Muriwai

Sunday we head to Muriwai.

It’s blowing a gale and intermittently raining and shining.

I spot a colony of tarā on the rocks beneath the boat ramp. We stop and watch them for a while as they fish. Gorgeous birds.

With the westerly wind up we opt for the more sheltered inland route between the sand dunes and golf course.

It’s always a lovely walk. The daisies are out in full show, as are the ice plants. Tūī and kaireka and pheasant accompany us. Three jackets on camera-in-the-dry-bag rain squalls sweep through and saturate us, followed by enough sun to dry our gear quickly.

We cross Coast Road and follow the curve of Okiritoto Stream to our usual lunch spot, overlooking the mouth of the stream. We’ve Farro sandwiches and water, which we eat in sun and drizzle, watching the four-by-fours and kite surfers.

The wind is calmer and at our backs for the walk back along the beach. We watch kite surfers getting ridiculous amounts of air, a blow cart, and tarā nui and takapū – spotting people up on Otakamiro Point alongside a temporary fence, and determine that the walk to the takapū colony must have reopened. We head that way and enjoy a spectacle of pairing and nest-building and swooping on the wind and foul-smelling but magnificent takapū. It’s quite a moving experience.

Seven kilometres, a couple of hours, and 1,200 photographs.