An Angel In The Wild: May 2025

"Waipatiki Beach is a picturesque settlement with native bush and a broad stretch of golden sand. Encircled by two towering cliffs and surrounded by kilometers of farmland, lies this small yet breathtaking beach. The Maori word Waipatiki translates to "water of the flounder", and was named as such due to its abundance of flounder. This was easy fishing for early Maori before the 1931 earthquake, which resulted in raising the flounder’s wide sandy flat habitat, and created a deep stream pattern."

Oh how we love Waipaitiki- such an unspoilt & special place. It's magic never wanes. Although there has been development here over the years it's been done with a certain measured care & respect for place. And yes a small community of people live here & many visit through the summer months, yet Waipatiki itself harbours dozens of hidden treasures. We are so fortunate that through the years many of those gems have been revealed to us one by one.

Once we turn off State Highway 2 at Tangoio the rest of the world fades away & we slow down & meander over the hills reacquainting ourselves with all our familiar vistas along the way. Depending on the season there are certain treasures to forage if you can find a spot to pull off the road. These rosehips were perfectly ripe on our journey through on the 9th of April.

And right on a bend there dwells a lovely walnut tree that produces the most adorable little nuts.

They tend to collect in nests as they roll down the hill.

This little one was just about to hop out.

It was a mild autumn day & since we hadn't been to the Redwoods for a while we decided to take some sushi with us for lunch & spend some time amidst these honourable trees. Last time we were here the sign & the bridge had been washed away in the cyclone. Wonderful to see new fencing, a new bridge & a whole lot of native planting.

This Redwood Grove was planted by Panpac in 1974.

Some useful information in the Panpac newsletter August 2024.

Especially good to know as we've never seen another soul on any of our previous visits.

Redwood leaf litter makes a lovely slightly prickly carpet.

Not many places you can go & find complete privacy to dine under a Redwood canopy for as long as you'd like to stay.

Such a delicious alfresco lunch- perfect for autumn.

With extra vegetables & homemade haw sauce, pickled Neptune's Necklace & pickled walnuts. Along with a few juicy Kahikatea berries.

Pickling is such a great way to prerve this seaweed.

This Redwood cathedral always takes our breath away.

Back out in the paddock where we parked the car, there's always an intriguing collection of bric a brac & junk.

This truck's been here a while now. You could grow something productive on the back of that!

At a distance I wasn't quite sure if this ancient Kahikatea tree was dying or fruiting.

I love the form of the Nikau palms. They love it in this fertile valley.

Autumn fruiting

in abundance.

They're messy old things but the Nikaus have a grace & lightness about them that always feels special.

Old man with a beard. No, old man's beard- Angangi also known as Usnea.

It's a gift when you find it on the forest floor & is a valuable rongoa/medicinal lichen.

Here it all is occupying this dead tree. You could heal a whole village with this lot.

Here amidst the Niakus we witnessed the most astonishing phenomena of a symphony of native birds singing their hearts out.

But what were they so ecstatic about?

Ah, the fruit of the Kahikatea trees. These ancient old white pines that may have been here for around 600 years!

And here it is the one I wasn't sure about- indeed fruiting for all it's worth.

Presumably a mast year for these trees.They say that happens every seven years.

Basking in the glory of it all.

And absolutely on a mission to leave an abundant legacy.

Look at the drupes- aren't they beautiful!

So plump & juicy

& delicious too.

Morning glory in the margins of the bush.

Last time we were out here in summer we got chatting to a local new mother who happened to be paddling in the lagoon with her baby. She mentioned to us that there was a road that lead up here. Oh look there is indeed!

And yay there's St John's Wort growing along the way.

We had no idea that this road existed.

Such a different perspective.

The Redwoods are tucked back over there somewhere.

See all the magnificent Kahikatea in the middle- dark green & conical.

You can see how this area made good flounder flats back in the day.

Very unusual to see the carpark become a temporary lake in the centre there.

Fortunately the Pohutukawa trees don't seem to mind. But no parking today.

And then here we are at the top in a large flat area that has been assigned to be the tsunami evacuation assembly point. Who knew? Not us! Someone has even built a wonderful large viewing platform. Mmm sit up here & watch the tsunami come in!