A Canadian in New Zealand - Day 14 (the real day 14!)- Tawharanui Regional Park, Anchor Bay, South Coast Trail, Snells Beach

---

Spent most of the day at Tawharanui Regional Park which is about an hour north of Auckland. It includes an open sanctuary as well as a marine reserve. The open sanctuary is free from plant and animal pests so native plants, birds and animals can breed successfully. A 2.5 km pest-proof fence keeps pests out. Within the Marine Reserve I visited Anchor Bay and walked about a km up the sandy beach. Did some shelling. Picked up a few unique New Zealand shells for Gabrielle and Xander. After investigating a sea cave at one end of the bay, I wanted to hike around the coast but unfortunately it was high tide and much of the beach unaccessable to hike. Alas, I started another cross country trail, hiking up a steep path adorned with hundreds of sheep. We got along famously and shared the trail. From the top there were great views of the surrounding rolling pastures dotted of course with the sheep. Since it was early afternoon when I was finished, I decided to visit Snells beach as I saw a sign for it on the way. Not an overly impressive beach based upon New Zealand standards, however, worth the visit and another beach "notch". Tomorrow, off to Coromandel.

---

Photos

The lagoon
The specks are the sheep grazing

Comments

[Jean King]

Yummo
I loved all of the sausage type rolls and they were almost as abundant as the sheep! Bruce enjoyed the savoury pies! Great beaches still....