A day at the beach

A few Sundays ago we spent an afternoon at Castlepoint - east of Masterton and about 2 hours drive from Wellington.

Castlepoint Lighthouse

It was a lovely sunny winter day.  Eating our picnic lunch (purchased from The French Baker in Greytown) we noticed an odd sequence of waves at the main beach.  Within minutes the gently breaking waves became huge then back to gentle.  Somehow all my photos were taken when the waves were calm. 


We ventured towards the lighthouse. Some time ago there was a partial bridge/walkway across to the lighthouse path.  This has now gone, and the part of the beach we needed to walk across had waves splashing over in both directions.  We watched for awhile as we weren't too keen on getting wet feet or having to take our shoes off - think chilly winter day!

the vehicle (on the right) was firmly stuck
and was eventually towed out

We knew something was up when the fishermen started moving their boats/trailers further up the beach.  One of them told us that high tide was another hour away! Visiting the lighthouse no longer seemed important.  

Instead we walked towards Castle Rock still noticing the odd waves.  

Castle Rock (on the right)

Once we were home we learnt that huge waves had battered Wellington's south coast - while most of the harbour was calm.  

A great video of Castlepoint and the lighthouse, that I think was taken on the same day we were there.