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.