Day 5, Level 2.5: Stunning Tawharanui Regional Park, Tasty Pork, Christchurch earthquake 10 years on

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What a stunner of a spring day ...

Went for a walk on Omaha Beach around 11am after ticking off plenty of work to-dos. It was beautiful. 

Home to tackle and tick off more work stuff.

Listened to the Covid update - we stay in Level 2.5 (although they didn't mention exactly why, which came out much later in the day - another Covid death). Then I decided I'd go to Tawhwaranui. 

PS: another Covid death today. Good job - we stay in L2.5.

Today was one of the most beautiful spring days you can ever imagine. Sitting inside on a laptop - no! Life is too short. Go discover nature!

It was stunningly spectacular, like I can't even describe. No one there. The clarity of light was astounding. From certain aspects the place looked like a desert. From others it was the most perfect beach you could ever dream to be upon. Big tick.

So I'm going to let these photos of Tawharanui speak for themselves. 










Imagine spending an afternoon here ... with hardly anyone around!

That was my pleasure and I am still pinching myself. It's about 20 minutes drive from Omaha and I haven't been there in a while. It gets very crowded in the height of summer but today - absolute perfection. Pukeko birds wander everywhere. And there are loads of kiwis at night. 

A slice of paradise, without a doubt. I spent just a couple of special hours here and I can't think of anything better I could have done with a few hours on a Friday afternoon. Solitude, perfection, nature at its best. Nourishment for the soul. 

Here's a Pukekohe and her tiny baby - the first baby Pukekohe chick I've ever seen! 
So cute - but so close to the road!


To top it off, I'd pitched a story about Auckland's Regional Parks to the Herald Travel. Including Tawharanui and also Scandrett (reported earlier in August) - and more. There are 27 in total, each with its own special history, flavour and landscape. 
Good news - they're keen, so I have some more exploring to do. There is a park up in the Kaipara that I haven't been to - so will make it my mission over the weekend perhaps. Although best to go NOT on a weekend. And I can probably swing that. 

I thought of heading to the Community Club for fish & chip dinner - but had a piece of pork fillet so decided I'd cook and tick off a few more bits of work.

DINNER: Pork fillet with hoisin, plum and teriyaki sauce, apple and pineapple juice and cream. Roast kumara, carrot, parsnip and butternut. Charred cabbage. Pleasurable to cook and right up there in terms of meals that tick every taste box. 

I think I ticked quite a lot off today!

SHARE-NOTE OF THE DAY:
Christchurch earthquake - first shake 10 years ago ...

So, ten years ago at 4.35am on 4th September, the first shake hit Christchurch. It was a Saturday - I remember it well as we were down at Mt Ruapehu for a ski trip. I had skied on my birthday on the 2nd a couple of days prior. We were there with a bunch of the boys' mates and their parents - and I can still recall our shock at breakfast that morning as we heard about the earthquake. It was not just a subtle rumble, this was something quite serious. I vividly remember looking out at the mountain and wondering if it might rumble (and it does from time to time). We went up and had a great ski day - and it didn't rumble!

As the world knows, it wasn't until 22nd February 2011 at 12.51pm that the real big event took place. Leading up to that I was in a shop in Newmarket with my friends Jill and Peter who were over from London. Jill was trying on a fabulous NZ-made dress. She bought it. We went back out to my car, the radio came on - and we heard the devastating news. I knew straight away it was bad. But not as bad as it actually was. That moment etched in my mind forever. 

It was 6.2 magnitude and it killed 185 people. The after-effects for many are ongoing. NZ did not deal with it well and it's not surprising that those most affected are still traumatised. 

Ten years on, in 2020, as we remember that tragedy, we have another strange and catastrophic year to deal with. 

And in another few years - there is bound to be another ... it's the nature of things. 

I fear that Auckland is a crisis in waiting - it sits on 53 volcanoes, is sited on an isthmus and surrounded by sea. Somethings going to give at some point ... eruption, tsunami, quake ... 

Live. Life. Now. !!!

Go to places like Omaha and Tawharanui!

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