Birdlings Flat

Birdling's Flat is a tiny town with a few dozen dilapidated houses (but I didn't actually count them) on a gorgeous stretch of coast. The town reminded me of Cameron, LA, if you've ever been there. The coast is actually a spit of land sticking out from some cliffs and cutting off the ocean from Lake Ellesmere which is really a big lagoon. It's an all rock, no sand, beach and you can find both pretty, smooth, grey rocks and really wonderful little gem stones. After a storm it is supposed to have plenty of new rocks that get washed up. But who can wait for a storm? Maggie and I decided it would make a good little trip for us while the older kids were in school. (If a trip turns out to be a bust, Maggie never minds leaving early. The other kids don't like changes in plan so much, this makes Maggie a good little partner on a fact-finding mission.)

Well, it was not a bust and I was really glad I took the carrier back pack. Because it was difficult to walk on the stony beach for Maggie (whose feet are about the same size as most of the stones). She walked a long way but for 3/4 of the trek, she rode in the backpack. She's getting big so it was a nice workout for me too.

The photo above was taken with our new camera that we got in NZ, after I dropped the old one in the Pacific. Oops! It's takes really cool 270 degree panoramas.

The stones were all wonderful and Maggie didn't seem to mind which ones she collected (so we came home with an Easter basket full of these plain ones as well as some pretty colored ones).

After we got home, I put some of the better ones in a dish my sister made me and took them outside to see them in the light. Many of them were translucent to the point where if you held your finger behind one you could see the outline of your finger. Fun and cool! (By this time Maggie was fast asleep from the exhaustion of the day so I was free to sit outside taking photos of rocks. God, you'd think was a geologist! :)

Maggie has such a pretty profile. Lucky for her, she got Erik's nose.

She was very interested in the stones and really enjoyed touching them and feeling them. They tasted too salty after an initial check with her tongue (this one might become a geologist) so she kept them out of her mouth (and nose, and ears).

Again, just a beautiful sunny day. It was chilly but we were plenty warm with what we had on.

That's Maggie's Easter basket. It came in handy.

Self-portrait at arm's length because there was no where to set the camera and no one to ask. But it came out pretty good. Maggie is in the backpack carrier. When she thought I was slowing down, she'd give me a couple little kicks.

You can see the tracks from the ATV guy in the rocks.

The drive to this place is about 25 minutes from our house, in the largest city on the island. So where are all the people? I keep asking that question. There just isn't anyone here to see all this beauty. It's kind of a shame. In the two hours we spent on the beach we saw one person at a distance, one park patrol guy on an ATV, one really old couple literally shuffling down the beach, him in wool trousers and a driving cap and her in a wool skirt, support hose and sensible shoes. There was a couple with a dog too. I think that was everyone. We only spoke to the park ranger because no one else was close enough even to say hello. It was amazing. And then the city girl in me got kind of creeped out and started thinking that this is how some of those scary movies start: Girl on deserted beach, no cell reception, no one to hear you scream! So, Maggie and I called it quits and walked back to the parking lot and playground to have a packed lunch. Have I mentioned how you have to bring whatever you're going to eat and drink with you on trips basically anywhere? Kiwis are not big into restaurants. But this place was so teeny-tiny, there wouldn't have been any where to eat in the States either.

This stuff just kills me. It's WILD ice plant. I can't tell you how much I love ice plant and how amazing and special it is for me to see clumps of it just growing as a weed! I've been finding it at most of the beaches outside Christchurch. In Phoenix, I could only ever grown little clumps of it. (Because it is a succulent and cool to the touch so the neighborhood cats would sleep in it and crush it to death.) I tell you, if Maggie hadn't been in the backpack, I would have laid down the middle of it and taken a nap just like those damn cats!

We actually waited a day after hearing about the beach to visit because the mineral museum that is in the town was supposed to be open on this day. But when we got there, it was closed. Really too bad because I was excited to see what they had. If you click the link and go to the museum's page you can see a photo of it. What you can't tell is that this is actually just a sort of out-building next to someone's house. And you can telephone the residents if you want to be let into the museum. No way was I doing that, it just seemed wrong to disturb them. I will have to go back soon to see the giant agate that was found nearby.

When they cut it in half it had a huge amethyst crystal geode inside! I love geodes! (Maybe I should have been a geologist.)

Anyway, a good time was had by all and we will certainly be going back with the other kids when it warms up. This was one of the last "warmish" days back in May before Winter set in.