Just Below the Rope Swing

We're getting ready to move on. We're going from the north of the North Island to the south of the South Island. But before we go, I have just one last story.

We read in a brochure about New Chums Beach. "You go to Whangapoua, walk to the end of their long beach, wade through a small river, then follow the rocky shoreline to a small path that takes you over the saddle" there you'll find "one of the Peninsula's most beautiful and isolated beaches". So with visions of us having this beautiful beach all to ourselves, we headed off.

Making our way along the rocky shoreline, we greeted a number of people going the other direction, and eventually made it over the saddle to the beach.

As it turned out, we weren't alone. Though it was a nice beach, it was no nicer than many we've been on. It showed what a write-up in a tourist brochure or two can do. I was a little surprised an entrepreneurial Kiwi hadn't set up a beer patio or the like.

We had lunch there, and beach combed the area. While leaving, we took a ride on the rope swing, and down in the sand under the swing found someone's cell phone. We looked around for the people we had seen in the area earlier, but they were gone.

We placed the cell in plain view, hoping they would return for it. On our way back to Whangapoua, we met many other folks heading out to discover that they wouldn't be alone on New Chums Beach either. We didn't tell them the secret and dash their hopes, but we did inform them, as we're mentioning to you, if you see someone looking for their cell phone, let them know it's just below the rope swing.

See you on the South Island.

Click here for the next story in this series:
http://travellingwithsteveandmarlene.blogspot.ca/2014/03/kudos-and-other-thoughts.html