Ohiwa Harbour

Reminds me of Summer holidays, fishing, digging for cockles, swimming, boating, icecream in a cone - dripping down your arm as you lick the melted cream, sunhats and jandals - ah those were the days.

Reminds me of Sunday school and milk vendors picnics, running races, egg and spoon races, sack races, three legged races, lolly scrambles and Santa!

Reminds me of family picnics with home baking of bacon and egg pie, beef sandwiches, cocktail sausages kept warm in a thermos, cheese and crackers finished with chocolate cornflake slice and fruit cake.

Reminds Mum of Sunday school picnics in dresses and hats, travelling along gravel dusty roads and eating fresh home made beef sandwiches with white bread and finishing off with fruit cake.

Isn't it pretty - we stopped for lunch here and had Fish n Chips outside. The sun beating down on our backs, the smell of the sea air and the squark of seagulls circling above looking for some leftovers. There were still people fishing off the wharf, yatchts taking a quite Sunday ride. While we take in this view not far behind us are some baches and the roar of the Pacific Ocean lapping the shores of Ohope Beach. Ohope Beach and Ohiwa Harbour go hand in hand.

Ohope Beach is an 11 kilometre stretch of white sand thats got great surf, safe for swimming and beautiful Pohutukawa trees flowering in Summer. We often spent our Christmas holidays here in a caravan as dad was a milkman needing to deliver milk in the early hours of every morning, he would communte over the hill to Whakatane.

Today Ohope Beach has upgraded to modern apartments overlooking the beach and modern houses taking in the view of Ohiwa Harbour. The harbour is home to many birds, a great area for those into 'birding'.

We continued on with our day heading off to the little settlement of Opotiki with beautiful historic buildings and rich in Maori history. We passed the Pouwhenua (Totem poles) at Waiotahi Beach representing 'The Pathway to the Sunrise'.

On our return to Whakatane we visited the cemetery located between the Whakatane township and Ohope Beach, surrounded by native trees and birdsong from tuis and wood pigeons with little fantails flittering from tree to tree with their little twitter. We saw the graves of my father and uncle, my Mums parents and my Fathers parents and I recognised too many names of families known in the area from my schooling days - a beautiful place to rest in peace.

A day of memories with a few stories told and shared by my Mum and Aunt which my cousin S and I lapped up :)

Back blips starting here, with more to come :)