(Long post alert, but you have nothing else to do on this pandemic Easter weekend, right?)
“The cure for anything is salt water — sweat, tears, or the sea.” – Isak Dinesen
In an effort to see the local sights that were touted by Will in our epic guidebook, all while respecting social distancing regulations, we made plans to make footprints on some impressive beaches and a salt water cure.
First up, we took a short drive around the Purakauni Inlet and ended up next to the mouth of the inlet and a beautiful beach with views of the bay. Charlotte was excited to show us a rope swing, and all the adults were brave enough to release their inner 10 year old and take a swing…some more gracefully then others!
A path led us up a hill to view the headlands surrounding the bay. Mapoutahi Pa was on the left as we walked towards the beach and a path led us to a historic Māori Pa, a village or defensive settlement. The Māori are the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand; they originated with settlers from eastern Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of waka (canoe) voyages roughly between 1320 and 1350 (Wikipedia). After a short climb, we were stunned by spectacular views of the coast and steep cliff faces.
After we descended from the cliffs, we strolled along the beach to discover the “squeaky sand” and “sinky sand” that Charlotte had been talking about. Similar to the “singing sands” beach in PEI, the sand makes a noise when you walk on it; this is apparently due to to the high amount of silica and quartz in the sand. It is very entertaining for young and old alike! While the “sinky sand” requires you to be braver and to get wet, this sand performs a bit like quick sand enveloping your feet as you sink a bit. Such a wonderful place!
The following day’s itinerary included a drive to see the Moeraki Boulders, about 40 minutes away, on the Koekohe Beach between Moeraki and Hampden. These boulders are actually concretions that have been exposed through shoreline erosion from coastal cliffs. They originally started forming in ancient sea floor sediments around 60 million years ago, and the largest boulders are estimated to have taken about 4 million years to get to their current size. The beach provides an atmosphere and scene that can’t be matched anywhere else in New Zealand, or the world!
A small detour was made for a drive into Moeraki to see Fleur’s Place restaurant, whose specialty is fresh fish right from the bay. Having heard about it from Michelle and thumbed through her mouthwatering cookbook, we were able to peak in the windows and walk around the property. Some day we will come back when the world isn’t closed for business!
Upon arrival back to Purakaunui, Niccy was treating us well with an afternoon spread of cheese buns and pikelets (similar to small pancakes). Delicious! In addition, she had uncovered some homebrew in her basement dating back to the 90’s and had a great suggestion for its use!
Hand sanitizer!
The rest of the afternoon was filled with taking the boat down to the inlet to row out to the sand flats for Charlotte, Will and Jody to create sandcastles!
Michelle and Tanya received an invitation to be picked up by row boat at a boat shed along the shore, and instructed to bring a bottle of wine! Niccy urged us to go, stating “you don’t get an invite like that everyday.” So we set out along the inlet path, with our bottle of wine, and found our way to the quaint boat sheds just in time for our dory to arrive. After precariously climbing in, the three of us had a romantic, memorable row around the inlet and were safely deposited back on the dock, alongside the “wee” boat sheds.
The amazing Niccy had prepared a “boil up” supper for us, similar to a boiled or jigg’s dinner. Pudding (aka – dessert) was hokey-pokey ice cream with leftover Christmas cake and blackberry syrup! Yum…such comfort food! Meanwhile, tonight the movie selection was another NZ film makers creation, BOY. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP05fUP9xAo )
On our last full day in New Zealand, after a hearty breakfast, we picked more raspberries, raked leaves and did a few odd jobs for Niccy. While another goal for the day was to take a selfie with a sheep; check!
Although the Orokonui Eco-sanctuary was closed and we didn’t get to see a Kiwi bird, we opted to hike up Mopanui for an epic panoramic view of the area. After a steep but short scramble up a path, a exposed trig (aka trigonometry tower) greeted us at the summit. Wow! What a view!
Following our morning hike, a short drive landed us on Long Beach. This tranquil sandy beach stretches 2.4 kilometres between coastal rock formations. We strolled to the west end of the beach to explore the caves and stare up at the rock cliffs, which were studded with climbing anchors. Although we didn’t spot any, you can meet blue penguins on this beach!
Some cartwheeled the beach, some went for a swim, some did pull ups on driftwood and others did some seashell souvenir shopping. Gathering seaweed for Niccy’s garden was the final task. Phew, that stuff was heavy!
A final happy hour, complete with NZ meat pies, greeted us on the deck, and I took the opportunity to reflect on our adventure. While it did not pan out as originally planned, “life is what happens when you are making other plans” –John Lennon.
A mouthwatering leg of lamb supper, with Niccy’s homemade mint sauce, topped off the day with the decision to someday return to this country and the secluded “bubble” of Purakaunui.
The next morning, we packed our bags and readied ourselves to fly across the world during a global pandemic. As we profusely thanked Niccy for her generosity and hospitality, her hugs and words “go safely” brought tears to my eyes. This view of two sheep apart from the rest, hesitant to join the queue, seemed fitting as we split away from our safe bubble, to stand in airport lines and crowd into planes to return to Canada.
Another great read Tanya, this blog has been amazing but it has made me a little sad to know I’ll never see N.Z. but smile when I think you two will be back someday♥️ So much adventure is a shortened amount of time, still was wonderful.
Another great read, Tanya and the pictures are amazing. Thank you for taking the time to do this.
It is such a beautiful country, maybe we will make it back there someday too.
Thanks, Tanya. I just read through your Blog of our fateful New Zealand trip, and it helped me realise it wasn’t a complete balls-up. In fact, I think our real holiday started when COVID shut us down, and we were all forced to go chill out at the beach. I’d still love to show you guys the volcanoes, vineyards, and hot pools in the central North Island; the beautiful ocean landscape of the Bay of Islands; and more of the deep South, but looking back over your NZ2020 posts, I can see that we did manage quite an epic adventure after all. Great to have this written record, illustrated with great photos to remember the last trip “home”. Will