Muritai, New Zealand – April 14, 2018
Yesterday, Leslie and I decided to go for a walk. Instead of the same routine neighborhood walk, we decided to drive to the Pencarrow Head trail. It only takes about 15 minutes to drive there from our house.
It was a mostly sunny morning with a temperature of about 12 centigrade (54 Fahrenheit). It was a perfect day for a walk.
There is a road that goes to Pencarrow Head and the lighthouses, but it is only accessible by authorized persons. That meant “not us.”
The road/trail to the lighthouses is about 16 kilometers (10 miles) round trip. The advertised walking time is four hours. That is reduced to 1.5 hours if one rides a bike. We did not ride. We opted to walk, but we knew we would not even try to complete the entire trail.
There are some sweeping views of the seaside hills and the entry to Wellington Harbour one can see while walking primarily south from the car park. As we walked, one car and several bicyclists passed us. Several of the bicyclists had a surfboard under their arm. We never did see anyone surfing, but we did see people fishing.
At Camp Bay, we saw several teepee type structures made with driftwood. We have seen the structures at other beaches; however, we had never seen so many in one location. I do not know if they are just for fun or when they are built, maybe covered with a tarp and used as a shelter. The wind and the sun can be intense at times.
As we walked along, we had great views of Miramar Peninsula. Typically, we are on Miramar Peninsula looking across to Camp Bay. It was a nice change of pace.
We spotted a white creature in the woods, well up the side of a hill. At first, because of the color, we thought it was a sheep. It turned out to be a goat. There was a black goat just a little farther up the hill, but it was much more challenging to see.
We both commented on how calm the water was. Now and then there were small waves striking the shore. Because of the angle of the waves and the shape of the coastline, the waves resembled a zipper. That mesmerized us for a while.
The shore was very rocky. Because of that, paua shells were everywhere. We must have been in New Zealand too long because we did not pick up any of the big paua shells. We did break down and pick up some of the tiny shells.
There were dozens of seagulls around, some perched on the rocks, and several spotted shags. All of the spotted shags were on the rocks. The stones were odd because of their texture. I had never seen formations like that before. I believe they are all sedimentary rocks, but they have some very unique textures. Some are pockmarked with dozens of small holes while others have raised, intersecting lines of stone. I am not sure of the cause, but they were interesting.
On several occasions, Leslie remarked how nice it was to be outside, walking along the beach. The sounds are so relaxing and calming. That environment seems to be good for the soul. In places, one could smell the ocean, but it was never overwhelming.
After about an hour and fifteen minutes, we were back at the car. From there, it was on to the rest of our Saturday!
