The Sweet Taste of NZ

This morning we headed off on foot, with no particular destination in mind, just a direction. We headed west toward a peninsula that we can see from Sea Perch. The peninsula is very narrow and has a sharp spine about 100 meters above the water. It's just high enough for scenic views from places where the tree canopy isn't in the way.

After a couple of hours tramping, as we approached the end of the peninsula, there was a sign "No Fires on the Beach". What an invitation! To that point, we didn't even know there was a beach in the area. Without the sign, we would have missed the overgrown single track leading off the road. We made our way down the bluff to a beautiful rocky beach. Walking the shore, the place spoke loudest to the cleanliness of the country. Being on the windward side, there was lots of driftwood, but almost no garbage. We had noticed recycling programs in the country had a quite high profile, and there appears to be an environmental consciousness overall.

Returning home along the peninsula, there was another walkway to beach, this time on the leeward side. Down at the shore, there were large tree branches which are submerged at high tide, but hanging dry at low tide. They were covered with mussels. Unfortunately, they were too small to harvest for dinner, but still nice to see.

In another area along the beach, there were sea grapes growing on rocks. We didn't know anything about sea grapes, until we researched them on the internet. Apparently they're eatable, with a peppery taste. We had missed our opportunity to try something new.

Before getting home though, alongside the road, we found some delicious ripe black berries.

The sweet taste of a beautiful country.

Click here for the next story in this series:
http://travellingwithsteveandmarlene.blogspot.ca/2014/03/just-below-rope-swing.html