As you can see here... they love to dabble in the water.
There are many Maori legends about this tree...
Tawhaki - a young Maori warrior, who attempted to find heaven to seek help in avenging the death of his father, fell to earth and the crimson flowers are said to represent hs blood...


This is the Pohutukawa in flower - from November to January...
It is also called the New Zealand Christmas Tree.
A gnarled twisted Pohutukawa on the windswept cliff top at Cape Reinga, the northern tip of New Zealand, has become of great significance to many New Zealanders.
For Maori this small venerated Pohutukawa is known as
'The Place of Leaping'.
It is from here that the spirits of the dead begin their journey to their traditional homeland of Hawaiiki.
From this point the spirits leap off the headland, climb down the roots of this 800 year old tree, descending to the underworld
on their return journey...
Read more about the myths and history here

Pacific oysters...
Which are farmed and spat in season...
Find a home and grow on many of the rocks
round the Northland beaches.
A sharp knife will prise them off.
Delicious, but a bit salty, eaten fresh from the shell...

 

Out onto the road at the top of the hill...

And down the road to 'home'.
You can just see my bus at the bottom...


Another native tree endemic to New Zealand -commonly called Karo - botanical name - Pittosporum crassifolium - is a coastal tree, originally only in the North Island but now spread, by birds eating and dropping the seeds, throughout NZ and overseas to the Norfolk Islands and Hawaii...
It has become a 'pest' tree.
They grow to about 5 meters with clusters of purple red flowers that develop into seed pods that split to expose sticky seeds. It can withstand high winds and salt spray. It is valued as a shelter tree and there are tallish hedges of them growing here.
They have no specific use by Maori and are not even
particularly good firewood!

I walked though the camp to the far end of the beach.
More Pohutukawa paddling in the water.
I love the shape of the gnarled branches... A swing waiting for more summer time kids here on holiday.

 

 

I found these starfish washed  up... Can you find the tiny one?
Very smelly so resisted my gathering instincts and left them behind.

On my way back I met two Paradise shelducks... Again endemic to New Zealand and only  live here.
Captain Cook first discovered this species in 1773,
he named it 'Painted Duck'.
These ducks are NZ's only shelducks, a worldwide group of large, often semi-terrestial waterfowl that have goose-like features.
Unusually for ducks the female Paradise shelduck is more eye-catching than the male with a pure white head and chestnut-coloured body. Males have a dark grey body and black head.
Paradise shelducks are commonly observed flying in pairs - they mate for life and live for about 25 years - and graze on pasture - as they were when I saw them.
They are very vocal birds, the males 'zonk zonk' and the females a more shrill 'zeek zeek' as a warning to intruders... that was me!

And back 'home' to my bus tucked amongst the flax bushes...