Peaceful Ending to a Wonderful Day in The Land of the Long White Cloud

‘Surfing soothes me, it’s always been a kind of Zen experience for me. The ocean is so magnificent, peaceful, and awesome. The rest of the world disappears for me when I’m on a wave.”  Paul Walker

This peaceful scene greeted us after dinner. The gorgeous sunset brought an end to another magical day.

While I am not a surfer – and due to my innate clumsiness I should never be allowed on a board – I can understand about Walker’s awe for the ocean. I, too, crave the peace it brings.

The rest of the world disappears for me when I’m walking the beach. The loud, unceasing crash of the water upon the sand stops all thoughts in my head. I zone out, peacefully existing. My heart beating and blood pumping in time with the ancient pounding waves.

Walking along a beach that is lapped by the South Pacific Ocean: Orewa, New Zealand.

Time walking the ocean’s shore is too infrequent.  But when I do, I come away rested in body and spirit. I think this is because my mind has rested well. I came home from New Zealand refreshed, in part, because of the beach time.

 Schedule for Day 8 in New Zealand: The front part of the day included visiting a glow-worm cave, seeing sheep dyed pink and blue, walking along the Goal Island Bay Marine Reserve, and eating dinner at Muldoons in Orewa. We ended our time walking along the beach of Orewa.

Plucked clean shells littered the beach.

5 Facts about Orewa

1. It is on New Zealand’s North Island.

2. It is on the Hibiscus Coast.

3. It is 40 kilometres north of Auckland.

4. It is a popular tourist spot.

5. It had the most beautiful beach I saw during my 17 day vacation. If ever I could retire in New Zealand, I think this town is where I’d live. And I would walk the beach ever day and night.

No birds were seen as walked along the shore, but it was evident that a large crew had been scavenging. Perhaps they were there at the same time Trish and I were eating dinner. We had Fish and Chips.

Besides being covered in just-cleaned out shells, many sand dollars were stranded on the shore. Trish had never seen this many before. It was fulfilling to toss them back into their life-sustaining home, the ocean. True, we didn’t make a huge difference in terms of ecological balance. But we made a difference to the few we did save.

A sand dollar is purple when it's alive.

Another “peaceful”quote is fitting to end this peace-filled day. “So let us welcome peaceful evening in.” William Cowpter

I am retelling the New Zealand adventure I took in March of 2011. I visited and toured the North Island with my Kiwi friend Trish. I am finally doing something with the 2000 plus photos I took.

I linked up to the weekly photo challenge sponsored by WordPress. This week’s theme is “peaceful.”

Your Turn . . .

1. Where do you go or what do you do to get that peace-filled feeling?
2. Have you ever thrown a sand dollar back into the ocean?
3. Where is your favourite beach?
4. Where would you like to retire? Why?