Walking to Collingwood!

 I had read somewhere that it is a 40 minute walk along the

beach from Milnthorpe to Collingwood... So off I went...

 Through the reserve wallk-way that started near where I was parked

 There is art hidden away amongst the trees. Golden

Bay is a favourite place for artists of all sorts and

Milnethorpe Reserve is very popular with carvers...

 These big trees with flaky bark on the trunks

 And high foliage... I think they are Kahikatea (White Pine) or

Miro (Brown Pine)...

 At the end of this part of the walkway are steps and this concrete

bridge with big pipes through it to let the tide in and out...

Of this corner of the inlet.

 Looking back to my bus across the outgoing tide...

 Following the channel as it empties out to the sea is this bank of

stones. Talking to a local man who was walking his dog, he told me

they were exposed in a huge storm nine months ago...

Before that it was a sandy bank...

 Some more of the locals, and there's not many people living in

this little place, had made a path for access to the beach...

 Looking north towards Collingwood... 40 minutes!... 

Mmmm... Looks a long way.

 A deserted beach... Beautiful stands of gum trees...

 Then suddenly, although it was very hot, it looked like rain

approaching... But it didn't come my way.

 I can't see Collingwood yet! I met a couple who had been this

way before... 40 minutes?... Oh no... 90 minutes each way!

So I changed my mind... Sometimes I'm very glad 

my mind is changeable! and had a little snooze in the hot sand

before heading back the way I had come.

 The tide had continued to go  out leaving vast amounts of sand...

 The sea just visible on the horizon.

And back the way I had come, over the stones, over the bridge,

through the bush walk and back to my bus.

I felt I had been on quite an expedition,

I think I'll drive next time...