Report from 11 January to 20 January 2024
From: New Zealand
Stones with annual rings
Farewell
Baylys Beach
My parents and I decided that we wanted to enjoy a few days of peace and quiet. We chose Baylys Beach for this. The place is very small, there is a campsite (in New Zealand they are often called "Holiday Parks") where we are staying and a bar/restaurant. Here we take time to read and sew, or simply do nothing.
Janine is still hitchhiking. She is just about to catch up with us. That's 800km she wants to hitchhike in a few days.
I regularly check where Janine is on my cell phone and try to estimate how far she will get. One morning I tell my parents that she will probably arrive the next evening. I made a slight misjudgement.
Nini has mastered the last few kilometers of her tramping adventure at a brisk pace and has caught up with us again in just 3 days. She arrives just in time for dinner. We go to the restaurant and enjoy delicious fish and chips and burgers.
Because I was so excited, I had to show her the view of the beach. There is a little walkway where you can walk along the cliffs. At one point, you can sit right on the edge of the sandstone and watch the waves crash against the many kilometers of beach.
What is also very exciting here is that you can do more than just watch the waves on the beach. The beach here is actually registered as a country road. Again and again you see locals chasing their, mostly four-wheel and off-road, vehicles across the sand. With a drink in hand, we enjoy the view and the sunset.
Stones with annual rings
We spend a few more days on the coast before heading back to Auckland. My parents' return flight is approaching. And that means we have to return to Auckland, where they drop off the van.
Our last stop before Auckland was Takapuna Holiday Park (campsite). We noticed that a lot of people come here who have to return the car soon. There was a shelf in the kitchen with things you can simply take with you and many people tidy up and clean their cars. But there is a little feature "hidden" on the beach that I have never seen before.
You can even recognize it on the satellite images from Google Maps if you know what it is.
A forest once stood here thousands of years ago. And it fell victim to a volcanic eruption. But the trees stood firm. Some of the native species here can grow very old and very large. They managed to withstand the lava flow for so long that they did not simply disappear, but were encased. The trees cast in stone were thus carbonised and preserved. Over time, they did not simply decay, but fossilised.
Today, you can see the rocks in which the tree trunks are standing, which have been washed away. Some of the tree trunks are round holes in the rock. In other places, the tree trunk has survived and the rock around it has been washed away. In some places you can still recognise annual rings in the rock.
Farewell the second
Exactly one year ago, we boarded the plane that took us to Singapore. And now I have to say goodbye to my parents again.
Life in the van is close and intense, with lots of potential for getting into each other's hair. But I enjoyed seeing them again. It was a bit like childhood holidays for me.
Now Nini and I are travelling as a couple again. The campervan that Gaby and Dieter rented has been returned and we are spending the next few nights in a hostel while we are still unsure what to do next.
But more about that in the next post!
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