Sun, Seals, and Surf - Maketu

 The low tide was perfect for exploring the rock pools around the rocky point of Newdick's beach.

 We had never been around this far before.  The urchins explored the outer reaches.

Anneke, Quinn, Tighe, and Jack

 Plenty of Shags, and then Seals were spotted!

 Oscar and I found this mystery attached to the seaweed in the rock pool.

 Perhaps it is a seed pod, or eggs?

 When the seaweed moved, tiny fishes were uncovered and vulnerable.

 Once the urchins got tired of crab spotting, seal watching, and rock climbing, we all ventured back to the main sandy beach.

Tighe on the big rock.

 Jack, Tighe, and Quinn tossed the rugby ball, while Quinn was on the skimboard.  Amazing balance.

Oops, fell off again!

Getting ready to catch.

Quinn, Tighe, Anneke

 Erik arrived on his touring bike, in time to enjoy lunch. He rode 105km via the lakes and forest, in training for the Tour Aotearoa 2016.  (It was about 55 kms in the car from Rotorua)

 The Pohutukawa tree is perfectly situated to provide shade for me, and be close enough to the water to see what the urchins are up to.

Quinn's glasses enjoying the beach

 The urchins enjoyed the boogie boards for the rest of the afternoon.

Oscar cooling off

 The surf was fantastic, the urchins riding the waves to shore.

Oscar, Anneke, Erik

Shadow Tighe, Shadow Jack

Seals, seals, and more seals.

 

Further around the bay from the Red Rocks is the seal colony.

View from the top of "Devil's Gate"

 The seals just lie in the sun.  Humans are ignored unless they get too close.

Looking towards the South Island

 Quinn and Tighe counted at least 160 seals.  I just watched the seals sunning themselves.

Anneke climbing up one of the rocks for a better view of the seals.

Tighe and Quinn "conquering" the rock and wind.

 After a while, lichen grows on seal poo. 

Red Rocks and Seal Colony

It wasn't windy from the South, and Erik said it was a gentle walk for about 3km.  The Rocks are Red.

South Island was hazy in the distance

The urchins gathered sticks and rocks and feathers and other treasures, so we weren't walking fast.  

Looking back towards Wellington

Tighe found crabs and shells

 The outcrop of rocks include red and green siltstone, greywacke, and volcanic pillow lava.

Looking towards the carpark

The Red Rocks.  I thought the seals would be here, but they were much further away, at the next outcrop of rocks, past the "Devil's Gate".  More walking, and my legs were tired.  I found it difficult walking on the soft scoria and sand.

The urchins found this amazing bush growing on the track side. All of them crawled under it. The wind had "folded" the branches over the terrain, making a maze of tunnels. It was difficult to get the children to climb out of it, as they just wanted to play more.

 The 4wd vehicles drive through "Devil's Gate" to get to the seal colony.  It is a steep climb on both sides of the "gate".

"Devil's Gate" and the South Island, Kaikoura in the background

Tighe climbing another rock

The smell of Seals is strong, and they were very close to the walkway.  There were about 30 seals on this side of the Devil's Gate and over 160 seals on the other side.

 The seals reminded me of cats.  Lying in the sun, and lots of whiskers.

It took us about 3/4 of an hour to walk back to the car park.