Birdling’s Flats

Today we were invited on an outing with a family from Beckenham School that Margaret has befriended. Birdling’s Flats is a stretch of beach on the southern side of the Banks Peninsula (well south of where Ben took his surfing lessons). Strong Antarctic fronts straight off a large expanse of the Pacific Ocean build the surf and wind at this beach. Nothing but a few small islands stand in the way of the incredibly powerful Antarctic weather sytems.

We went to a “beach” that was definitely not your typical Southern California golden sand beach. Having been told beforehand that they would not be able to swim at this beach, the kids were terribly excited when they saw that the beach was mostly medium-sized stones. Just the perfect size for skimming (what we call skipping). A sand and stone barrier that had kept an adjacent lake apart from the sea had been breached in the last series of storms, so as the ocean water surged in we all tried our hand at seeing how many skips we could get. The channel connecting the lake and ocean got deeper and deeper as the high tide approached.

After a long while of throwing stones and making mini-rock slides along the channel walls, we all sat down on blankets and enjoyed a snack. Our Kiwi friends had brought along a thermos of hot water for making tea and coffee. Although this at first seemed odd, it is something that we often see people do. It must be the British influence.

Borrowing an idea from some artwork that the kids saw on the West Coast, they scavenged some driftwood and produced the “Hi” sign that you see here.