Oreti Beach Southland - Aurora - Southern Lights

Erik and I are having a short break, and thought we might explore Southland in Aotearoa New Zealand.

About 20 minutes drive from Invercargill, is Oreti Beach.  Made famous in the movie, The World's Fastest Indian, the beach is long and smooth.  You can drive from the road straight onto the beach.

I found some kelp

What I was hoping, was to see the Southern Lights, the Aurora.

Plenty of bird life on the beach.

I am sure these textures in the sand will show up in an artwork in the future.

Watched this bird drop shell fish from a height to break the shell. It took 4 attempts and then the shell broke on the beach.

The shells were limited to these molluscs.

Another bird dropping a shell to break it. I was surprised how how the gull is, before it drops the shell. Rakiura / Stewart Island in the background.

Waiting for the sun to set, and deciding where to set up for the Aurora, Southern Lights.  The temperature had dropped, so beanie and gloves, and coat kept me warm.

The sun seemed to take forever to set, and then we glowed.

The Southern Lights - Aurora.