Rarangi, You Little Beauty!

Not long ago, we met a fellow NZMCA member while in Westport who mentioned he was from Rarangi. He asked us if we knew where it was. We were embarrassed to admit that we didn’t and even more sheepish when we discovered it was near Blenheim! Less than two hours from home.

Rarangi is a small coastal settlement just north of Blenheim. Maori named Rarangi as the place where the sun rises.

There were lots of parks when we arrived at the DOC campground - we settled under some pine trees with an outlook of wild flowers. I couldn't get out of the bus quick enough when I saw masses of colourful flowers. And of course Bernie was just as quick to put the jug on! And while he happily did that, I took the dogs off to explore.

Close to the bus was a gravel path leading to the beach, with the sound of crashing waves nearby.

The photo below is looking back at the campground from the beach. There are toilets and cold showers. Dogs are allowed at Rarangi providing you get a permit from the local council. Gaining a permit can be done online or by phone. It's free and all that's required is information on your dog/s such as breed, colour, male/female, registration number and age. The camp has many areas of hard gravel suitable for parking and a large area for tents too.
 

There are two walking tracks nearby, both begin at the northern end of the beach. One leads to Whites Bay and the other is a short track to Monkey Bay. The track to Whites Bay takes about an hour and doesn't allow dogs. So I took the short ten minute walk up over some stone steps to the small, secluded beach known as 'Monkey Bay'.

The Great Wall of Rarangi.

Looking down into Monkey Bay.

Later in the afternoon, Bernie joined me on the beach. He had his binoculars and we looked out over Cooks Strait towards the North Island. I wish I had a zoom lens (maybe Santa will bring me one?!). We could see the wind turbines on the shore of the North Island. If you look closely at the two photos below, you'll be able to faintly see them.

The Rarangi beach environment hosts a number of very rare native insects that are only found in this area. One is a stone moth and the other is a mat daisy jumper. Also Katipo spiders can sometimes be found around the foreshore. I did my best to find them, uplifting logs and searching in amongst the foreshore fauna but I didn't see anything.

Once Bernie was ready for a look around I showed him the walk over to Monkey Bay. We climbed back up the steps (there really weren't very many) and stopped at the top to read the information boards and admire the view. 

Although I was keen for Bernie to see the little cove below we decided not to go any further when we spotted a wedding party below, having photos taken.

At the northern end of beach just beside the steps leading to Monkey Bay, is an ideal spot to watch waves breaking against the rocks.

Another highlight for me were the wild beach flowers. They were about thigh-high and came in a variety of yellows, reds, pinks and whites. I'm so pleased our visit coincided with their flowering.

Later in the evening we walked along the beach again and met a local guy who asked if we were going to see the glow worms that were in hidden caves near the walkway to Monkey Bay. We'd planned to wait until it was dark and then we were going to take our torch along to see them. But sadly, he told us someone had let off fireworks inside the cave, which killed the glow-worms. We never did go and check to see if any had survived.

At dusk, I decided  to walk a little of the track leading to Whites Bay. I knew I'd run out of light so I didn't go far - just far enough to get a photo over Rarangi (can you can see the Rarangi Golf Course on the right of the road?).

With the sunset came a golden glow, bringing an end to an enjoyable day of exploring.

The next morning was Armistice Day, the 11th day of the 11th month. It seemed fitting to take some photos of the sun rising on the anniversary of WW1 ending. The colours seemed symbolic - blood red and reminiscent.

Even the sea reflected the mood.

Not long afterwards we packed the bus and set off. 

Picton was only quarter of an hour away, so we headed there to have breakfast on the foreshore. It was still early morning - calm, warm and peaceful. The perfect spot to enjoy a coffee while watching the morning unfold.