There is a beautiful “Marine Frame” at Ohawe Beach parking area, with pictures of the undersea world off the coast here.
If you zoom in, as I did below, you can use the QR reader on your smart phone to bring up the link where you can see videos of all the pictures on the Frame! If you don’t have a smart phone you can go to
https://www;youtube.com/channel/UCcBaQxppUYG3bxc1_FUHtVw
Today we decided to try the hike again, driving to Waihi Beach and walking south to north, and we completed the 6 miles!
The beach seems more rocky from this end!
The cliffs are layered with sediment from the sea and volcanic ash from the past eruptions of Mt. Taranaki, cut and eroded by streams and copious rainfall.
Layers can be seen in the large boulders that fall from the cliffs. In this chunk it looks like a charcoal layer, from burning forest during a volcanic eruption, or purposeful burning of the forest by the Maori or Europeans?
And last night’s rain storm, complete with lightning and thunder and buckets of rain, leached clay out of the cliffs and sent it flowing to the sea.
We are staying in a ‘tiny house’ just a few blocks from the beach. For 2 days we have tried to walk the beach from Ohawe Beach to Waihi Beach, 3 miles one way.
The pink line along the beach is the route, but it is only accessible at low tide!
Ohawe Beach starts at the mouth of the Waingongoro River where it flows into the Tasman Sea. The same Waingongoro River that we crossed on a narrow swing bridge near the Waingongoro Tramping Hut up on Mt. Taranaki 6 days ago!
The black sand beach stretches away in the distance, we have to reach the last bluff before turning around to come back!
Some of the interesting things we encountered on our attempts. A fisherman, an older catch that someone apparently filleted, a fossil shell and a mummified baby shark?
From our new home base in the tiny village of Ohawe on the south shore of the Taranaki (or Egmont) Cape, we ventured to the Rotokare Scenic Reserve for a hike in native forest and wetland around spring-fed Lake Rotokare. The Reserve has been protected from development since the 1870’s, however, lackadaisical enforcement led to more community involvement in management and ultimately to containment. A predator-proof fence was erected in 2008, completely encircling the Reserve and intensive trapping was conducted, making the Reserve completely mammal free; no rats, mice, weasels, ferrets, stoats, possums, feral dogs or cats, and no pets allowed at all! There is even a double gated entrance to get in and out to ensure that no predators enter!
It was comfortable hiking in the woods on this warm, sunny day! The trail circles the lake, with a small pontoon dock to walk out onto and enjoy the sun and the view, but it was rather windy on the water!
The Reserve is home to several endangered native birds that exist only here, a few other fenced predator-free reserves and on predator-free islands! The saddleback bird or Tieke is one endangered bird that we saw at least 4 of on our walk!
None of the saddleback birds we saw seemed afraid of us at all! To see videos of these birds click HERE for our YouTube channel!
This feeder station is where we saw another endangered bird, the stitchbird or Hihi. It is a smaller wren sized bird and much too fast to film or get a picture of. It is even more endangered than the saddleback, and only exists in fenced reserves with specialized feeding stations like this to provide the nectar they feed on.
Our last day in New Plymouth was yesterday, so we ventured back to the beautiful Pukepura Park and then walked to the waterfront through town and enjoyed a snack at the local Shining Peak Brewery.
We saw the man-made waterfall and the water wheel in the park. The sculpture along the waterfront entices you to sit and enjoy the view next to the headless statues!
Today we drove around the Taranaki cape, stopping to see the replica lighthouse and museum at Cape Egmont Boat Club.
This smaller replica light house displays the original Fresnel lens that operated in the true, bigger lighthouse until 1999. The real lighthouse is several miles down the coast and not open to the public.