On the Beach

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Someone asked me a few days ago if I felt I was somewhere else. Well, I'm certainly in a place I've never been to, seeing incredible sights, but nothing I've couldn't picture in my mind. Sure, seeing it was a totally different experience, but I wasn't supprised by snowy mountains, for example.
This has changed when I got to Wharariki beach. You have to walk like 15 minutes through some coastal vegetation, while the ground changes slowly to sand. But only when you past that last dune, you can actually see the beach itself. For me, there I could really feel I was somewhere else. The low vegetation streches on some of the dunes, although most of them are just grey soft sand, creating a somewhat curved landscape. And beyond those rolling dunes, like a hundred meters or so, you can see the sea. But the sea happens very slowly, at least in low tide. As you move away from the inland, the sand under your feet is getting more and more flat and wet, with little streams zig-zaging their way around you from behind, until finally pools start to form between the rocks, and then there is the sea itself, flat all the way to the horizon. And right there on the water line, those few huge rock formations, with peculiar shapes, formed by water and time, sticking out like jaged teeth, complete with big gaps through which the endless sea can be seen. Add the fact that the beach was almost deserted, with just some people wandering around, the overcast that day that created a soft light effect, and finally the always constant roar of the waves, and you have a real out of the world experience.
I spent more than an hour just wandering on this beach, or sitting in the warm soft sand. Well, not just. The beach also had a bonus waiting - in one of the deeper pools, about eight baby seals were playing in the water. I'm not really an animal fan, but those creatures were really both fascinating and so cute. I saw seals already, from afar or in the zoo, but it is really different seeing those friendly animals up front and personal in the wild.
So, you can look at the pictures, but I would really suggest popping over. It's just an hour from Collingwood. And say "hi" from me to the seals.

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Comments

[Anat]

Wharariki beach...
Oh the memories... the baby seals were awesome

[yael kashtan]

sometimes on the beach is just that
on the beach is a name of a novel about this part of the world (New Zealand, Australia what's the difference). I thought you were referring to it . http://www.answers.com/topic/on-the-beach