A Stroll along Clark's Beach - but not a superhero in sight!

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One of the things I love most about living in New Zealand is having so much great scenery right on our doorstep. Even now after living here for almost 2 years, we are still finding new nooks and crannies to explore.

Today we took a drive to pretty Clark's Beach, a small beach-side community made up primarily of baches (holiday homes), just a 30-minute drive away from home. It's been a long while since we were out exploring properly as winter, although not as harsh as back in the UK, has been pretty damn cold this year. Now that spring has sprung, we were itching to get our walking shoes on again and see more of the lovely local sights.

Walking along Clark's Beach in the sunshine was just heavenly. A cool wind was blowing and unfortunately it felt a little too cold for me to want to go dipping my toes in the water. In the distance on a faraway shore we could just make out the needle-like silhouette of the Sky Tower and we could also watch the planes coming in to land at Auckland Airport across the harbour.

The beach was strewn with a multitude of shells of all shapes and sizes although mostly it was sandy underfoot. There were some lovely gnarly old trees overhanging the beach too, all of which added to the lovely, natural setting. I can totally see why so many people would want to own a holiday home here. In a true sign of the tough economic times though, we noticed many For Sale signs outside baches and houses - possibly as many as 1 in 5. Very sad to see.

Jish too enjoyed getting out and getting some sand between his paws. He hasn't had any new adventures since Sydney and I swear if he's had a bucket and spade, he wouldn't have left the beach all day!

Hope you are all well and have had a good summer :-)

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Photos

Little House on the Shoreline
Some sweet little holiday homes known as 'baches' line the shore at Clark's Beach.

Glynn-On-Sea
If you look very, very closely you might be able to see the Sky Tower poking up in the distance just to the left of where Glynn is standing!

Big Sky
Another big blue Kiwi sky with a little Jude beneath it.

Rest Stop
Jish rests his weary paws for a while.

Wheeeee!!
Jish gets a flying lesson from his dad.

Red White and Blue
I've no idea what kind of tree this is but the red blossoms looked so vibrant against the bright blue sky.

Shelling Out
How many shells can you spot in this photo?

Beach Boulders
More lovely views from Clark's Beach :-)

Smile
Another family portrait in the sun :-)

Life Goes On
This dead driftwood tree has actually taken root again and sprung back to life!

Blue Heron
A lonely blue heron scans the shoreline for food.

Blue Heron
The blue heron prepares to get away from the bloody tourists who keep interrupting his food hunting!

Trunk Call
I just like this tree root as it reminds me of an elephant trunk!

Great Big Bushy Beard
David Bellamy, is that you?

Nature's Rest
It's a hard life, eh Glynn?

Tree Hammock
Oh well, Jude reckons that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!!

Life's A Beach
Wish you were here :-)

Comments

[Linda]

First Flying Lesson?
Good to see you've got Jish out and about - Is that the first flying lesson he's had? I like the look of the tree hammocks and the vegetation generally. :-)