Peka Peka swim

 Still trying to get the dog calmly into the water. She's not a happy swimmer. This day we got the bikes off the car rack and one tyre went pzzsht!  Put the bikes back on the car and drove along the beach to a quiet spot. Plenty of those.

Mish encouraging.

But no. So we just went in ourselves. Water unusually warm and although it's a dark grey day the air was warm as well.

A mix of days in early summer

 Some days hot; some days not. 

Birthday trip to Waitarere Beach

Waitarere is up the line about an hour north of here. We took the dog and hired a bach for three days for the pensioner's birthday. Still not grey.

Looking back at the bach from our track to the beach. A simple beach house, almost directly across the road from the Thomas beach house mum and dad owned from the early 70s to the late 90s. We had some fun there.

A different perspective of Kapiti Island from further north.

It's a long and wide grey sand beach, also a road. Some traffic late in the day when people arrive for sunset and evening picnics. The morning of Michelle's birthday we walked 5km and only saw a couple of cars and walkers, one fisherman, and a very tired young seal trying to sleep at the water's edge.

Some big bits of driftwood  and plenty of interesting smaller pieces and shells about. This one is an old tree root system. It hasn't been in the ground for a while. 

We just hung about the bach and the beach for a couple of days: reading, eating. A blackbird flew into the house one morning and  Plum grabbed its tail feathers as it passed her. Poor bird. We got it outside but it flew away with a pink bald bum.

Back home, a thrush had built a nest in the peas while we were away. 

 

Peka Peka beach ride

Peka Peka ( it means 'bat' in te reo) is a small beach community about 15km north of here. It's a great beach to ride our beach bikes on. 

Autumn days are still warm. A few people on the beach but not many, a lot of the walkers with dogs. Plum ran and ran and ran. And only ate one fish head she found. Good dog.

Lunch spot.

Plum meets the Tasman Sea and the Rosetta Cafe

 At first, there was suspicion and fear - she wouldn't go close to the water. Then we had a breakthrough, but still suspicion and fear. Not going in there.

Days later,  frolicking in the waves.

But not yet swimming, still a bit anxious about the nice warm sea.

Meanwhile, the Rosetta Cafe coffee is nice. 

Found art: A kinetic sculpture on Raumati beach

 

Sounds and sights of Te Horo beach

 Found object collection.

A bit of spring, with rabbits and a penguin

Spring is on the way, despite the sleet and hail in Raumati this week and a snow dusting in Wellington and the single digit days across the country. We have a few bulbs up in random areas of the yard and each year there will be more.

Mish made a loaf of bread and the slices looked like rabbits. Toasted 'em anyway. Delicious.

And then, walking on the beach this afternoon, a penguin! 

An emperor penguin I reckon. Wouldn't be the first one on the beach here - one showed up in 2011 about 10km north of here and 4000km from home. Wellington Zoo fixed him up and the next ship to Antarctica took him and tossed him off when they got to the ice. He had a transmitter and that worked for a few months. The whole country hoped he lost it and wasn't eaten by an orca, cos he won hearts (and he cost a bit).

Down the beach in winter

 Not a lot of paddling going on, but the sea is still warmer than usual for winter. Loads of shells and plenty of driftwood tossed up lately, we've had some storms and wind from the south.

Cool days, so decided it was time for some indoor activities such as getting a bit more order into the main book stack. They've been loosely in order since they came out of the box when we moved in. The sort begins:

Now I can find things faster. That only took 18 months.

Mish making a fry up breakfast for us: three eggs, three double yolkers! Our favourite jumbo eggs from the Waiarapa are often twins and always delicious.

Cycling to Pencarrow

A favourite ride is still the trail out to Pencarrow lighthouse at the bottom of the North Island from Eastbourne. We did it recently for our 24th anniversary: a picnic out on the coast followed by a swim (not Mish) and dinner at Eastbourne. 

Looking back toward Wellington city. 

And post swim, ready for dinner. Nice beachy day out. 

Cycle to Waikanae estuary

Heading north along the new motorway cycle path, then west along the Waikanae River track to the coast and a picnic. Then a circuit home through Paraparaumu shops. That's about 20km and a pleasant cycle through the estuary. 

Will go back to take some bird photos.

Beach walking in the rain

Looking south from the Paraparaumu boat ramp.

Looking north with a lovely macrocarpa tree. Tide coming in so we hoofed it up to the pub at the boat ramp and  put away a couple of bowls of seafood chowder. A pleasant atmospheric walk and we got home before it poured.

Light show at the beach for Matariki (rising of the Pleiades above the horizon)

When the stars appear above the horizon in mid winter they signal the Maori new year and a time of renewal and celebration. All NZ is catching on now and in the last 10 years Matariki has become a much more widely accepted cultural gift. We've just made Matariki a public holiday.

There was a local light show at the beach so we wandered over on a chilly night and strolled around some light sculptures with a lot of rugged up beanie wearers.

Walked through some of the sculptures too. Seen here trying to get out of green spaghetti.

 And, out!

Beach walks

Walking to Paekakariki for a coffee. It's a 7km walk, on the sand all the way to that group of houses in the distance. Came back on the train and then the bus, which stops at our door. Jumped on the train forgetting that we still have a mask requirement for public transport - things have been so normal. 

(And then last week a Sydney visitor came for the weekend and bought the virus to Wellington, so we're suddenly reminded it's still all on and carry your masks.)

It's about 400mt to the beach from our place; down the road and then down a path (Bert's Way). Had an onlooker this afternoon as we headed down the path, so we engaged and admired. A handsome chook. 

And the photo I was taking when Mish photographed me.

And onto the beach on a rainy cool late afternoon. Lots of people darting out to walk their dogs between showers. It's been raining for days.

Day trip to Petone

Off to Petone today in search of new hiking socks - and we found them. $50 a pair but, hey, excellent socks for the Routeburn Track later this year. 

Petone, place of cafes as well as outdoor shops and op shops, is also the home of Wellington's most delicious and gutsy Reuben sandwich.  So we get one (and share it now) and take it down to the beach where there's a coffee van and a harbour and city view. What's not to like?!

Another Petone feature is the free water from the Hutt aquifer. 

Filling up the water bottle:

Back home in the afternoon, missing most of the city traffic heading north, in time for a sunset drink on the veranda. 

Got ourselves a comfy new couch and Mish came home from Sydney earlier this year with a banksia artwork.

Autumn rain

Getting some good rain lately. Temps still warm in the day and cool at night - nice for this time of year. This morning's walk was drizzly warm. Only one other person about this morning. We both got wet.

Looking south.

Views from Queen Elizabeth Park

An afternoon cycle south to Paekakariki. Taking Mischa's bike for a run. It's more powerful than mine, that's new ebike technology. And just being new of course - mine's about six years old now.

The view of Kapiti Island from the US marines memorial lookout in QE2 park. In WW2 there were about 20,000 marines camped at the coast here, for training and R&R. They had exercises around the area and practised landings on the beach.

It's much more peaceful now.

From the memorial lookout, with the sea behind me, that is where the US camp sprawled across the bottom of the hills, where the red roofed buildings are.

And from the lookout, the view south back to Paekakariki. South Island on the horizon.

Out on the water

Kayaking at Pauatahanui Inlet.  Pleasantly gentle, paddling into a slight breeze with tiddly waves. This is looking north when I wanted to go east, as paddling with the breeze was much more difficult. 

After I'd zig zagged back to the beach, doing some kayak donuts, and  nearly tipping it multiple times, I realised I hadn't put the rudder on. Inflatables aren't very stable without the slide on rudder. 

Back on land and our beach: a sunrise walk. 

As well as a bumper fig harvest (of the neighbour's tree), we have loads of feijoa. One tree drops grenades and the others are a range of sizes, all autumnal delicious.

 

E bikes are go

Mish bought an ebike!

And today we took it for a spin to Paekakariki for afternoon tea. That's on the road from here for about a kilometre, then into Queen Elizabeth park and along trails past horses and rampant blackberries, then you pop out at the coast road and along that to the funky cafe. A 20km round trip.

From QE11 park we had a good view of the new road being cut through farmland, Transmission Gully. That will mean two roads leaving Wellington going north, instead of one. Hallelujah. Completion due end of this year.

View of a steep section of new road from one of the park's bike trails.

We came back a different way, along the coast track. Zooming along from the cafe, looking back south.

And posing at Paekakariki after a yummy lamb stew pie. Looking north to Kapiti Island.

View from the coastal track, looking south past Paekakariki, Pukera Bay and the edge of flat topped Mana Island on the right. It's a scenic cycle. The coast track is a gravel track, up and down; hoping we didn't met a speedy mountain biker on a blind corner on the narrow bits. We didn't. The benefits of doing this kind of thing mid week.