Orewa and the Changing Landscapes

When you see a place over a long space of time, like a particular beach you get to see it in different seasons, rain and sunshine as well as different positions at the same place. Here is a walkway just outside a camp ground at Orewa Beach. The same people come at the same time, in the same places every holiday season. Yet, it is a beautiful beach. You can swim, build sand castles, go paddle boarding, boating, kite surfing and wind surfing or even sail, sometimes go surfing here as well.

Now in Orewa there are shops and here in the photo above are teenagers jumping off a wharf on a very hot day. It’s by a bridge, the main road coming from the south. The bridge is a river that comes from the water at Orewa bridge and that water comes into a large area like a lagoon. The tide goes in and our and it changes with the weather as well.

The sea can change it’s colours to suit the mood of the day, such as a sea gull flying over the beach against an unusual shade of blue sky and aqua green blue water and different shades as the water comes to the shore. It won’t look the same tomorrow.

On this day the clouds were spectacular. New Zealand is otherwise known as , “Aoteroa!” Land of the long white cloud. You will see plenty of clouds in New Zealand, including Orewa beach.

Near by are shops of Orewa, there are camping grounds and there are shops. On the beach there are public toilets and a basic shower and changing facilities for swimmers.

Another atmospheric scene on Orewa beach with 2 people on it. Quite often there are few people on the beach, occasionally you will see people and their dogs on the beach

You will see that this sand is golden, it is the East Coast, and on the West Coast you have Black Sand.

.As for the bird life here. Some times Oystercatchers, Sea Gulls, Shags or even the odd White Faced Grey Heron. There should also be some Dotterels but as its a popular beach with dogs around, they may be very few here in Orewa.

Looking North from Orewa Beach. Everywhere you look from at one point sometimes can be different. Not very far from here is, Hatfields Beach over the hill, and over the next hill is Wairewa Beach and then when you go up the next hill, there is a very steep drive down to Wendleholm, a unique beach of it’s own.

Then the weather can change and be totally different like this photo below. How different is this placid looking beach on a very windy day. A completely different place.

This man is wind surfing on a very windy day. I am convinced we live in an age of accelerated change, not only in weather, but in technology and life styles.

Im convinced that going to the beach is very good for you. A swim on a hot day is very refreshing in the hot humidity. However, on this day, it may be wise to invest in a wet suit to keep yourself warm as if you get too cold you can get hypothermia, even in New Zealand.

On the very same day, others were kite sailing and it was so windy I could barely stand up to take the photos.

In a different place in the lagoon of Orewa this was what happened.They say that “Variety is the spice of life!”. Well there is plenty of variety of activity in Orewa, there is even an Art Gallery right here as well if you like art work.

There are people in the water standing and others are paddle boarding. This is in the lagoon, yet when the tide is out, it seems that the plug has been pulled out.

So you can see that in different times the same area can have so much to see and appreciate in all seasons and weather conditions. All of these photos are in Orewa.

As in the water colour itself, that depends on the atmosphere. The day is overcast and facing us here is the Whangaparoa Peninsula.

Orewa is normally a safe beach to swim in. The most dangerous place is the river that goes in the inlet. However, any body of water can be dangerous but it is less dangerous than Piha beach on The West Coast. Orewa is on the East Coast.

This is where the river mouth of Orewa beach meets the sea and the Whangaparoa peninsula is in the background.

Here is Orewa river going out to the sea facing Whangaparoa peninsula. Whangaparoa peninsula is another story. There are many beaches here and not far away is Tiritiri Matangi Island, a bird sanctuary.