Thursday, February 09, 2012

Scarborough Beach

While some of us were working and at school, others of us were being whisked off to Pleasant Point by Joan and John for a custard slice!  Pleasant Point is a small country town 19kms inland from Timaru, famous for its little heritage railway.  They all had a jolly good time.  Early afternoon when I was home from work we went on an outing to the in-use Timaru Railway Station.  It didn't inspire a desire to travel anywhere by train - somewhat shabby and dirty; in keeping with the worst picture one would have of dodgy train stations! 
Popped in at the i-Site and examined the statue of Captain Henry Cain, mayor of Timaru in 1860 and later poisoned by his son-in-law!  Did a bit of shopping and walking about town.  Had to collect the boys from the pool at 3 pm but we arrived super early so could see both boys swimming.  I didn't recognize Caleb at first, swimming freestyle in the deep-end with quite some style.  Went directly home after swimming so I could get a chicken pie in the oven; also steamed the last of the purple cauliflower along with yellow cauli and broccoli - it was a colourful plate of food!  (For the record, steaming is a better way to go with these ridiculously tinted veggies - they maintained their deep shades). 
After tea we drove down to Scarborough Beach, a few kms south of Timaru - with my parents leaving in a few days, we don't want to let things simply wind down; there are still things to see and do, and since it was a calm and non-cold evening, it was perfect to do a beach excursion.  Scarborough Beach is particularly lovely if you enjoy beach-combing and treasure-hunting - today we were particularly looking for Paua shells for Mom and Dad to take back with them.  I also collected treasures by way of photographs - I love to bring them out and look at them again and again.  We were especially blessed to happen across a lone juvenile Shag who eyed me with much interest but apparently no fear - we seemed to edge nearer to each other until he was within reach although that hooked beak looked like it might have been dangerous.  Caleb and Mom waited near our starting point, not venturing far as the tide was high and we weren't sure if it was coming or going.  The rest of us went far in our exploring, finding five or six big shells.  The skies were gently clouded over; the sea was rough and the air heavy with salt-water spray.  I came away deeply satisfied with the expedition.  There is something soothing about the pounding of waves on a rocky shore and the joyful noise they make as they pull little pebbles back into the tide with them, followed by a sudden drop in the noise during a lull in big waves.  You want to take a deep breath and run and shout and sit quietly and gather yourself. 
We finished the evening with ice-creams at Burger King.  It was already past the boys' bedtime so we figured an extra half-hour and a sugar rush couldn't do much harm!

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