10,000 Steps... And Beach Art

My bus is parked just up above the sand bank...
It's only a short walk across the grass and tussocks
and down a short sandy track to the beach below.
This is my exercise circuit... Along the beach...
5,000 steps there and 5,000 steps back...
When I'm not sick!
I took my camera for photos of what
I have called 'beach art'.
Some made by people who walk along here...
Some by nature... The wind and sea.

'The Fishing Table'
Made from bits and pieces washed up by the tide.
It's very convenient for hooks and bait and filleting.
And it's just below where I am parked.

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'The Resting Place'
 There is a big puddle of water from the rain...
So no sitting today.

 'Circles and Lines'
It's amazing how many old tyres wash
up along the beach... Where from I wonder?

'The Side of the Road'
I don't think so... But a road marker it is.

Birds... I think they are Variable Oyster Catchers...
Looking for breakfast.

'5,000 Steps'
This is the marker I made... The intention
being to put a few more stones and shells
each time I get there!

Sculpted by the tide and waves...

Natural sand art...

There has been lots of pumice along the beach lately.
According to my dictionary 'pumice' is an acid glassy lava so full
of gas-cavities, it floats in water.
According to a recent article in the New Zealand Herald newspaper
it is from an underwater volcano at the Kermadec Islands...
Fascinating... Read about it here.

And this is the way home...
5,000 steps back. It's a long way till I can
see my bus in the distance again.
But what better place to walk.
Even when it's windy or raining it's beautiful.

My Daily Walk... Ten Thousand Steps!

This is my last day at Uretiti for a while. I'm going to Whangarei to do a few 'town' things.
So I took myself off for a long walk... First round the camp...
You might wonder what I see as I do the same walk often.

We have had a lot of rain so water lying in lots of places...
Not many people staying here at this time of the year.

Next I found some fungi... Quite a patch of them... All the same.
I don't know what their name is...

Fascinating things. I have 'Googled' them but couldn't find them.

Then a camp of brave young people in tents with kayaks.
I was talking to them later on the beach...
They are from Mt Roskill Grammar... On a class camp.

I continued my walk round the camp...
Next is the dumping and re-cycling station.
It's great the way it's set up and a great service to the campers...
Staying for two weeks the rubbish accumulates...
So its good to have a place to dump it rather than having to save it up and take it away when I leave.

Next are the entrance/exit gates. Glenys lives in her fifth wheeler nearby and looks after all the comings and goings. The gates are locked at night so that makes Uretiti quite a safe place to be.

Hiding under a bush... A lovely clump of daffodils... They smelt divine.

Managed to get close enough to this bird... A type of seagull I imagine.
It was squawking  loudly for its mate... so wasn't interested in me.

And out onto the beach... I never get tired of this beach...
It's the same beach but always different with its moods and colours.
This is looking north as I walked towards Ruakaka...
I walked to the surf club and back... 8500 steps...
Plus round the camp added up to 10.000...
I wear a Pedometer!

This is looking south towards Waipu as I walked back again...

Tiny shells that the tide washed in... I collected a few.
When they are dry I spray them with clear Polyurethane...  Then they keep their colour.
I have a small collection of all sorts in my bus. I love them... Some are so big and thick,
others are so delicate and fragile and I wonder how they survive the waves and stay whole.

Two 'Variable Oyster Catchers' looking for lunch. They are always in pairs and
squabble and chatter and dig with their long red beaks. They run at speed along the beach...
They look quite funny with their legs going so fast.

So that was my daily walk... The beach is a soul restoring place for me...
Wind, rain or shine... I never tire of it..
While I'm in town I can think about it... And remember it...
Till next time.