Coming Up Close

Yesterday on our walk along the beach we were surprised by an event being held, the Eastern Regional Lifeguard Championships for 2017 in which different teams from around the area compete against each other. Teams were; Mount Maunganui, Waikanae, Piha Surf Club, Orewa Surf Life Saving, Papamoa Surf Life Saving and in the end Mount Maunganui won. You can see the video footage I took while we were there watching one of the heats - primo scorching hot day for it. Linking up with Our World Tuesday :-)

Sometimes on Friday nights after work we walk down to local Pilot Bay to check out the latest cruise ships and relax in the beachside scenery. I think I was playing around with my camera while wearing my sunglasses and this is the tinted shade I got. The view from where we walked along the long path, cruise ships in the background and to the right of the photo is part of the Port of Tauranga, quite a lengthy area. More Skywatch Fridays here :-)

As most of us do on occasion, tonight I was trolling through my archives and found this shot of the early morning sun rising over Mount Maunganui beach. I think I must've taken this on my way to work around 7.30ish. The steps are one of many located along the length of the road linking up to the beach and in the background I think is Rabbit Island, the only way you can get out there is by boat or swimming quite a distance. Linking up with Wordless Wednesday and Wednesday around the world :-)

We had a bit of a humdinger of a storm in the weekend and the morning after we ventured down to the beach that had washed up. With loads of surf waves and rips in the ocean these signs warning people of the dangers of swimming in this weather were dotted along the beach. We found loads of seagrass on the sand being pushed by the fierce wind and a few crabs here and there but mostly seaweed and broken shells. Linking up with Our World Tuesday for this one :-)

Last weekend we were walking around town with my daughter in the hope of helping her find a part time or full time job, while we waited for her to catch up we sat down to rest and this guy was busking in front of us. Actually the rock music he was playing was pretty good :-) More Weekend Reflections here.

We're awaiting some bad weather coming from west of NZ so in the meantime I thought I'd share some photos I've taken over Summer. I have a fascination with patterns and textures on shells especially tiny ones like the one above. Surf lessons near Leisure island - I use to want to learn to surf, these days I figure I'm not young anymore and prefer to see others doing it. This equipment was set up near the main beach - it's apparently a bungy jump for kids and teenagers. All I know is that you wouldn't get me on it... Lots of action in the water - this guy paddleboarding on the waves looked like he was enjoying himself. And pony rides for the kids at Mount Drury. What's happening in your part of the world?

Sunday morning we made the spur of the moment decision to find out where there was a local farm where we could pick fresh Strawberries. We ended up finding Somerfield Berry Farms over in Oropi which is about a good 20 minutes away.  Out in the country the driveway down was past sheds and kiwifruit orchards lined with various types of pretty colourful roses. We spent probably 45 minutes there looking through the patches trying to find some that weren't small and in the end we came out with 1.4kgs and ended up paying just on $13 which is pretty good for this part of NZ. The end result - don't they look pretty darn good? Gotta love Summer fruit. Linking up with Our World Tuesday :-)

Last weekend as part of our holiday relaxation we decided to give the Wairere Falls track a go. This spot is an absolute gem and isn't very far away from where we live. There are 2 walks, the one we completed was 45 minutes long and took us to the platform where we could see the main waterfall, the other one was 90 minutes long and takes people to the top of the summit. As you can see from the photo above this is roughly where we first started. On the way through this is the sort of scenery we saw, it was pretty neat to see quite a few families with children doing the same walk as us - good that people are outside getting exercise in the awesome Summer weather we've had. While standing on the first bridge this was what we saw below us, one of the many smaller waterfalls on the way up which was coming out the other side. I happened to look over and see someone had probably very carefully climbed down the rock ledges and made this kind of pebble statue - kinda

I'm hankering for the holidays again...we went back to work on Monday and I think my body is still trying to get use to having to get up at 6am 5 mornings a week. Anyway last week when we were relaxing at the beach on our deckchairs one afternoon I snapped this photo of the skies behind us. It's been so hot here that the sun doesn't disappear until 8pm. Not looking forward to the end of Summer... Linking up with Skywatch Friday again this week :-)

Over the holidays while we were off work we've been doing alot of walking especially along the beach. We ventured through Leisure Island which is just off the main beach area and saw these two men with their fishing rods as they were surf casting. The one at the bottom on the rocks looked like he was holding a bag of burley in the water to entice the fish. This is a view off the rocks over part of the main beach.....and with scenery like this why wouldn't you want to enjoy it? Linking up with Our World Tuesday :-)

On our drive yesterday our last stop was visiting the Blue Springs of Putaruru about 1 hour and 3o minutes from where we live. This place is truly magical - and by the colour of the water you can see why, right? The water comes from the Mamaku Plateau where the water takes up to 100 years to filter through, and the result is so pure that it produces a lovely blue clear colour. We were lucky enough to see a few trout swimming here and there in the water. There were signs up specifying no swimming but it was dismaying to see people paddling and floating on the water on blow up tubes. More Weekend Reflections here :-)

Have you ever had one of those moments where you're driving along and then suddenly something catches your eye and you suddenly stop to take photos. I had one of those moments today, we had been out most of the day with our cameras at different places enjoying the scenery when we drove past the Ruapeka Marae near Putaruru. I have a thing for Maori Maraes but sadly there aren't nearly enough unless you go off the beaten track. This one is a real eye catcher, and with the Maori carved Pous lining the fence along with the yellow daisies covering the field I couldn't help but take some shots. Apparently it's one of many maraes around the area. On such a scorching hot Summer's day it was really nice to stop and rest for a bit :-) More Skywatch Fridays here :-)