The Hypnotic Patterns of Sunflowers...

MATH OF SUNFLOWERS!

I was browsing last night on a blog site called Treehugger. Have a  look here It's an amazing site full or all sorts of interesting 'green' information and scientific nature stuff.
Under the section 'Nature Blows My Mind'...
I found this beautiful sunflower but had no idea of it's mathmatical statistics.
It might interest you as much as it does me... 

To look at PopMath... Look here



To look at Math IS Fun... Look here.

From Russell... Northward Bound...

I enjoyed my four days in Russell, Bay of Islands. It's a small seasonal town with lots of history.
I'ts a lovely place to visit. Read more about it here.http://www.russellnz.co.nz/..
Beautiful all the year round... I never tire of walking along the waterfront past  the old 'Duke of Marlborough' hotel and twisted old Pohutukawa's.
Read more about the 'Duke' here.
It's full of cafes and tourists, a fabulous ice-cream shop and fascinating 'Op' shop.
Treasures everywhere.

The sunsets are new every evening...

I left... In my bus... Across in the ferry from Okiato to Opua....
There are two ferries, operated by Fullers... They are like flat barges really and carry cars, buses, trucks...
And whatever wants to cross from one side to the other.

Opua is a growing town and community especially since a huge marina has been built.
Not many shops but it boasts a school...
The ferry glides into the boat ramp, the gang-way is lowered down and it's easy to drive off.

An increasing number of houses perched on the side of the hills...
And always yachts moored.

It was about a two hour drive to the Karikari Peninsula and to the beach at Ramp Road...
It's one of my favourite places... I haven't been here since last summer so it was
lovely to be back.
I was greeted by an evening rainbow... Showers in the distance...

Then to the west a lovely sunset...
Foretelling a lovely day to come I thought!

But no... Today has been wild and windy and some heavy showers...
So I'm packing up to go and visit a friend in Kaitaia for the weekend...

Cockle Fritters... Yummy!

I'm in Russell with my friends... They love cockles as much as me...
So it's fritters for dinner.

First we steam them open in a pan...
They open really quickly... Then quickly lifted out to cool before taking out of the shell.

Getting cool...

Out of the shells... A lovely bowl full of steamed cockles...

I make them into fritters... Chop cockles a little, add parsley out of my garden, mix in two eggs.
And big spoonfuls in a little oil in my pan...

And here is dinner... Cockle fritters... Salad... A glass of my favourite red wine...
What else could I want?

Next Stop... Cockle Bay...

Well... Here I am at 'Cockle Bay' parked among the flax bushes...
Out of the wind.
I'm parked in a little cul-de-sac at the end of a gravel road that is round one side of a bigger bay.
It was raining... The tide was in...
The day was wet, half dark and cold...
So I stayed snug inside my bus... The weather forecast for the next day was improving
and low tide in the middle of the day.



This bay's proper name is 'Parekura Bay'... I have nick named it Cockle Bay...
Because at low tide there are always cockles to be had...
And if there's cockles then there's fritters for dinner!

The tide is in... It creeps in almost silently. When I look out the window it's in or gone out
 and I haven't always noticed.
It comes up into a tidal creek and around the thriving Mangroves.
At high tide there is enough water to take the kayak up the creek and paddle through the mangroves and under a bridge and alongside the main road for a way...

I'm parked really close to the water... it's a private, quiet little hide away.

I woke early the next morning just after 6am...
It was magical and I don't know if these photos do justice to the stillness and early misty morning.

The tide came almost to my door!

The water is like glass... Reflections...
Despite the muddy bottom when the tide is in the water is remarkably clear.

It's midday... The weather has improved and the tide has gone out...
Cockles here I come...

Raincoat... Gumboots... Thick rubber gloves...And two buckets...

And off I go across the mud as far as the tide has gone out... And...

Here are the cockles... They live just under the surface of the mud and sand...
Some times just a few... Other places whole families...
I dug around all over the place and found the most on the edge of the sandy channel where the creek runs into the sea at low tide. More nutrients there I suppose... That run out each low tide.

I gathered two buckets full... Staggered back to the bus... They are surprisingly heavy.
I tipped them out on the grass... Sorted the biggest... Put the babies back in the tide to grow some more...
Washed the mud and sand off the rest... Covered them with fresh sea water...
And off to my friends place in Russell...
Yummy fritters coming up for dinner...

I'm On My Way To Russell, Bay of Islands... Bland Bay...

The day had come... It was time to pack up and leave my 'retreat' that I had had to myself for a week and drive back over the hill and face the world again.
It was amazing how reluctant I was... It had been such lovely 'time out' and so peaceful.
My first stop was Bland Bay.

This is a picnic area, where I am stopped, further along the beach is a large camping ground which in the summer is totally full.
It's a very popular place for swimming and fishing.
Usually very sheltered by the hills and rocky out-crops...
To day it's a howling north-north-east wind and sand flying...

A couple of brave walkers with dogs have passed me but otherwise the beach is deserted.

More farmland... The wind doesn't seem to bother the cows...
I don't like it though so am moving on to find a more sheltered spot to spend tonight...


This is the map... shows you where I was and where I'm going!

It Was Wash Day...

While I had access to plenty of water I decided I would do some laundry.
I was using my last clean tea towel and had a pile of dirty sheets...
So... In my flexi tub I mixed a 'brew' laundry liquid and 'Vanish" whitener.
I have a plunger with holes in it as an agitator...
I leave this for a couple of hours, agitating now and then... Then rinse.
Everything came out sparkling clean!
 

It's all hanging on the line in a good wind.
My next 'load' was some sheets and pillow slips.
I left those out over night and was woken at 6am by a strong wind so had to rescue them from all round the paddock where they had blown. But they were all dry... Before it rained.
I was pleased with my efforts. It was all quite easy. Usually I take my linen to a laundry somewhere...
But it's quite expensive and I'm wanting to be more self sufficient.
I still have some more dirty linen but I am going to visit some friends who have...
Of all modern conveniences... A washing machine!
So I will use that.

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!