Maraetai

Allie suggested 'a Sunday drive' on Saturday, November 17, so off we went. Maraetai is actually located to the east of Auckland. (And pronounced like Ma rye tie.) When you look offshore from Maraetai, you see Waiheke Island about 5 kilometers out. 

It's a beautiful beach on the Pacific with very light surf, almost none, and very popular with families. The beaches here are made up of what appears to be about equal percentages of sand and pulverized bivalve shells. We spent a couple of hours hanging out, ate some ice cream, and came home tired. 

(caution: changing subjects here)  I can't say enough about how much the new tunnel has benefitted us. We drove to Maraetai about 1pm the usual way and breezed through the city. By 4 pm when we were returning, Google warned Allie that the north-bound motorway through the city was bumper-to-bumper. We therefore headed for the airport and from there the tunnel which connects the southwestern and the northwestern motorways. It's 2.4 kilometers long. When we come out of it, we are essentially home, with only about 5 kilometers to go on our local motorway before our exit on to Te Atatu Drive. 

Here is an album of our afternoon...oh, oh, before we start, I want to show you a treasure i picked up on the beach at Maraetai.

 When I found this among the rocks on a point of land, I thought I had found the skull of a crested bird of some sort.  I noticed that it was perfectly clean. It had obviously been around for a while, washed by the waves and bleached by the sun, but I also saw that it had not been damaged by the rocks. The edges were all in perfect shape. Even the delicate crest. I was excited. 

 

This is the front of the skull. I think it resembles a space monster of some kind. Don't know if it is the one that menaced Sigournie Weaver in Alien or more like the creatures from Independence Day, but it's got a pretty ugly mug. 

I started researching what sort of bird it might be but very quickly discovered that it's not a bird's skull at all. It is the upper portion of a snapper's skull. A snapper is a fish, Pagrus auratus. 

But let's get started looking at the beach itself. 

 I think it took less than an hour to get here.

 Just arriving and doling out the sunscreen to those who didn't slather at home.
You can see Waiheke out there. It doesn't seem like 3 miles out, does it?

Looking toward the left. White sand and crushed shells, a boardwalk, benches, bright sun, warm breezes. 

And looking toward the right.  Looks like a postcard scene, doesn't it?

Amiri goes by on his paddleboard.

Beside paddleboards, there were lots of kayakers like this girl has.

 Jeanne and I are taking a walk down the beach. See that wind-sculpted tree down there on the point? Jeanne will soon shelter from the sun under it. 

 I found the snapper skull just in front of that boulder in the right foreground of this of this picture. 

Gotta have some ice cream.

These last two shots were taken at another beach about 10 minutes south of Maraetai. (We just went exploring.)  Many fewer people here, maybe because it is a less protected spot. The water was a bit choppy. 

Still, it was a gorgeous setting.      -djf