Old Settlement Beach

We planned to go on a boat trip today - a glass bottom boat to see the coral reefs and the turtles with a long enought stop on North Beach to go walking. Unfortunately something I ate had disagreed with me and a 3 and a half trip on a boat with no ...erm... conveniences available was not a nice thought so instead we had a leisurely ride to the jetty beach and into Old Settlement beach. The wind was picking up and cloud obscuring the mountains but the rain held off for our trip.
As the name suggests Old Settlement Beach was where the first settlers built their homes in the 1830's but no longer inhabited. It's yet another glorious wide sandy and very shallow beach. At low tide the wading birds can be seen feeding on the underwater grasses which have been exposed.
The old geologist was thrilled to find this beach was one of the most interesting geologically speaking. Plenty of lava exposed and intrusive dykes so while he busied himself understanding the geology I sat and dreamt the morning away on a handy flat rock.

Photos
Jetty beach with Old Settlement Beach in the background.
Old Settlement Beach
Disappearing mountainsRead more