Wednesday 10 February 2016

Summer, sea and sand dunes

Probably need to be playing .....
While reading this ;o)

Have you ever sat under a clear night sky and utterly marvelled at the unthinkable vastness of visible space before you? The stars and planets visible to the naked eye a mere fraction of what there is of the known universe. And how totally and completely insignificant you are on this huge theatre of light. All of life's worries, and everything that brings concern to your everyday 'blink of an eye' existence all boils down to an improbable collection of chemical elements.

Stop worrying about anything.. In the end it absolutely doesn't matter!

In other philosophical news. England's claim to a green and pleasant land is way off beam. The description is far more fitting of New Zealand...


I'm sorry. I realise my enthusiasm for these islands must be slightly wearing now. But I'm finding it difficult to understand why more people just don't live here.. 
Simple as that, I guess. 
Being fortunate enough to have been born in England I have been blind to a wider view of the world. It seems from afar that England and Europe is in a mess. My view has widened immeasurably during my travels.

Might not publish the above... If you read it. I did!
...
So after travelling north and west I got within easy distance of the north coast of the south island.

Summer in full bloom.. Hot sunny lazy days.... I will miss summer.. It's been ten months long this year.

Driving through Nelson,I happened on a plain fronted building with a simple sign that said.. " NZ Classic motorcycles" wasn't sure if it was a shop, or a business but I pulled in to investigate.. 

Glad I did! An amazing (private) collection of old motorcycles from the 1920's through to more modern machines. Lots of 50's and 60's Triumphs, Nortons, BSAs, Indian, Harley and others I didn't recognise. Three Brough Superiors! and a Britten.
Wow!



After a weekend at a camp site that turned out to be popular with families I moved on. From somewhere full of 30 somethings with young kids, along with the grandparents, to a less facilitated camp site full of 20 somethings avoiding responsibility. Not quite sure where I fit into that grand scheme of things. 
Perhaps I don't and that's the whole point.

Sat on a pebble sea break with a turquoise sea and misty mountains on the horizon, in not sure there is much more. A bed to sleep in, a bottle of cheap wine, I think I'm turning into a bit of a hippy... Peace man!


Heading towards the north west point of the south island. A quick stop at (the very busy) beautiful bay at Kaiteriteri. Before crossing the mountain road at Abel Tasman national park, to Collingwood. A fantastic place, wonderful scenery... Blah blah blah.. Yeah I know you've heard it all before... But really.... A truly stunning area to be in. Mountainous twisting roads. Jaw dropping views and, today, perfect weather to enjoy it all... 


There's a spit of land jutting 24km out into the sea at the north western tip of the south island. Farewell spit is a huge  bar of rolling sand dunes with open ocean on one side and the tidal "golden bay" on the other. A fantastic and hugely interesting place with sweeping hills running down to steep cliffs and a wide clean beach on the seaward side. I read that a lot of whale strandings occur on that beach due to the huge tide that leaves shallow sand banks for miles. Luckily the tide was in when I visited so the sea was right up to the base of the dunes.  
  

On my way back a second beach at Wharaiki beach which after a bit of hike provided more stunning sand dunes and a scenic beach to take a cooling dip. 


From here I will head south east again to get towards Picton to take the return ferry to the north island. Where more adventure awaits! 

1 comment:

Steve Saunders said...

Just worked out how to post comments before you get back! NZ looks and sounds amazing, were you anywhere near the earthquake at Christchurch?