Day 36 5 February – Clarks Beach

Today we discovered another beach, a well-known beach for most local South Aucklanders, but new to us. Clarks Beach is a small, delightful beach on the edge of Manukua Harbour. It certainly is a swimmers and paddling beach as there are no waves. I took my son, daughter and my daughter’s best friend late afternoon and we stayed until early evening. We walked along the beach to the furthest northern point we could go. There’s a lot of shade from the Pohutukawa trees that lines the edge of the beach. And oh my goodness, the water was warm! As my daughter’s friend said in great exclamation, “it’s as warm as a freakin’ spa”.

About an hour into our visit, I saw what I thought was a fish jumping out of the water. Surely the bright glare and reflection from the sun played tricks on me. Perhaps something fell into the water. Not a minute later and I saw it again, this time I could clearly see that it was indeed fish jumping out of the waters. They would jump straight up into the air, or jump horizontally travelling approximately 2 meters across the surface. They provided a lot of entertainment to all the beach visitors. One even got as close as a metre from my son’s head. I have no idea what type of fish and if it’s a natural phenomenon for this area, but it was certainly a wonderful thing to witness.

Shortly before we left, another couple entered the ocean while their dog stayed behind on the beach. She was obedient and sat for a good 2 minutes before she noticed us and with a jubilant trot came over. The kids gave her hugs and patted her, but it was obvious that she’s not much into playing, and she came to sit down next to me on our blanket. And there she stayed happily while I scratched her tummy, neck, ears. She even gave me kisses on my cheek. I whispered in her ear and asked if she would like to come home with us for a visit, and I know she would have said yes if she could speak 😉 We named her Felicity and she’s my photo of the day.

An exciting way to end a beautiful day.