Bruce Bay

I'd seen photos of Bruce Bay and had it on my 'To Visit ' list. I'm not sure why, but I'd imagined Bruce Bay to be at the end of a country road. However, I discovered it wasn't. Bruce Bay is beside SH6, and there's not a lot of space between the road's edge and the highway to park. I pulled over, to have some lunch, with magnificent views over Tasman Sea.

Bruce Bay (or Mahitahi) was named after PS Bruce, a paddle steamer that travelled along the coast bringing the early goldminers and explorers to shore. 

Not far from where I'd parked, was a pile of smooth white rocks with writing on each one. Visitors come along, and find a white, polished rock on the beach, then use a permanent marker to sign their name and the date they visited Bruce Bay. I'd read about this mound of rocks and after seeing some photos, I was looking forward to seeing it for myself. 
Isn't it funny how people think differently? Some folk consider this trend to be vandalism, they view the pile of rocks as 'Grafitti Rocks'. However, I thought the rocks looked awesome, a quirky tourist attraction (a bit like the signed love-locks on the "Pont des Arts' footbridge in Paris). Each to their own, I guess.

Several hundred metres down the road (heading north), there's a small area to park. When the tide is out, this would be an ideal spot to walk along the beach. It's where the rimu forest meets the sea.
Unfortunately, when we were there, the tide was in. Although, I couldn't walk the dogs along the beach, it was entertaining watching the sea pound in and bringing with it, driftwood and lots of foam.

Look at that driftwood. Imagine what you could use it for...

Along with lots of driftwood, there was also lots of white, froathy foam. Sea foam is also known as ocean foam, beach foam and spume. It's formed by the agitation of sea water especially when it contains higher concentrations of dissolved organic matter.
It was fascinating watching it crash against rocks and erupt into the air, before finally washing up onto shore.

This post should have been written in May, when I visited Bruce Bay. But I'm running behind with my blog posts. Still I wanted to record what this lovely Westland Bay was like.

Lake Paringa

50 kilometres north of Haast is the scenic Lake Paringa. It might be small(ish), but it provides a great spot for fishing, boating and swimming.

The reflections were fabulous, I couldn't get to the lake's edge fast enough with my camera. It's an area managed by DOC and has small camping spots for motrohomes and tents. Being DOC - dogs weren't allowed (*sigh*).

Perhaps some of Lake Paringa's biggest fans are sandflies! Or at least it seemed like that when I visited.

I'd only walked 100 metres from the bus when I was welcomed (or plagued) by a mass of tiny, black biting insects.

How did they even know I'd arrived? Turns out sandflies are attracted to shiny surfaces, moving objects, warmth and carbon dioxide. So, here I was, with my camera (a shiny object), beathing out carbon dioxide, while walking/moving along the lake edge. I was a prime target for these pesky critters.

As annoying as they are, I was interested enough to type 'Sandflies' into the friendly search engine 'Google'. Here's what I found out ...

• The New Zealand sandfly is actually a black fly and there are 13 species of backflies in NZ
• Only the female sandfly bites, she needs blood to lay eggs
• Apparently sandflies leave when the sun goes down, but mossies will still be buzzing about after sunset
• In NZ, sandflies are most active on warm, cloudy and windless days. They seem busiest before it rains
• When it's really cold, some places in NZ have no sandflies at all

Take 2

Tomorrow, Bernie starts a new job, driving milk tankers for Fonterra. He's wanted a job like this for ages and when the opportunity came up, he didn't hesitate. But it does mean he will be based in Blenheim for six months. He will come home on his days off and whenever I can, I'll pop over. I'll stay in Nelson until the end of the year as Becs (my daughter) has a 7 week old baby (my first grandchild-yay!) and I want to be around to help out. Fortunately my job is flexible, I'm relief teaching, so I'm able to pick up work on days that fit with Bernie's roster. 

Last weekend we went to Blenheim to look for a place where Bernie could park the bus long term. The quickest way to Blenheim from Nelson is over the Whangamoa Saddle, but we decided to take the Wairau Valley route. We were hoping to see some snow so the dogs could have a play.

Although there wasn't as much snow as we'd hoped for, the drive was certainly worth it.

Once we arrived in Blenheim we set off to check out some possible places to park the bus.It wasn't long before we found the ideal place, and it ticked more than a few boxes;
* The owners were happy for us to have the bus parked for the 6 month duration
* It's dog friendly - handy for when I visit with the fur-babies
* The camping area borders the Wairau River and is a popular white-baiting spot (which is a big plus for an ex-West Coaster!)
* It's in a rural setting (ideal for a country-lad)
* And an added bonus is being only 5 minutes from work

Here's Bernie (below) looking at the Wairua River. It should provide plenty of entertainment as rowers often train on it and as mentioned above, it's popular with whitebaiters.

Although, I'm going to really miss Bernie, we're both pleased about his new job - it's the beginning of our second go at life on the road. 
If you're reading this and you're not sure why we moved back home after living on the road a couple of years ago, you can click here to find out more.