The Wonders of Nature

This morning we woke up to a beautiful sunny day with 3 degrees inside the van & a -5c degree frost outside (about our 10th frost while we’ve been at Kaiteriteri). All I can say is thank God for electric blankets and fan heaters (our diesel heaters have taken a back seat while we have been plugged into the grid). It was a strange sight to see frost on the sand right down to the waters edge.

Late this afternoon I noticed that there were a number of small runabouts congregated near the boat ramp. Nothing too unusual for a Sunday afternoon & initially I thought they were just waiting for their boat trailers to be backed into the water to collect them. But 30 minutes later they were still there and had been joined by one of the water taxis.

It then dawned on me, of course there was a king tide today because of the full “super” moon due tonight. A king high tide also means a king low tide and because the tide had gone out so far the boaties were unable to bring their boats in to meet the trailers. They had about an hour wait before the tide had come in enough for them to start retrieving their boats. And although they may have not enjoyed waiting around in the chilly late afternoon, I think for some it might have been fortuitous. We had passed a fishery road block down the road (and out of view) that was stopping & checking departing boats, the fishery officers must have wondered why no boats had passed through for a hour or so.

The water taxi was alright; they had a tractor that was driven out to where the boat was and loaded. Another strange sight seeing a tractor that far out into the bay. And also seeing all the rocks between the point & the island exposed. Our neighbours walked around the island and were able to get some good sized mussels off the rocks without getting their feet wet. 

And the culprit of the boat strandings made an appearance right on cue just after 5pm rising slowly above the hills across Tasman Bay, taking on the pink hue of sunset.

The local shags (cormorants) were flying home to roost, I wanted one to fly across the moon so I could catch it silhouetted against it. But they all flew too low, which of course is what shags do! So this is the best I could do.

 

The birch tree across the road provided a bit of interest.

I really should have had my tripod out for these shots (but I was lazy, it was cold & I didn’t have too much time) so I balanced it on the wall as best I could.

And finally one as night took over.

Of course I should be up at 5:45am in the morning to catch the moon set, for this will be when it appears at it’s largest, as it disappears below the horizon. Unfortunately (or fortunately as the case may be) there’s a number of large hills and a range behind me and nowhere that I can get a clear shot without driving miles. So I shall remain tucked up in bed with my electric blanket on full, dreaming of where I’ll be for the next “super moon”.