3rd part of Oneroa

It's now the middle of the afternoon and Jeanne and I have been either traveling to get here, or wandering on the beach, or climbing over the cliff from the northern part of Oneroa to this southern part for several hours. We're starting to drag a bit. Spotting this little store was the answer to recharging our batteries. 

What we need is a rejuvenating beverage FULL of caffeine. A couple of diet Cokes later, we walked back across the road to the park. 

I'd guess the temperature is about 75 and there is just enough of a breeze.

Here is another arch. If the boys were here, they'd have to crawl under it. I had enough crawling in the cave and that looks too low for me anyway.

A dinner plate-sized jellyfish

Quite a few seagulls are nesting. They didn't seem upset by our presence at all. 

After we got back from our first trip out here, I was surfing Youtube and came across a video by some guy, young and spry enough to climb to a hidden portion of these rocks and discover an opening or tunnel through to the other side. I vowed I'd try to locate it when we returned. Well, there it is. To get right up to it, I'd have to splash through some water, and climb up and over some rocks that don't appear in this picture. I'm holding my camera over them while I stand on tiptoe. 
Not gonna happen. Too old, stiff, chubby, etc. 

But at least I found it. I walked around to the other side but could not approach the opening at all. A person might have to get to it by coming from the sea side of the rocks. Beyond my abilities. 

We spent the last bit of our day at the beach quietly strolling through the sandy paths between the outcroppings of lava. 

One thing I noticed and appreciated was the number of benches that had been placed around the park and beach. Most of them were labeled by the donor. It must have been a project undertaken at some point. We made use of several of them.

The best of days has to end and we finally called it quits. The 50-sun block we had slathered on this morning had worked. We spent 5 or 6 hours in the sun but felt no sign of overexposure. That's good stuff. 

We caught a bus back to the ferry terminal and had to wait only about 15 minutes for one to arrive. This is a video I took while standing on the pier. You'll see Rangitoto out there, a bit of Auckland in the distance, and our ferry approaching. You'll see people heading down the ramp to get into line. Jeanne and I joined them just before the ferry arrived. 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNrld_R0qvE&feature=youtu.be

Here it is. Not much of a crowd returning yet. I'd guess that between 6 and 8 pm it'll get nutsy again. We'll be home and relaxing by that time. 

I don't normally like to travel on the top deck of a ferry. If it's rough, you get a lot more motion up there. The other reason is that these ferries fly. It's way too windy up here to be comfortable. I'm surprised there are so many people up here way tougher than I am.

The view from the top deck. No mystery ships chasing us this time.  I didn't really think the Dread Pirate Roberts* operated in these waters anyway.      

* The Princess Bride came out in 1987 when Allie was young and became an instant classic for us. I've made a couple of references to it in these three Oneroa posts. If you haven't seen it somehow or you haven't for a long time, I urge you to find it. Amiri and Arram resisted it at first, when we told them we had an 'old movie' for them to watch, but fell hard under it's spell before very long. Now we own it and it gets watched regularly. Peter Falk is wonderful and Billy Crystal beyond words.     -djf

2nd Part of Oneroa

As we explored this rocky beach, we were surprised at how few other people were to be seen. I'd describe our frequency of seeing other beach combers as 'occasional.'  After battling the crowds like we did to arrive here, it was pleasing to note that apparently all of them went elsewhere. 

Jeanne and I continued to simply wander around and relax. 

Here is that arch I showed you last time, taken from a different angle.

What's over here?

Another little tide pool

Look at all that green

Looking up at the trees growing out of the cliff.

It has been a couple of hours since Jeanne fed the ducks bits of half her sandwich. We've been in the sun the whole time and some shade and a rest would be welcome. 

You've probably noticed in a few pictures that Jeanne is sporting a walking pole. I recently bought this pair and we are sharing and testing them for the first time today. 
I have been aware that my balance is not what is used to be. I find that I can still manage on uneven terrain but it takes more attention to do so. And calling some of the places we wander to as 'uneven terrain' is minimising it. A fall onto the kind of rocks we are crossing today would certainly result in badly torn clothing and skin and it could mean breaking something.
We have been very pleased with this purchase. They collapse and can be stored in our backpacks, they're light and it's surprising how just the little bit of stabilization they give us improves our ability to manuever. 
You know, back in our previous lives, I had made quite a number of walking sticks. That's what I was familiar with. Buying these poles seemed just a little too 'trendy' to me, but they are much handier than even the lightest cedar wood. 

There was a clip from Portlandia that I thought of as I was buying this 'gear.' 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3SFqV0hMyo

 Jeanne had made us chicken and cheese sandwiches and brought along her home-canned dill pickles.  We had oranges and a mix of cashews and raisins. Plenty of water. It was a good lunch.

The view from our table toward the sandy side of the beach. This is at about 2pm. and look at how empty it is. I love it. 

After lunch, we climbed the hill behind the beach and found the Oneroa Beach track to follow to the top of the cliff. The view from the top was worth the climb.

Part way up.

A little higher

Almost there

 On top

 Look at this guy. I wondered if he intended to ground his boat on the beach.

 He's still coming, not fast, but steady...

 And look at this. I've never seen this before.

 He could steer the front tire and crossed the beach at a walking pace.  He drove to the top of the beach, turned around and headed back into the Pacific.

We began walking down the track, heading for another part of the beach and look what we saw. This is the back of St. Peter's Catholic Church. 

What a back yard huh?       -djf

--more to come. next stop is 

We just had to go back.

That's right, we had to go back to Waiheke Island and Oneroa Beach. While it's true that we had just spent our 45th anniversary out there, we didn't get our fill of the place on September 1st. So, since the boys were away this weekend, Jeanne and I thought we'd repeat our adventure on Saturday. 

But guess what? During those two months, summer has arrived and with it, hoards of locals and tourists. The last time we went, we arrived at the pier about 10 minutes early, got in line and away we went. This time, we got there about 25 minutes early and found ourselves at the end of a very long line that snaked back and forth 3 times down the pier and back. We didn't make it on to the ferry, we had to wait another 1/2 hour for the next one. Look at the crowd ahead of us and consider that this is after moving slowly through the line for more than half an hour already. 

When we finally got aboard, we found that it was their largest ferry. I'm leaning against one side and showing you the width. It has three decks and all were filled, I'm sure to capacity.  

 It wasn't long before I spotted another boat directly behind us. I wasn't sure at first but as I watched, I could see that it was gaining on us, and fast. I wondered who it could be?

The words of Vizzini, the 'inconceivable' villian from The Princess Bride, spoken to Inigo Montoya, after they had kidnapped Buttercup from Florian, and as they watched what turned out to be Westley's boat catching up to them, came to mind. "Probably some local fisherman, out for a pleasure cruise at night, through eel-infested waters."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGcat9tGZVU

It wasn't long however before I could see that it was just another Fuller's Ferry and it was easily passing us. That ferry was in turn being chased by a guy in a wet suit on a jet ski. (that's one solution to the long lines at the pier.)

There it goes. Looks pretty full too.

The jet-skier finally abandoned this unarmed frigate, and came over to run up our wake for a while. 

 I'm still on the rear deck of the ferry and doing a bit of bouncing about.  (hence part of a highly zoomed-in head in the corner) The view behind us shows that we have just passed the tip of Motutapu Island with Auckland in the distance. 

Notice that behind Auckland, you can dimly see the Waitakere Range. As it happens, Henderson and our home lies just a whisker to the right of the Sky Tower and about 10 kilometers, as the crow flies, behind it. 

 Ahhh, we have arrived. Jeanne and I have about had our fill of jostling crowds. Now, if we can beat most of them off the ferry, hurry through the terminal, and jump on the first bus we can, we will very shortly be on the beach again. 

We did it. Got on to the first bus in line and have been dropped on Oceanview Road. You can see the beach directly below us. 

 You know how it is sometimes, when you're on vacation and you meet another couple who immediately feel like old friends? That's how Jeanne felt about meeting our new and very good friends, Donald and Gretta Duck. Jeanne named them, remembering and honoring the two American Pekins who were part of the menagerie living on our first 20 acres many years ago. 

Donald and Gretta enjoyed some crusts of bread and lettuce leaves from our sandwhiches. 

 You probably recognise this rocky area from my other post.

These volcanic rocks are so sharp...why don't the waves wear them down and smooth them out after a few eons? 

Well, I read something about that this morning. This type of rock has air pockets in them, many of them extremely small, even nano-sized. The pockets have been described as being perfume-bottle shaped. As the rock slowly wears away above each of them, these pockets continually open up and bare their own sharp sides. It's astounding, ingenious. If you wanted to design a self-sharpening scouring surface, this would be it. It will stay every bit as abrasive as it was on the first day it was created. It will get smaller and smaller of course, but it will stay just as rough as it ever was, until the day it disappears all together. 

Sounds very much like a fractal to me. 

I'm amazed yet again. 

You know, the creatures inhabiting a tide pool like this one enjoy regular quiet times.  I wonder if they look at the returning ocean the same way a human commuter might look at his arrival in the city at the start of another hectic business day?

I can just imagine some little hermit crab in there saying, "I'll just stop here for a double expresso takeaway so I'll be ready for the next wave of business."   

 I'll bet that most people walking along this stretch of beach hardly notice that crack in the rock. It's narrow and the shadow inside, especially on a sunny day like this one, make it hard to see into at all. And the rocks are rough as. 

But I'm not most people. I not only noticed it but wondered how far back in it went? 



 It's not very tall so I'll have to crawl up to it on my hands and knees. I can see it goes in a little ways at least. It narrow, but I think I can just make it in. 

I had to push a little as shoulders met the narrow opening, but I made it. The passage became slightly wider once I was inside. This picture was taken about 20 feet into it. Do you see the brown rock up against the wall ahead? 

I'm right in front of that rock now. It's much dimmer back here. I thought about flipping open my flash and getting a good shot back into the depths of the passage that you can just barely make out, but I was full of sand by this time and didn't want to handle my camera more than necessary. The passage goes in about another 25 feet. If I were 35 again, I could have wriggled my way to the end of it but at 67, I was happy at this point to turn myself around and head back out. I'll bring my headlamp next time. I won't get in any farther, but I'll have a better picture to show you. 

I'm going to continue with our adventure in my next post. See you then.     -djf