NZ visual diary - entry 19

Whangārei beach vista

Beaches loom large in my Kiwi life. Against the background of my city-centre habit as urban hipster, I regularly pursue a beach sojourn, notably Takapuna Beach or Mission Bay. My grandson is a keen swimmer and, when the weather is right, we often head to the beach for a wee swim or some kayaking.

During an interval (Kiwi jargon for intermission) in this blog from my usual focus on urban exploration, I wish to share an image from a long weekend last year with Dolph in the North Land regional capital of Whangārei.

Both coasts of New Zealand have lovely beaches. By some accounts, the West coast beaches are home to some of the best surfing locations. I would characterise the beaches we visited during our Whangārei holiday as family beaches, less muscular than those of their West coast cousins. The surfing community will correct if I harbour a misimpression.

The photograph atop this post was more an attempt to convey visceral impression than to engage in photo-realism. The colours are meant to express sheer pleasure - the feel of buoyancy on land and sea / of being-in-place / of gaze in wonder.

Let John Keats have the last word:

Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes
He star’d at the Pacific — and all his men
Look’d at each other with a wild surmise —
Silent, upon a peak in Darien.

On First Looking Into Chapman’s Homer, John Keats