Opoutere

We decide to get out of town this past weekend. We left Auckland for Opoutere on Saturday afternoon after my soccer game was over. We were a little bit bummed at the time because it was raining and dark when we got to the hostel where we decided to stay. But there were some older couples staying there as well that we had polite conversation with while sitting next to a wood burning fire place.

Then we woke the next morning to see this view from the hostel. It was so dark the night before, that we had no idea what was around us at the time.

Over breakfast, we were contemplating what to do with our day. We both decided that really there should be no rush, schedule, or itinerary. We would just do what we felt like doing. Luckily, the hostel had a bunch of kayaks for us to use, and at that moment, we felt like going for a paddle.

We spent a good two hours on the kayaks, racing up the river near by and cruising across the delta to the spit that was directly across from the hostel.

After the long kayak, we traded in our boats for walking shoes, and headed to the beach. There was a little trail from the hostel that meandered through small section of pine forest leading up to the beach front. Both Denise and I thought it was strange that there would be pine forests so close to the sand, but i guess it is something we are just not accustom to seeing.

We finally made it to the beach to gaze over the clear blue ocean water of the Pacific.

Denise said it best while we were walking the beach. She said "this is how I want to remember New Zealand", and I think she was absolutely right. It was a gorgeous afternoon on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island, and we were lucky to have the 3 miles of beach to ourselves. We were the only people out that day.

We walked the entire length of the beach and then came back to where we started. Beaches are fantastic. You never see the same thing twice even if you were to walk the same section one hundred times. The tides, waves, and shifting sand mold the beach differently after every crashing wave. The picture to the left was an area of sand near a stream feeding into the ocean. We decided that it looked like nature was making us an enormous batch of chocolate peanut butter fudge. And you never know what is going to ride a wave onto the beach. I found this empty clam shell washed in by the salty water. Symmetry brought to you by nature....

We had received a good tip from some friends we met in Auckland that there was a neat little art gallery in Opoutere called the Topadahil. If you say the name slow enough, it describes where the little gallery is, on top of the hill. The gallery itself is actually the artist's house oriented on one of the highest hill tops over looking the delta leading to the ocean. The view from her house was amazing. Anyway, the artists name was Guity (French), and even though we could not afford any of her original works (need to take out a sizable loan), she was nice enough to invite us into her house so we could view her works. We spent about an hour talking with her, and she even gave us a back packers deal on some prints of her original works. We bought a few, and left her home feeling inspired. I don't have any pictures to show you of her works, so you will have to see the prints when we get back the the States.

Anyway, this is how we will remember Opoutere, and we are sure to reccomend this little paradise to others. We may even come back to visit again.