Omokoroa is a village that sits at the end of a peninsular
jutting out into Tauranga Harbour in the Bay of Plenty. The
area was once covered with kiwifruit orchards but a lot of these have now given
way to residential development.
At the tip of the peninsular lies Omokoroa Domain, a
pleasant place for a quiet picnic and easy access to the beach.
Being harbour and not ocean, the beach is a safe place for
children. My husband’s family had a bach
(small holiday home) here during the 1960s and he spent many happy hours on the
beach searching for crabs and shells and learning how to swim.
The jetty was a favourite place to go fishing from. Today it is the landing point for the car
ferry that gives access to Matakana Island.
Looking out from Omokoroa, one can see Matakana Island with
Mount Maunganui behind it. This side of
the island is harbour, but its far side is exposed to the Pacific Ocean. The island itself has few inhabitants, and is
mostly farmland and forestry blocks.
Great flocks of wild Black Swans descend on the mudflats at
low tide to feed on crabs and small shellfish.
They are often joined here by Variable Oystercatchers and Blue Herons,
and normally choose spots that are well away from the public.
At home today we have brooding cloud cover that is helping
to keep the temperatures down a little bit.
We even had the slightest of precipitation, that could be felt on the
skin but was not enough to wet the ground.
It is the perfect environment for flies, those horrid sticky ones that
fly off and immediately return to annoy you again.
Stay happy!
What a lovely part of the country! I love the beach, no matter where it is :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking up at 'My Corner of the World' this week!
My Corner of the World
Oh I love a beach and find it so relaxing! What a pretty area!
ReplyDeleteYou live in a pretty area, near the ocean and beaches. Me too, but in California. How romantic to think of wild black swans in your area.
ReplyDeleteWe lived here and in the vicinity for several years, but am now about two hours drive away.
DeleteWhat a great place to visit! I would love to see black swans.
ReplyDeleteToo bad about the extremely annoying flies.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteBeautiful views of the beach and water. I would like to go birding there, looks like a great place to see the birds. Wishing you a great day!
It would be fascinating for a naturalist to wander along that shore checking out the myriad forms of life. I can lose myself in a tide pool for a couple of hours without any difficulty!
ReplyDeleteSuch a beautiful place! And I think the names are so beautiful too, Omokoroa,Matakana, Maunganui ... I suppose they are original Maori names.
ReplyDeleteYes they are. Omokoroa is generally meant to mean "land of the long lizard." Matakana's meaning is vague but may refer to the need to be wary or to the smell associated with the drying of fish. Maunganui is believed to be an alternative name used for the common Maori name of Mauao, which means "caught in the light of the day."
DeleteBreathtaking views of the beach and water. A lovely place for a picnic!
ReplyDeleteIt is a beautiful area. A picnic there would be wonderful!
ReplyDeleteWhen we lived at Mount Maunganui we visited Omokoroa a few times, it's such a nice quiet spot and it's grown quite a bit.
ReplyDeleteAny kid would be happy there...or any kid I know. Our Lorelei would love that beach. Will have to get on google maps and look at New Zealand again...I was just on it yesterday or the day before looking.
ReplyDelete