It was a cold but fine winters day. Where would you expect to find a Kiwi grandmother with her two young grandkids? At the beach of course!
Ototoka Beach is about 30 minutes drive from Wanganui. It is located at the end of Ototoka Beach Road at Maxwell. I always drive north from Wanganui, turning left onto Rapanui Road (look for the Bason Botanical Gardens sign opposite the BP Station), and then I just keep driving, past the turn off to Kai Iwi Beach until I find the dirt road that leads to the beach.
The first thing I noticed this time were the 2 long drops which werent there last time. For those of you who dont have any idea of what a long drop is, lets just say its a toilet. As long drops go, these werent good ones. One had a door that was resting inside, doing absolutely nothing, while the other was home to what I am sure was a very interesting type of spider. I just prayed none of them would show themselves while I was in there otherwise I would have been making a very quick exit.
beach is good but it is tough work for a chronically ill, grandmother. The waterfall makes a great spot to stop and take photos (ie REST) before continuing.
At the bottom we chose to go along the northern part of the beach as you have to cross a very cold stream to access the southern part and we werent about to do that in the middle of winter. There was the option of clambering over all the driftwood piled up across the stream which appealed to my grandkids but didnt seem like any type of option at all to me. Too many visions of at least 1 of us ending up in the very cold stream, without a change of clothing in the car, went through my head plus 1 of us has no at all and could imagine who was going to be first into the stream!
I think this adventure was the best I have ever had with the grandkids. We took our time and really looked for fossils. Naturally the first thing the kids found was a dead fish. This was the highlight of the day as it was so long and unusual
looking, with no scales, and we couldnt identify it. Yes, I tried to Google it but there is no coverage out there. We later learned it was a rare frostfish. We also found a dead sheep which they were also very interested in. As an I am good at using everything as a way of learning and they loved the dead things. And I managed to convince them we didnt need to take the dead fish home to show their mother. Sigh..........
You need to take bags with you to carry the fossils you find back up the cliff. The kids loved finding fossils, which are about 1.5 million years old, plus shells, stones and rocks which I refused to carry up the cliff for them in my backpack. You are always able to find fossils there but please keep the kids away from the cliff as landslides can occur.
For those of you who dont know the west coast of NZ, our sand is black. This means it gets very hot in summer so winter is a perfect time to visit. Plus there is a lookout on the cliff that gives you the chance to
It really is worth making the effort to visit this beach if you have time and you have anyone in the family interested in fossils. I am not sure I will ever make it down to that beach again so I made sure I took plenty of photos this time.
