Totaranui

I was just opening up my laptop to start penning today’s update when the laptop skidded across the table and knocked a whole glass of dark red wine over – it splashed all over both the seat AND back of one of our couches!! Twenty minutes of frantic swabbing and scrubbing later, we are hoping that we have done enough to mitigate a permanent stain. Bugger!
Charlie was up at sparrow-fart this morning to try his luck fishing the incoming tide and - YESSSS!!! At last, his first gurnard. Two lovely fillets.
Totaranui is one of the DOC campgrounds on the Abel Tasman Coastal Walk. Today was another gorgeous warm sunny day and we decided to head out on another section of the track to the next bay along, Goat Bay, which according to the sign was 2km away. Unfortunately we didn’t realise that the track, which usually follows the coastline not far above the beach, was washed out recently by floods. It took us an hour to get there and only the first 10 minutes were flattish. The NEW track now zig-zags up a VERY steep hill and down the other side even MORE steeply! I was certainly not looking forward to the return journey!
But the beauty of Goat Bay was well worth the effort. It simply took our breath away. We were the only people on the beach, and we found a shady rock to sit on and drank in the views (and a cup of coffee) before walking the length of the beach and back. When we arrived on the beach, Charlie realised that the rocks at the northern end were those he had been fishing off (and gathering oysters on) yesterday, so we debated the pros and cons of rock-hopping across and around them to get back, rather than traversing that dreaded hill again. We decided to give it a go, and I crossed my fingers hoping that my knee would last the distance.
Well it did, and although it still took us an hour to get back to the Totaranui beach it was great fun! It gave us a completely different perspective on the beach and we spent quite some time peering into rock pools and marveling at the clarity of the water. We also noted where the next lot of oysters are for when the hunter-gatherer goes back with his toolkit!
Another evening feeling pleasantly tired and sun-kissed after our day’s exertions.Read more

Today was a ‘rest’ day, so nothing much to report other than Charlie went above and beyond the call of duty fighting the elements to secure another huge haul of oysters off the rocks for dinner.
A strong south-easterly wind overnight and all day today has whipped up huge waves, transforming the previously tranquil beach into a surfie’s paradise! We were amazed to see the damage it had done to the beach: there had been a gentle slope of sand down to the water when we arrived, but overnight a wall almost 2 metres high had been gouged into the beach!Read more