FLAT-LANDERS AGAIN

After our last trek up the mountain, we opted for sea level this time. We have two new senior couples, fairly recently arrived from the States, who haven't seen much of New Zealand yet, and asked us to take them with us some time. The past two Saturdays we took one of the couples with us each time. Of the fifteen or so senior couples, we're the only ones who walk further than from the car to the elevator. But they both promised to keep up if we'd slow down a little for them. We had fun both times, and hopefully have introduced them to some of the great outdoor stuff here.

The weather is finally shaping up, most of the time. The UV levels here are really high, so it's time for me to begin covering up again. I don't like that part, but oh well! This picture was actually to show off the flowers growing on the cliff along the beach walk, not my sun wear!

In all the beach walks and tide pool searching we've done, this was the very first time we've ever come across a jelly fish. It was huge, pink, and transparent. No doubt at all why it's called a jelly fish! It must have been 18 or 20" in diameter. Later on we saw two more. Why now all of a sudden? They washed in at high tide and then got stranded on the rocks when the tide went out.

Most of our beaches here are NOT the tropical paradise kinda beaches you might see on travel folders. Lots of volcanic rock and stuff other than brown sugar sand. When the tide is out, we see all sorts of formations.

The crusties have attached themselves to all these rocks.

After we'd shown our friends this East Coast beach, we drove over to the wild West Coast of the Tasman Sea. The weather over there is always windier and the sea is wilder. This is the black sand beach we talked about several posts ago.

A sample of the wild Tasman sea, spraying up on the rocks where we were standing.

Coming back to Auckland, we saw this beautiful display of sun rays over the harbor,

and a dark, mean looking sky over the city.