6 posts tagged “landscape”
this weekend we celebrated our one-year anniversary. we still had an outstanding wedding present (outstanding indeed), a mystery weekend away, and decided to cash it in for a getaway in celebration of the past twelve months. (actually a week early, but who's counting? ... er, obviously, we are.)
our destination turned out to be a lovely bach on orua bay, at the northern tip of the awhitu peninsula. the bach was only accessible for two hours at low tide (by driving along the beach), so once we arrived on friday afternoon, we were in for the weekend. and it was blissful. we only saw other people from a distance, strolling on the beach. the manic rain-and-shine weather was perfect for reading, watching movies, beachwalking, and cuddling up on the old couch on the porch, sheltered by an overhanging roof and about 20m from the water's edge (depending on tide). tuis sang all day and kingfishers perched on the power lines, watching for their dinner in the waves lapping below. herons strutted and seagulls dropped unlucky seastars and shellfish on the rocks.
we discovered the long-beached hulk of a small sailboat, nearly snarled in the roots of an overhanging pohutukawa tree; under the roots was a cave fully tall enough to stand up in. we watched the sunrise on saturday morning, then went back to sleep until 11. we followed the decadent menu our friends had planned and provided for us, prowled the exposed seagrass beds and pools at low tide, napped, and lounged around in companionable sloth.
do we really have to wait one more whole year for the next one?
no trip to the northwoods is complete without a pilgrimage to lake itasca, the headwaters of the mississippi river. no matter how many times i've been there before, i still love to wade across the ankle-deep stream within its first few recognizable meters, and wade downstream until it's nearly hip-deep. it's humbling to contemplate where the low, quiet water flowing through the woods will eventually wind up. the river actually flows north for its first few dozen miles and is a beautiful, several-day canoe trip (as illustrated in this beautiful children's book). i paddled it with a friend in 2003 and seldom have i spent a more peaceful four days, or seen fewer people - we stayed in several campsites that were river-access only and no one else was anywhere nearby. we did see snapping turtles, eagles, herons, and wild otters.
even in itasca state park, which on any beautiful summer day will be crawling with tourists from near and far, there are good flora and fauna to be seen if you take the time.
(reconstructed in the pale, watery, wintry auckland sun - i can see my breath)
while spam was visiting, we made the necessary pilgrimage to the marktplatz, where we'd met 14 years earlier. in addition to startling some old friends, dodging hurled bakers' pans and hearing dubious tales of rabid local canines, we took a sunset walk around buck lake. i know i've nattered on about buck lake before, so i'll just post the pictures and let them speak for themselves.
as before, we rode sedately down through the farm valleys, amongst cows (including a crazed calf that charged my horse) and wild turkeys.
the beach was clear of footprints, scoured by a chilly wind coming off the substantial surf.
we returned at a leisurely pace along the beach to the shelter and had morning tea before starting the climb back up to the farm. the horses were enjoying the fine weather as much as we were, although i think bert was hamming the uphills a little with his emphasized puffing and sighing. the only other moment of note came when we crossed a creek where the normal sloping bank on the other side had caved in, leaving a cutaway at about the height of the horses' chests. bert thought he wanted to jump the bank at a spot that was more like the level of his chin, so we had a brief battle of wills and wits, but he ended up seeing reason and we took the more sane route, still getting a good jump out of it. no more rogue cattle challenged us and the horses were unperturbed by the flock of noisy paradise ducks that accompanied us through several fields, and we returned to the yard on schedule about three hours after departing. bert and the other horses got thank-you carrots before we headed back to town, and i feel good about going back in the future.
