Dotty the dotterel

Morning walk at Otama Beach (see map) this morning where I had a real sense of having been there before......probably on another visit to see J & J as this is a beach they often took visitors to.  Again, a beautiful beach - golden sand, no people, birds and the sound of waves on the shoreline.  Susie played her game of bury-the-ball, lie-in-the-hole then nose-the-ball-out for J to collect whilst I enjoyed watching and photographing the terns who were sitting on the beach.  When this dotterel and its mate appeared though, they became the subject.  I was amazed at how close they came seeming not to have a care or a worry about my presence.  Very special.

Left J's about 1.30 for what was to assumed to be maybe a 2 - 2.5 hour drive (including stops) to Port Jackson.  Planned stops included groceries, fuel and dump station in Coromandel which collectively managed to take a ridiculous amount of time.  Eventually left Coromandel township at around 4.00pm finally arriving at Port Jackson a little after 6.00pm, scenery stops and gravel, rutted and corrugated road having slowed me a little.  I was more than a little surprised at just how many people there are at this DoC campsite.......not quite chokka (capacity - 50 sites) but I'm sure it will fill up a bit over the weekend.  Still, it is a beautiful spot and I feel very fortunate to be here.