The weather over the weekend was a bit wet – bucketing down, actually. But, in between the rainstorms, there was a bit of beach walking to be done.
There were a lot of Portuguese man o’ war or bluebottle jellyfish washed up on the shore. The Portuguese man o’ war is distinguishable by its float or bladder which looks like a little balloon and can be popped if stood on.
The main risk associated with the man o’ war is its venomous tentacles that can deliver a painful – and sometimes fatal – sting. (I was wearing shoes!) Technically, the Portuguese man o’ war is not a jellyfish but a siphonophore. We don’t completely understand the difference, but it’s something about being part of a colony rather than being an individual organism. Regardless, best not to get too close!
Usually, I turn right (north) on the beach. After a small wade through a stream, you can go for miles. Because it was cooler over the weekend, and I didn’t want to take my shoes off, I went left and then walked inland when I got to the Waikanae estuary (too deep to wade). This led to the discovery of the Waikanae lagoons and the Waikanae River Walk. Fabulous!
We both walked there again today – around the lagoons and a little way up the river, but we have barely scratched the surface. Hope to manage the whole walk along the river before we leave next week.
We saw pied shags nesting in a tree, Pukeko, Black swans, Gulls on a picnic table, and Royal spoonbills. All practically on our doorstep.
And in other news, today we went into Paraparaumu to get a Justice of Peace at the public library (how cool is that!) to witness a signature. The public library just happens to be on Iver Trask Place.
Who was he you ask? He was the first mayor of the Kapiti Coast District from 1989-1992. Prior to that he was the Deputy General Manager of the New Zealand Railways. A fifth generation New Zealander, he is buried in the Paraparaumu Beach cemetery and lived 1922-2002. His immigrant ancestor was Israel Trask from Somerset England. Jim has not identified him as a relative …. Yet.
