Rising early, we decided that today was the day to stay local to Torbay (in a rather less poetic way than that sentence came out). We hopped into Jane's car, which I've named Euan, and drove for ten minutes or so to the Okura Reserve.
A bridge crossing over the estuary river quickly led us into a very humid bush. There were fronds of fern as well as palm trees and hanging vines - a brilliant mix of green hues which were enchanting to walk through. The "20 minute easy climb" was a bit of a beast but the scenery was good enough to provide a distraction from the fact that we were completely overdressed for what was basically an outdoor botanical garden.
Puzzling to me were the many animal traps set out. These were white tubes within which were some bait (cheese-like nibbke, or in some cases a chicken's egg) and a fairly traditional mousetrap thing. I'm still wondering what these are aiming to catch - to this end we rather sinisterly looked inside nearly every one, but to no avail - so I may do a spot of research (aka Googling) later.
We eventually made it over the final hill, resenting this slightly as there was a flat "low tide" option but quite clearly the tide was as high as it could possibly be, and came upon a delightful little bay (pictured). Here we admired the view, devoured a kitkat and lamented the fact that we'd only brought 750 ml water due to Brunei security stealing our other bottle, before heading back along the track. At the end of the track we made good use of the boot washing facilities to ensure we weren't spreading Maori dieback.
Our next stop was Long Bay, via "Pak'n'Save" (or Pak'n'Spend when you're used to Tesco UK prices!) which was a delightful long beach just the other side of Okura esturay. Here we did a little beachcombing, finding some pretty black and pink shells which I rather think will resemble ourselves by the end of our travels if temperatures stay as they are. We also investigated Waiake bay which is just a short walk from Jane's house - it must be amazing to have such scenic spots right on your doorstep. I do love Sutton Park, but still, it's no idyllyc beach...
A bridge crossing over the estuary river quickly led us into a very humid bush. There were fronds of fern as well as palm trees and hanging vines - a brilliant mix of green hues which were enchanting to walk through. The "20 minute easy climb" was a bit of a beast but the scenery was good enough to provide a distraction from the fact that we were completely overdressed for what was basically an outdoor botanical garden.
Puzzling to me were the many animal traps set out. These were white tubes within which were some bait (cheese-like nibbke, or in some cases a chicken's egg) and a fairly traditional mousetrap thing. I'm still wondering what these are aiming to catch - to this end we rather sinisterly looked inside nearly every one, but to no avail - so I may do a spot of research (aka Googling) later.
We eventually made it over the final hill, resenting this slightly as there was a flat "low tide" option but quite clearly the tide was as high as it could possibly be, and came upon a delightful little bay (pictured). Here we admired the view, devoured a kitkat and lamented the fact that we'd only brought 750 ml water due to Brunei security stealing our other bottle, before heading back along the track. At the end of the track we made good use of the boot washing facilities to ensure we weren't spreading Maori dieback.
Our next stop was Long Bay, via "Pak'n'Save" (or Pak'n'Spend when you're used to Tesco UK prices!) which was a delightful long beach just the other side of Okura esturay. Here we did a little beachcombing, finding some pretty black and pink shells which I rather think will resemble ourselves by the end of our travels if temperatures stay as they are. We also investigated Waiake bay which is just a short walk from Jane's house - it must be amazing to have such scenic spots right on your doorstep. I do love Sutton Park, but still, it's no idyllyc beach...
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