‘Surfer Girls’
After the storm on Sunday at Mangawhai Heads, the sun broke through the following day and the waves became less messy.
With that, two intrepid surfer girls made ready to challenge the ocean.
Camaraderie and anticipation; clean breaks, churn and spray awaiting the pair.
.
‘Made For Storms’
Sunday kicked up stormy conditions in Mangawhai Heads.
The Pacific Ocean was far from pacific, and Sentinel Rock wore the force of the lashing nor-westerly wind and smashing waves.
The Rock is beautiful when it is calm, but is truly made for storms.
‘White Rose Purity’
I know what a white rose is supposed to symbolise, but purity would have to be the most elusive human quality of them all. It is certainly aspirational though.
The white rose also means ‘new beginnings’. That might be a bit more relatable, given that our lives are a succession of endings and fresh starts, whether we plan them or not.
So then, take your pick – just don’t get pricked…
‘Painted In Memory’
This is a vista of Mangawhai Heads in New Zealand’s Northland, shot in the falling afternoon today but painted with the memories of our stays here over twenty years.
So many good times!
This view, from the deck of the place we stay, never seems to change, even if we have changed and continue to change over time.
It is a restful anchor for weary souls.
Sublime and serene!
‘Orange Rose Explosion’
…the colour of a sunset, the form of an explosion…
‘Salty Dog Day Afternoon’
…oh, to be happy and free as a dog amongst the waves…
‘You’re Growing on Me’
…curling lichen spread…
‘Good Vibrations Emanating’
‘Shifting Surface’
A wave is liquid motion – complex physics and restless poetry combined.
Always shifting; never repeating.
Its form is a function of wind, tide and topography.
Its colour reflects the sky and mirrors the depths.
Unique, and then gone.
There is something incredibly pure about that.
‘Tiny Yellow Globes’
‘Vermillion House’
…bright red flowers creeping up your walls,your stony exterior obscured by that which brightens the day like a smile….
‘Mudstalking In Golden Light’
A white-faced heron manages the neat trick of managing to walk gracefully through thick, oozing mud, illuminated by late afternoon sunlight.
I love to watch their slow, deliberate stalking gait as they forage. If they find something edible, the slo mo stuff ends with rapid beak-led motion towards their prey.
‘Double Derelict’
…a broken branch reflected…
‘Ruling The Roost’
Two little pied shags(cormorants) boss the branches. Very cool avians!
‘Gnarled’
…every branch tells a story; every life is this tree…
‘Frondness’
‘Pitted III’
…to complete a hole-ly trinity of honeycomb-like rock indentations…
‘Pitted’
Wind and water, those eternal elements, have pitted the pale rocks on the surf beach at New Zealand’s Mangawhai Heads.
I have been drawn to the formations for many years.
A lesson in being beautiful despite being worse for wear…
‘Down To The Water’
