Windsday

This morning's sunrise promised an interesting day, and rainstorms were forecast for later in the day, so we headed off fairly early in the morning to visit the beach at Opoutere, about 10k north. As we headed east from the main road, we came across this logging operation--interesting to watch. NZ logging these days is almost exclusively of exotic, plantation planted radiata pine. The long growing season means that the trees grow quickly and harvesting happens in fewer years than in colder climates.




The beach at Opoutere is special in that it is in two sections: inland is the Wharekawa Wildlife Refuge, a sheltered estuarine mudflat (with crystal-clear waters, nevertheless) that is home to many shorebirds, including the endangered N.Z. dotterel, and beyond that, the ocean. The black feathered, orange-billed shore birds from yesterday, I learned from the Department of Conservation info board here, are Oystercatchers, and we saw many more here. Along the shore of the estuary are many of these wind-tortured pines. Looks like a good place to hide from Black Riders to me!



A walk over a bridge and through a lovely forest brings you to the beach.



Frank had gotten ahead of me as I stopped to take numerous photos, so when I topped the last dune, I found him already enjoying the gorgeous view. This spot is typically New Zealand--5k of pristine white sand beach, protected by coastal zoning limits (so no buildings) and, despite today's perfect conditions, deserted--we saw 4 other people the whole time we were there. We love this country!



On the way back, we decided to venture up to Topadahil Studios, one of the homes of Guity and David Evelyn--the other being in Nice, France, where Guity was raised. Guity's luminous paintings and David's sculptures and jewellery accent a unique home and garden, and their warmth and genuine welcome made the whole experience a delight. Although Guity's originals sell for thousands, I was lucky that her prints were on sale at 1/2 price now at the end of summer, and (after much agonizing) I chose these two beautiful gems. This photo doesn't capture the depth and richness of the blues and greens, nor the glow of the gold powder, which make the seemingly simple designs endlessly fascinating. We really enjoyed our visit here, including their spectacular view over the estuary from the 'top-a-da-hill'!






When we returned to Whangamata, Frank got into his painting, but I was attracted to the unusual effect of an approaching rainstorm. The photos below document its ominous approach, but you can see that I sat on the bench in sunshine until the very last minute. Strangely, although it got very dark and the sea breeze became a gale, and there was enough moisture in the air to generate a pale rainbow--it never did rain! What a luxury, though, to have the time and leisure to simply sit and watch it all happen. Not a very eventful day--but so enjoyable.