Shakespear Park

This weekend our friend Emily visited from the South Island, where she’s about to start an adventure of her own on five acres of gorgeous hilly country.

We went for a nice walk in Shakespear Regional Park, which is right out at the end of the peninsula we live on. But this was our first time there… yay for visitors motivating us to do things! And yes, I know there’s an “e” missing, but that’s how this particular Shakespear family spelled it.

Before entering and exiting the forest, you have to disinfect your boots.

The picture doesn’t do justice to the massive trunk on this puriri tree. The forest trail was really neat. And lots of the native trees are labeled so you could learn to recognize them with a little practice.

The whole park is fenced in and predator-free, meaning the native birds can thrive. There are kiwi, but you can only see them at night and if you’re really lucky. Emily is something of a birder, so according to her (and a couple of other birders we talked to) we added several species to our life lists, including a bellbird, a North Island robin, a stitch bird, and a saddleback.

I spotted this impressive eel in the creek.

The waterfall in Waterfall Gully. I had wondered about this as a metal detecting spot, because swimming holes are generally full of lost stuff. But this was way too pristine for me to dig around in, and there’s not enough water for swimming anyway.

It was a really nice morning and I know we’ll be back now that we’ve broken the ice.