On our doorstep.....

On Sunday last week the girls and I plus a friend of theirs went out for a picnic lunch and walk along a local beach a little north of our town of Whangamata. This is one of my very favourite beaches that is just 10-15 minutes drive away and I thought it would be nice to share with you some photos. This beach is a favourite because of it's undeveloped natural setting and for most of the year it can almost be deserted and it's kinda of nice to have a beach to yourself don't you think. The drive out is picturesque as well  and one which I have posted before about here. Above is the little bridge that marks the start of a 2-3 minutes walk through some forestry of pines towards the beach. On various school trips out here the older kids are allowed to jump off this bridge when the tide is in.

A rather old dilapidated sign marking the start of the reserve but don't let that put you off what is ahead.

A pleasant walk through mostly pine forest and often to the accompaniment of 'Tui's' and other native NZ birds.

 Keep walking we're nearly there...

And just up and over the white sand dunes is the bright blue of the Pacific Ocean although it could be a little cold at this time of the year.

Looking left or to the north end of this 5km long beach towards 'Ohui' where there are rock pools to explore and you can see 'Slipper island' , a privately owned island on the left hand side of this photo. 

And looking to the right or southern end of the beach.

I think a few days beforehand there must have been some quite high tides which had created this sand dune 'cliff' which was perfect for jumping off!

We walked towards the southern end of the beach and back over the sand dunes where there is a sand-spit that is fenced off as it is home to nesting/breeding colonies of several endangered species of native sea birds including the New Zealand Dotterel and the Variable Oyster catcher. 

Heading back to the car park we walk along the estuary side of the beach up the Wharekawa Harbour. The sand is a little squishy on this side but the view up the harbour back towards the surrounding hills makes up for it.

I hope you enjoyed this little photo tour of one of the little known gems on the Coromandel Peninsula and thankfully just on our doorstep. You can see a few more photos here.