When you are locked down by COVID 19 you find things to do to fill the time. Here is a timelapse video of the clouds over the harbour. It would have been longer but the battery went flat. (I had to click on these twice to make them run...):
And here is a sunset!
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| We met this frog sitting beside the road, hoping no-one could see him. |
As all of New Zealand apart from Auckland was released from Level 4 lockdown, we decided we had earning the right to explore a little more widely. We drove back to Kawhia and then on to the ocean beach, were there was reputed to be a "Hot Water Beach". There was no-one else around when we arrived at the end of the road. We set off up over the high dunes which front the beach.
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| The view from the top of the dunes. |
Down on the beach we realised the little excavations in one particular area identified the location of the hot water. Others had been there before us today, and provided several handy little pools where feet could be immersed.
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| Sue warming her feet at Hot Water Beach, Kawhia. |
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| Sue keeping the country running, from Aotea. |
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| Aotea would be a good place to take your telescope, when the moon is not full. |
Once the COVID restrictions were sufficiently relaxed, we finally set off for home. We had to cancel our bookings for the other stops we had planned, at Waitomo and Kuratau, and instead drove all the way to Wellington without interacting with anyone. We took a packed lunch and drinks, and the car had sufficient range to make it all the way without a petrol stop. We were pleased to be home again, although we did enjoy our unplanned extended stay in Aotea.
