Standing high on top of the cliffs, what an awesome view… here was another dramatic New Zealand beach below us!

 

After seeing the Howell Lake… or should I say crazy pond… our son had taken us off again that sunny day to see something else.  

But what?

And as we travelled along in the car to our next destination, I wondered where we could possibly be going to. And when our son stopped the car and we got out…  

I couldn’t believe what I saw.

We were standing high up on a cliff top, above a most unusual unbelievable scene: 

That is Manawapou beach, on New Zealand’s north island!

The view from Manawapou cliffs: 

Far below I saw a beach that carved inland and was surrounded by light yellow-white cliff sides. See map below: 

The whole circumstance and ambiance of where we stood seemed powerfully tense somehow. And I felt too close to the cliff edge. With caution I look down to where we stood. The ground looked uneven and shifty with lumpy clumps of grass. 

Our son must have seen my expression, for he gave us… 

A word of warning:

Our son told us that these cliffs are very unsafe. The chalky looking cliffs could crumble at any time. Due to the loose sand they are made of.  

The very thought, was most disturbing to even think about! It made you look around you with more awareness. 

And now he was indicating we should walk down a sloping piece of cliff to get down to the beach below! Wow it looked so narrow, risky and unstable. It was only a few feet wide and shaped somewhat like a slice of cake lying on its side. 

Following,

I didn’t want to be left behind like last time. So gingerly and with daring caution, I picked my way down the irregular slope too. The top part had more grass on it, than the bottom part. 

I can tell you it was scary. The top section was like walking over and down bridge, with the ground falling (steep slope) away on both sides. And as you know, from what I’ve said before, I’m afraid of heights. This made my legs feel shaky. 

But NO problem… can you believe it? When I looked for my family… there they were… way down there, hurrying down the slope like nothing was wrong. They got to the bottom much faster than I. 

So what? 

If they weren’t worried, why should I be! So out came my camera. This would give me a chance to take photos of the scenery around me as I climbed down that slope.  

The beauty of the gorge:

The gully between the cliffs cuts inland and meandering in between and through the hills. Been summertime the grass wasn’t so green. But the combination with the yellow cliffs made it look so beautiful. I suppose, seeing it from such a height, gave it greater splendour. 

At the bottom:

When I got to the bottom, it wasn’t a smooth transitional step down. There was a huge step down, which I had to carefully climb down over and negotiate with my camera. I suppose for the men, it had been nothing. They had just jumped down! 

 

Looking for them and seeing them way out towards the beach area, I followed and found the beach full of bleached dry tree trunks and branches that had been washed up on the seashore. 

Here is an oil painting I did of it:

Now… isn’t THAT dramatic?!    

With the yellowish chalky cliffs competing with the dark volcanic grey of the seashore sand! See how the big bleached dry log of wood points out to the cliffs and sea.  

Just out of interest: The `wedge-cake’ slope that we walked down, is actually behind the cliff on the extreme-left of the painting.