We got up early and quietly showered and breakfasted then hit the road. We drove in the thin morning light to the Farewell Spit visitor center on a narrow road with muddy flats extending from the ditch to the horizon. We parked - first car in the lot then followed the signs - across the lane then up and over the barbed wire fence and through a field to the lookout. Everything was quiet. Everything was grey.
Retracing our steps we followed a second path from the parking lot around the visitor's center (still not open) and then down a hill, through a gate, and onto the salt marsh. The smelly marsh. One of the things, besides a lighthouse, we had read about the area was the tremendous numbers of birds who make the spit their home. We did see birds - but the tide was way out and the thousands of birds were spacing themselves pretty evenly over miles of shore. Still, out there, there were a lot of teeny, tiny black swans.
From the beach we followed the trail inland along a pasture ("hello sheep!") emerging on the "other side" : dunes, beach, waves. It was a bit eerie. Kevin and I alone on this desolate beach. We looked for the rumored pools filled with playful seal pups but found none. We did not get lost.
We couldn't identify a "loop" back to the car park, so we retraced our path. By the time we returned to the park's visitor center, it and the cafe were open. I required very little arm twisting to convince me it was time for second breakfast - tea and toast overlooking the muddy portion of the beach. Finishing our pot of tea we studied the photographs of beached whales and enjoyed the telescope - spying on the swans.
No comments:
Post a Comment