Beach Days

[72andsunny]

I've Been writing my memoirs a little today; then I thought, who would be more interested in reading about NZ than this forum?

Napier is a lovely seaside town, but the beaches are not the world's greatest. Forgive me if I wrote a post just like this one a few years ago. Last week, we went to Waipatiki, which is about 30 km north of us.

In my opinion, Waipatiki is Hawke's Bay's most scenic beach.
IMGP7880.JPG

30 km to the south gets us to Ocean Beach, where we spent a couple of hours on January 2nd. January 2nd is a public holiday here; nobody knows why, and it has no name except "the day after New Years." A holiday is a holiday, and I will take it. And January 2nd brought us to Ocean Beach, which though not as stunning as Waipatiki does have its own charm.
IMGP7898.JPG

Here are Jancie and I returning from playing in the water shortly after Jancie decided playing in the water is not very much fun.
IMGP7894.JPG

I did bring my surfboard to Ocean Beach. It was my first attempt at surfing in New Zealand; I won't bother to point out how long I've been in New Zealand, but let's just say I was not as sharp as I remember. I think I stood up for a total of 6 exhilarating seconds, hence there are no known pictures of me surfing at Ocean Beach.

[72andsunny]

This might be the first post with photos that I have done; sorry the formatting is not beautiful...and there's a photo limit so here is part II.

If Ocean Beach does not feel like it is too far to drive to the beach (which it kind of does to me, in that we are on an island, and all), a further 10 km and we're at Waimarama. I had been dreaming of surfing for the last couple of days, and for some reason the family was agreeable to yet another beach trip. Waimarama looks to me like what I think an East Coast (of the US) beach would look like if I had ever been to one. It looks extra crowded in all the photos I took because 1) it is crowded by New Zealand standards (the temperature hit 30 degrees Celsius in Napier today) and 2) there is so little sand above the high tide line that everybody is crammed together.

Let's start with a photo of Zooey doing what she does best.
IMGP7948.JPG

And follow with a one of Jancie; notice the beach full of sand, and Jancie wants to play with the boulders.
IMGP7943.JPG

Waimarama did have the advantage (today, at least) of having a slow rolling swell, which allowed me to re-learn to surf. Sorry, there are no action shots; I am a surfing champion, and you will have to take my word for it. Here is a photo of me doing my best to look like I am on vacation. Is anyone still wondering why I moved to New Zealand?
IMGP7981.JPG

[JandM]

[Shrub Tub]

[Fern49]

There are some great beaches in central Hawkes Bay. Kairakau, Blackhead, Mangakuri, Porangahau, Pourere & Aramoana.

[jawnbc]

I can't imagine how much it'd hurt if I tried to surf after 40 years. Which is how long it's been for me! Happy 2014!

[RHT]

There are some great beaches in central Hawkes Bay. Kairakau, Blackhead, Mangakuri, Porangahau, Pourere & Aramoana.

Everything Fern said - there are some beautiful beaches in Hawkes Bay!

Waipatiki is a family favourite but, as we live in Havelock, we tend to shoot over to Ocean or Waimarama the most. Napier beach is scenic but dangerous and I'd discourage anyone from paddling there but the beach in Ahuriri is lovely, much safer and a great place to enjoy chicken and chips from Hot Chick.

Hawkes Bay is blessed with some beautiful coastline and beaches.

[mikeandcaroline]

[72andsunny]

There are some great beaches in central Hawkes Bay. Kairakau, Blackhead, Mangakuri, Porangahau, Pourere & Aramoana.

Agreed, but they are in the area I call "Beach No Man's Land". That is to say, they are too far to drive for a day trip, and too close for a weekend trip.