Army Bay Beach

No matter how many times I visit Army Bay Beach (ABB), I am sure that I will always be delighted by what I see. I hope that you too will welcome another look at one really special beach. 

While my camera lens is not wide-angled enough to show you pictures of both sides of the peninsula at once, and the oceans that lie on either side, the following two shots were taken fairly close together and demonstrate that from some parts of the peninsula, both sides are visible, or would be if buildings didn't block the view. 

Ocean on the western side 

Ocean on the eastern side. We are facing toward the mainland in both these shots. 

Saturday was overcast. I thought that the light might not allow for good picture taking, but I think most shots came out pretty well.  It's nice not to have to walk far to get to the beach. We'll walk quite a bit though once we're one it. 

The area where we found all the starfish and jellyfish is below those outer cliffs. 

A hole in a driftwood log makes a perfect frame. We celebrate gettng to the beach! The boys are ready for some action.

What a tangle of driftwood, huh?

That very disreputable item next to his right foot is his soccer ball. It was originally bright yellow but much of the outer layer has been torn away during scores of games during and after school. One of these days it's going to pop, but for now, it's Arram pride and joy and will remain ever at his side. (or toe) The black sand here pretty well covers what's left of it. 

(Arram has two more brand new balls waiting in the wings.)

We're going to the tide pools at the right side of the beach. We're nearing 'Starfish City.' 

Some of the fallen rocks are really beautifu. This one is about three feet long. Can you imagine it pollished up?  

The tide pools. The other area of tidepools I'll show you in a later post is below the cliffs you see across the bay. The rocks there are very different in character from the ones we are now on. 

Here are the adventurous marine biologists

 Before anyone becomes alarmed, remember that the water on either side of the boys is only inches deep. This is extreme low tide. One of us three adults is always within feet of the boys. 

The boys show us their finds. In some areas, starfish were everwhere. Arram and I counted 20 in an area 10 feet by 15 feet.

Here are three of them now

Amiri is holding his sea star upside down. He reports that it's quite a weird sensation to feel each tiny sucker doing it's part...

And in this position, it was actually 'walking' along his hand, very, very slowly.

We think it very likely that a gull injured this one .

Arram used a scallop shell he had found to pour water repeatedly on this starfish. He's got a good heart. You can see by the condition of his jeans that Amiri has waded into some of the shallow areas of the pools. That's okay. We all wear old shoes, etc. on such adventures. 

Allie is holding a very small sea cucumber  

I found a perfect urchin shell. Not large but so beautiful.

And look at this amazing find. This is, I believe, a purple jellyfish and it has a fish inside it! We're seen quite a few jellies on many beaches, but never with it's prey still inside it, and looking very fresh besides.  

 I read recently that purple jellyfish are showing up on many northern (NZ) beaches. This species has only a mild sting at most. One other (the common jellyfish) does not sting at all. We are always extremely cautious when approaching jellies. We have seen many Portugese Man of War (also called blue bottles) on other beaches and give them a wide bearth. 

Here, Allie takes a close look. The boys are not allowed to touch any sort of jelly. 

Amiri and Allie found a fillet knife elsewhere on the beach and retrieved it so Amiri could help to dissect this jelly. 

Allie has just removed the fish which seemed to still be perfectly fresh. She reported that the inside of this jelly was a firm as the outside was. It did have the consistancy of very firm jello.

This is a section of the sea floor next to the land we're on. What a beautiful mix of shapes, colors and textures.  

That's about all for now I think, for this first post about ABB. Many of the photos I'll show you next time are similar to past ones, but not quite the same of course. And I hope that you, like me, will never tire of looking at the natural beauty of a truly unique beach.       -djf

Disclaimer: No living creatures were collected or harmed while photographing this adventure. All subjects were briefly admired and returned to the very place they were found. 

Our 43rd Anniversary

Jeanne decided that She'd like for us to take a hike around our section of the Opanuku Stream today. We hadn't done that together for quite a while and I agreed that it would make a nice event for our anniversary. It's a walk I've described to you before. It takes about an hour and a half to do it at the pace that we like. The 'wild' half takes longer, because the trail winds up and down some fairly steep sections, is narrow and can sometimes be muddy. The paved half is much more level and we automatically fall into a faster cadence with longer strides. 

I'm glad that we have this little piece of the real New Zealand so close to us. One tends to forget how wild the landscape really is when you are in suburbia. 

Beautiful

Hey Bob, imagine the walking stick could you make out of that, huh?

The paved side provides very comfortable walking. Just watch out for the bikers when approaching the corners. 

'Manu' in Maori has several meanings. In this context, it clearly means bird. The bird shown is a tui.

'Ika' means fish. Those are eels on the sculpture. 

A gigantic fern frond grows into the walkway. It will continue to unroll and expand. 

Now That's a fiddle head...

At the base of the frond I showed you just above is this new 'fiddlehead' just beginning to reach upwards. It's about eight inches tall and four wide. Under all that fuzz should be the edible portion. 

We're looking older, well, I am at least, but we've just hiked an hour and 30 minutes and we don't look too badly off...

Our 43rd Anniversary dinner was Thai takeaway... 

Chicken pad Thai, both mild and medium spiciness

Lava pork, hot

Seafood salad 

Fat noodle chicken

Green curry chicken

Spring rolls

Chicken satay on skewers

Rice 

 Tom Yum Thai prawn soup, (not shown)

It was a fine anniversary...-djf

The Western Heights

Oh, does it ever feel good to be back with Jeanne, Allie, Amiri and Arram. The boys both grew a good inch while I was gone. Now that I'm back, it's time to turn my sights back to describing life here. Let's start with...

Note the grapefruit on the tree.

Sturges Road runs the length of a high, 'spine' of rock that makes up part of the Western Heights. Our Harvest Drive might be considered one of the 'ribs' that curve down from it. To me, we could almost be living on the side of a drumlin from Gourley Township in Michigan. Our part of the 'Heights' is almost shaped like a drumlin after all; a couple of miles long, it is a high ridge of land that drops sharply off on either side. But NZ was formed in a very different way than Menominee County was, so my analogy doesn't really fit. 

What is true is that as you walk along Sturges, you can look down on either side and see the valleys that lie there. Valleys that today are more filled with homes than with the orchards and vineyards that are depicted on our sign. Some remain. We drive past a couple of them on Henderson Valley Road whenever we take the bus home.

Today's post will show you some pictures from some of the 'Heights' vantage points. In many of them you will see the distant Waitakeres (Why-tack'-er-ees) that prove that our Heights aren't really so high after all. The highest points in the Waitakere's are just under 2,000 feet, but they sure seem higher as you wend your way upward and then downward to the Tasman Sea beyond them. Maybe these photos will give you a little better understanding of what we see every day as we go about the business of living here. 

Here, I'm on my way into Henderson, (it's to the left) along the Great North Road. I'm already part way down the hill from Sturges Road. 

Many of the streets here drop off sharply from Sturges Road. We're fortunate not to have ice to contend with.

One occasionally sees teens rocketing down the slopes in a tucked position on their skateboards, cap on backwards and clothes flapping in the wind. 

Here is one of the vineyards

Many of these pictures show the dreary weather conditions prevalent in the winter here.  This is taken from in front of the Palomino Superette, whereJeanne and I are picking up milk, potatoes and a dessert for tonight. We're hoping to get home before the rain hits....we did get home dry.

This was actually taken in Glen Eden. This is on a little bit of zoom, but you can see that we are much closer to the Waitaks here.

A steep, curvy hill here. And only 45 kph, That's about 27 mph. Keep your foot near the brake on this one.          -djf

Treasure from the Keweenaw

I have done a number of posts about the new or exotic foods that I have come across during the course of our lives in New Zealand. (Another is coming up very soon.) Jeanne has said that my interest in them exceeds the average person's and amounts to a hobby. Maybe so. I have recorded each new food I've tried and the count now stands at 209. It's growing more slowly these days but by no means has the supply been exhausted. (I'm just giving my family a break from a constant stream of, "Hey, do you want to try something Really interesting?")

Well, I was given a gift while at home and just before I returned to NZ. It is this jar of thimbleberry jam.  I consider it to be every bit as exotic and wonderful as any of the unique foods I've encountered here. 

This was gifted to me by Kath and Lee, long time friends who live in a place that most Americans might regard as exotic; that is, the Keweenaw Peninsula of Northern Michigan. 

They visited me at home toward the end of a multi-state historical adventure they were on. They then rescued me (for a few hours) from my nearly empty house and treated me to dinner.  Unfortunately, I have no pictures to share with you of that evening or of the next morning when we met again for breakfast and shopping at a farmers' market. It was during our walk past the stalls of produce, honeys, and home-made soaps that I think I asked whether they still picked thimbleberries.   

About a week later, I received a box in the mail and to my delight, found this very thoughtful gift. I brought it back with me and have been sharing it with the family. My nine year old grandson Amiri has especially enjoyed it on scones and cibatta rolls. I have been pleased with his reaction to this 'new food.'  I think at nine years old, he is beginning to be able to appreciate that some food items are truly unique. And some are truly delectable. And some are both. T-berry jam is one of them.

One of the things that make thimbleberries almost worth their weight in gold is that they are mainly a wild plant. The label on the jar attests to that.

Our thimbleberries are Rubus parviflorus. They are not grown commercially and their soft nature means they ship poorly. Therefore, the supply available to jam makers is limited and their product each year disappears from store shelves quickly. I felt honored to receive a jar. 

Parviflorus, I read, is a mis-nomer. It means 'small-flowered.' In fact, it has one of the largest flowers of any Rubus. 

While a student at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, (1969-1973) I often walked past thimbleberries on my way to Tourist Park Lake. I wonder if they're still there?

I find it interesting that although the species Rubus parviflorus is widespread across the U.S., Wikipedia, in it's Cuisine section on thimbleberries, chooses to specifically mention the Keweenaw Peninsula as producing 'a local delicacy.' It even gives the recipe for the jam.

So, thanks, Kath and Lee, for providing both a nostalgic experience for me and a learning experience for my family.

You know, it's fun to research many of the food items I come across. I learn so much, and not necessarily just about the subject of my research. For example, while reading about t-berries, I was reminded of it's relative, the salmonberry, Rubus spectabilis. 

And that in turn got me thinking of my 'old friend' k. d. lang. No, I don't really know her, but she feels like an old friend because I've loved her voice since I first saw her on tv many years ago and was blown away by her performance. I either bought or was given gifts of her cd's for years. I had, at one time, researched her early career, and found that she played a lead role in the movie Salmonberries when she was about 30. 

I think that music is very much like food in some ways. Why do you think it is that people talk about their 'taste' in music, or art, for that matter? There is every sort under the sun. Not every type is 'palatable' to our ears but they all are interesting in some way. Even if I don't really like a particular piece of music, I think I learn from the experience of 'tasting' it. 

With that in mind, here is k. d. lang singing Hallelujah at the 2010 Olympics.

A little more surfing through YouTube video's having to do with Kathryn Dawn also lead me to Stompin' Tom Connors. His music has a very different 'flavor.' BTW, they called him 'Stompin' because he did so much of it while performing, he actually damaged some of the stages he performed on. He took to bringing along his own sheet of plywood to stomp on. Introduce him k. d...(she's a lot younger in this one.)

Well, there you have it. I've talked a bit about travels and friends and family and food and music. I guess that's enough for today. 

Thinking ahead, I may do a post that is about music. I'm not an expert who can teach you much, but I do like to 'study' certain songs and using Youtube, it's easy to do so. I'll tell you about it sometime and give some examples. Maybe you'd like to try it yourselves some time.  -djf

A last look ...

Well, as many of you know, it's been almost 4 1/2 years since Jeanne and I began our adventure 'down under down under'.  And now, since we will be living in NZ for an extended time to come, we have decided to sell our home in Michigan. I have been busy starting that process for the last ten weeks but have now returned to Henderson and our new lives here. The following photos are of my last look around our home and a few special places I visited recently.

This has been our spot along 551 since 1987.

The entrance to our driveway. 

Moving up the driveway

In the shadows of the cedars.

Our House is a very, very, very fine house. 

Our good friend Charley from next door, over for one last visit and a scratch behind his ears. 

When I was done clearing out the house and packing our storage trailer with remembrances, I visited  Mike and Kim at their home on the shores of Lake Michigan.

No trip home would be complete (for me) without a stop at Joe's Pasty Shop in Ironwood.  

It's a tiny little place, but occupies a large place in my heart. 

It's practically unchanged inside since I was a kid having lunch here. 

I was able to make a trip to Fred and McKenzie's little bit of Heaven in Minnesota. 

You will not find friendlier people anywhere than the folks who run and live at the Riverview RV Park. They made me feel like family during my short visit. 

This is how Fred did my steak. Sprinkled with spices and grilled over an open oak fire. He claimed it was brontosaurus. Best (and biggest) steak ever! 

 Back home again. Our trailer (Time Capsule) being hauled away to storage. 

Our house is empty now, waiting. Good bye 

The last step. Ray and Donna drive Jeanne's 'Chickadee' away from the hotel I'm staying at my last night in the U.S. It's been a good little car. Enjoy her, Sue and Angelica. 

As I said at the beginning of this post, I am now back home in Henderson. I felt welcomed when I saw this rainbow.

These two have been stopping by in our backyard recently. I think they're saying, "We want to be part of your continuing adventure."   -djf