More beaches!

Mon 23rd Feb: We were up and off the site by 9.30am today, which is a bit of a record for us! We drove north past Collingwood and just before the end of the road we turned left for 6km on gravel then a 1km walk to Wharariki Beach which is on the very north coast of the South Island. Most people agree this is the most beautiful beach in NZ. We were the first on it this morning. You walk over amazing sand dunes on to a deserted isolated beach with caves, stacks and white sand. The first two photos show a little of the views, but we took many many more as it was breathtaking. The boys ran up and down steep sand-dunes and in and out of caves and thoroughly wore themselves out. After a couple of hours other people started to arrive so it was time for us to go.
We drove south to Collingwood to visit a small animal park. It had a strange collection – enormous eels, ducks, a wallaby, hens and chickens, two emus, rabbits, a deer and so on. One emu was so desperate to eat from the food bag that he stuck his head right in the bag and pulled it out of Steve’s hand!
We drove south to Takaka and then east for about 10 minutes to Pohara Beach to a campsite. Here the beach is very flat and the tide goes out a long way, so it’s perfect for the children to run and play safely. The next photos show yet another empty beach, even though it is one of the most popular in the area) and Jonathan enjoying the warmth of the shallow water. The final photo is of Steve “having a blast” in a blo-kart on the sands. There was a strong wind blowing on to the beach which was perfect for this and he had 40 minutes of great fun.