Balaena Bay, Wellington

Hi there

Well ... because of the pollution warning notices nailed to all the fences at Hataitai Beach (the notices that I never saw when I went swimming there last week) , we swimmers have had to do a tactical retreat to Balaena Bay, a few coves further along the coastline, and nearer to the city.

Last week when myself, my swimming friend J, J's personal paparazzo, and Thong Man were standing outside the changing sheds, a woman walked by.  She appeared sophisticated, well-dressed (well, she wasn't wearing a hoodie, like we were), hair done impeccably, nice grown-up shoes (not trainers, like us).  She didn't slouch, she walked at a steady pace, head held high.  To all intents, a posh lady.

However, clasped low down in a hand, and trailing behind her was the thickest longest, widest, many-branched length of seaweed that I had ever seen out of the water.  This woman was like those old pics of Queen Elizabeth in her loooooong coronation robe as she trudged down the runway-oops sorry-aisle at Westminster Abbey. 

The seaweed train took about a full minute to grandly trail past us.  Kudos to this woman who was acting as if she didn't even belong to the seaweed  - "Huh, how did that get there?  I guess it followed me home ... "


Here's Balaena Bay -

  

7 swims at 7 beaches in 7 hours, Wellington, New Zealand.

hi there

Here's our 7 swims in 7 hours

Below:  Freyberg Beach... with the jellyfish -

 Below:  Balaena Bay, lovely.

Below:  Hataitai Beach, home turf

 Below:  Worser Bay.  That's us, in the distance.

Below: Scorching Bay

Below:  Princess Bay.  I slipped on some baggy shorts for this swim, thinking the water would be cold.  It wasn't.

Below:  Island Bay, reputedly the coldest waters in Wellington.

Seven swimming beaches in seven hours! - done!

Hi there

Today (Monday NZ time), J and I fulfilled our Quest.  We got to swim at seven beaches in the Wellington area in seven hours.  We actually completed our Quest in 6 hours.  There was no hurry, we wanted to admire views, and partake of sandwiches, and warm our tootsies between swims

Believe it or not, the temp today was 28c!!!!  Did we pick a day or what?  Our main rule was no less than 12 minutes swimming at any beach.

We started out at 10 a.m. at Freyberg Beach, practically in the city.  Freyberg Beach is just a hop and a skip (forget the 'jump) from Oriental Bay.  But in the water were - wait for it, can you guess? -  jellyfish!  Petrified, I trod water in one place.  J swam bravely for a bit until she hit a pod (her description) of  jellies.   I wanted to abort the Quest after my first jellyfish hit but I gritted my teeth and held out for the twelve required minutes.

The waters of Balaena Bay were deliciously lovely and calm. 

Gorgeous Hataitai Beach is, of course, home for us.  So 'nuff said.  We had our lunch there.

Scorching Bay and Worser Bay had warm waters.  J actually forgot she wasn't wearing her swimming booties and marched into the sea in her going-out shoes.  The sand was very hot.

Neither of us had been to Princess Bay and it was quite enjoyable.    We were a bit wary because we didnt know where any submerged rocks might be.  Loads of people there.

Island Bay: everyone told us Island Bay waters were freeeeeeezing.  We found the sea nice and crisp.

We laughed, giggled, chortled practically the whole day.  Lots of thngs didnt go to plan, the main problem being finding parking that was close to the respective beaches. At first I was embarrassed having to walk a long way along the footpath in just my bathing suit and my big thighs, but by the time we hit Island Bay, I didn't give a tinker's darn about how I looked. We would take  several pairs of sandals if we did the whole thing again because driving in wet, soggy, sandy sandals is not pleasant.

We took three bathing suits each with us, but stayed in the one costume throughout, driving the car in my bathing suit and sitting on a towel.  I went through 7 towels.

Okay, then, here's the challenge:  how about if you go for the 7 swims in 7 hours? -  Freyberg, Balaena, Hataitai, Scorching, Worser, Princess, and Island Bay.  12 minutes minimum swim.  No rush....

Thumbs-up photo when you're done please.

Go for it.


..... photos by J's personal papparazzo will appear later in the week

A Walk in the Hills

I went for a lovely walk yesterday, over the Hataitai hill to Oriental Bay.  Sometimes I listen to an audio book on my MP3 player and sometimes I just love to walk, think, and admire the views.  When I took the below photos, I was standing roughly above Balaena Bay  (I don't mean I was roughly standing - otherwise I'd have been perching on uneven ground.  No, I mean that Baleana Bay was roughly situated below where I was standing to take the pictures!  Goodness, I always get tangled up trying to explain things, forgive me....) 
In the top picture you can see Matiu-Somes Island which is in the middle of Wellington Harbour.  There's a nice ferry ride that goes there daily from the city.  Even nicer, and very cheaply too, you can hop off at the island, look around, catch another ferry to Days Bay, look around, then return to the city (SuperGold card holders, free - thanks, Winston!).  At certain times, certain days, the ferry also goes to Petone and Seatoun.

I love to take a picnic lunch with me to Oriental Bay, sit on a seat with my feet up on the fence and watch the fountain playing, the people, and the kids, and the bicycles, and skaters.  Oriental Bay is so close to the city, that tourists like to wander there.  It's great for them to walk around the wharves to the Bay.  Only takes, perhaps, half an hour, and is as safe as houses.

Way back in my grandmother's day, when Wellington was very young, Oriental Bay was the place to promenade.  Every Sunday, people would dress up in their fancy finery and parade up and down.   I often think it wuld be great to have an Easter Parade day, with folk promenading Oriental Bay again.  We could dress up in everyone's idea of 'nice', be it clothes from the 1800's, modern, whatever.  Chocolate bar prizes, say, could be handed out by Wellington City Council staff to people, kids, dogs, dolls, whose styles impress!
People already happily promenade in their hundreds on a fine day around Oriental Bay, and I do wish we could have a special occasion to really go all out
. 
There is an absolutely positively delicious song by the Datsun Violets called "You Can't Beat Wellington (on a Good Day)" that can be heard on youtube.  Scenery-wise, happiness-wise, and weather-wise this is so true!