Mondays I check the level in our rainwater tank. It doesn’t rain much in the summer months here. I drop a plastic cup on a string till it touches the water, measure the string and do a few sums. We have less than 10,000 litres left, but good rain should come soon.
Another bird that's hard to get photos of is the Ring-necked pheasant, even though there are loads of them round about. We especially appreciate their confirmation of earthquakes.
Waikawa river has high levels of E. Coli, unlike the Waikawa Reserve site about 10 Km upstream. Between there and here the river flows through cow paddocks and past the shag colony. Now interesting research by Environmental Science and Research suggests that native trees could help. Native trees could help clean up lakes and rivers and provide a solution to New Zealand's nitrogen and effluent problem. Previous tests have shown E coli died off much faster under mānuka than under pasture, and significantly reduced the leaching of nitrate compared with pine trees and grass.
Many kids have taken their bucket and spade to the beach and enthusiastically built a sand castle. The next day though usually ends in disappointment as the previous day's efforts have been washed away by the tide. Sad, but a valuable life lesson perhaps. River cut dam breached, from north bank looking south. When I was a kid I also read about the 3 little pigs: a big bad wolf blows down the first two pigs’ houses, made of straw and sticks respectively, but is unable to destroy the third pig’s house, made of bricks.
Next week the Council is scheduled to do a River Cut — cutting a channel to send the river more directly out to sea. I believe they also plan to restore the vehicle access to the beach. It's been around 4 months now since the river shifted and blocked vehicle access. Occasionally vehicles have made it onto the beach, but by and large we've had a wonderful, quiet and easy time.
The globe’s hurricanes have seen a striking slowdown in their speed of movement across landscapes and seascapes over the past 65 years, a finding that suggests rising rainfall and storm-surge risks … Slower-moving storms will rain more over a given area, batter that area longer with their winds and pile up more water ahead of them as they approach shorelines, said Jim Kossin, a scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the study’s author.
<p>With no to few vehicles on the beach these days things feel very relaxed. It's also my impression that the beach is having a chance to be its natural self. It seems to be changing in ways I can't quite identify, but it feels as though it's <q>recovering</q> or <q>coming back</q>. </p><p>I wanted to share some photos I've taken recently on the beach. They show off the variety of interesting things there are to be found and sights to be seen.
<p>A professional operator with his own DJI Inspire v1 drone visited recently and took a few photos of our property and the area nearby. I was very lucky that he did this as a favour, so I wasn't hit with the fee you'd expect for a professional photo shoot. The following 15 second video shows the drone taking off from our yard. </p><div class="youtube">[embed][youtu.be/BhoQ9AlfS...](https://youtu.be/BhoQ9AlfS-A)[/embed] Blair flew the drone at various heights, including the maximum allowed 120 metres.
<p>It was about high tide when I took the dogs to the beach on this stunning Good Friday morning. </p><p>Some folks were floundering and had a good catch of both flounder and mullet. </p><p>The estuary was full: it was a 3.5 metre tide. </p><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 512px;"><img style="display:block; margin:auto;width:512px;height:384px;" src="http://lovewaikawabeach.micro.blog/uploads/2019/a0fe27044a.jpg" alt="The sand dune by the north track is looking more and more beaten up. " title="The sand dune by the north track is looking more and more beaten up.
<p>See the previous posts in this series: <a href="http://lovewaikawabeach.nz/what-we-have-and-what-we-need-in-february-2018/">What we have and what we need in February 2018</a> and <a href="https://lovewaikawabeach.nz/why-more-houses-here/">Why more houses here?</a> Those posts looked at what we currently have and what we need, and what the Council plans with regard to rezoning land for additional housing. My opinion is that their plans are flawed and will destroy what is unique to our community and threaten our environment.
See the first post in this series: What we have and what we need in February 2018. Forecasts suggest that Horowhenua will experience considerable population growth in the next couple of decades. The Council have to make plans to deal with that. Their preferred option (as far as Waikawa Beach is concerned) is to rezone land around our village so it can provide more housing. See the map below. Draft residential growth at Waikawa Beach.
<p>Waikawa Beach is a wonderful place to live in and to visit. It offers a quiet little ‘backwater’, free from commerce and busyness. It’s literally at the end of the road, and it’s nothing like the cities and towns within an hour’s, or even 15 minutes, drive. It’s a place to wind down, live simply, enjoy nature. Waikawa Beach provides a bounty of fresh air, peace and quiet, dark skies, insects, birds, frogs and fish, along with cows, horses, alpacas, sheep, and, unfortunately, rabbits, hedgehogs, weasels, flies, wasps and low-flying aircraft.
<p>Waikawa Beach doesn't have town water, so everyone uses either or both of rainwater, collected from the roof, or bore water. In our case, we have a bore, but it's rich in iron and not suitable for household use. It's great for watering the garden though. </p><p>When you rely on water collected from the roof you're very aware of rainfall — both amount and frequency. After a period of drought, as we've had in late 2017 and early 2018, every drop of rain is welcomed.
<p>Today this novice kayaker braved the reach just north of the footbridge — a 20 minute paddle upstream from the vehicle entrance. </p><p>I went as far as the <a href="http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/pied-shag">Pied Shag</a> colony, wrangling kayak, paddle and waterproof camera and trying to not drift into the tangle of trees where the birds roost. </p><p>Several birds were standing around on low branches, just above the water, and amazingly they didn't move as I floated near.
<p>Matuku Moana, White-faced Heron on Waikawa Stream. </p><p>A kayak's great: you can get quite close. It's a bit tricky though, taking photos while trying to hold the kayak steady and not drift into things. Exposure and composition are both a bit off …</p><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 512px;"><img style="display:block; margin:auto;width:512px;height:512px;" src="http://lovewaikawabeach.micro.blog/uploads/2019/7f62f9201e.jpg" alt="White-faced Heron, Matuku Moana. " title="White-faced Heron, Matuku Moana. " /><p class="wp-caption-text">White-faced Heron, Matuku Moana. </p></div><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 512px;"><img style="display:block; margin:auto;width:512px;height:512px;" src="http://lovewaikawabeach.
<p>Whichever way you drive along State Highway 1 to Waikawa Beach Road you must cross one of the two streams that feed into <q>our</q> river. A tad south of The Greenery garden centre you cross the Waiauti Stream, fed by two or more streams that flow down through farmland from the foothills behind South Manakau. </p><p>If you're driving south then you cross the Waikawa Stream, sourced in the foothills behind North Manakau.
<p>I recently figured out how to find Mt Taranaki on the horizon, and it's quite easy. The mountain is only sometimes visible — best chances are a fine day with clear air and snow on the mountain. </p><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 599px;"><img style="display:block; margin:auto;width:599px;height:338px;" src="http://lovewaikawabeach.micro.blog/uploads/2019/b5f5e9ea12.jpg" alt="Mount Taranaki on 22 November 2017. " title="Mount Taranaki on 22 November 2017. " /><p class="wp-caption-text">Mount Taranaki on 22 November 2017. Zoom lens and circular polarising filter helped in this shot.
<p>After some wrangling last year, I succeeded in getting the Council to give us rubbish bins at each entrance to the beach off Reay Mackay Grove. At the time, I asked for dog poop bag dispensers as well, but that was a step too far. </p><p>Eventually though, in May 2017, I asked again for the dispensers. </p><p>A lot more wrangling went on, but finally, in November 2017, we were granted one dispenser, installed on the rubbish bin at the south track.
<p>About 10 days ago the winds brought a fresh covering to our beach: millions of small dead blue things that I assumed to be baby Bluebottles. Then, a couple of days ago, thanks to <a href="https://twitter.com/SirWB/status/918756185003528192">Blackstone — a Waikawa Friend</a>, I learned that in fact they are Velella vellela, a relative of bluebottles, and a jelly fish. </p><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 600px;"><img style="display:block; margin:auto;width:600px;height:450px;" src="http://lovewaikawabeach.micro.blog/uploads/2019/b31e4f2ac9.jpg" alt="Velella velella carpet the beach.
<p>I bumped into neighbours on the beach and they showed me a piece of plastic rubbish they'd picked up. Except it wasn't — I'd come across one of these before and had spent a while researching, to discover it was the gas bladder from a porcupine fish. </p><div class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 600px;"><img style="display:block; margin:auto;width:600px;height:450px;" src="http://lovewaikawabeach.micro.blog/uploads/2019/f080cb743c.jpg" alt="Porcupine fish swim bladder. " title="Porcupine fish swim bladder. " /><p class="wp-caption-text">Porcupine fish swim bladder.
<p>As the dogs and I walked south on the beach this morning I spotted what I thought was a small piece of driftwood at the water's edge, except part of it seemed to be moving. I whipped out the small binoculars I almost always have with me and discovered a seal pup having a good scratch. </p><p>Naturally I put the dogs on the lead and then we moved as close as we reasonably could, and found a <q>hide</q> behind some large tangly branches, or perhaps they were roots, from where I could take photos without disturbing the pup.
<p>I've been doing some reading up on the history of this area, and now every time I drive along Waikawa Beach Road I wonder about those who were there before us. In particular, the new blue tsunami line near Takapu Road now makes me think of how moa were roaming this area thousands of years ago. </p><p>Long before Europeans arrived at Waikawa Beach there were thriving settlements of Maori, and before them, probably of Moa Hunters.
