It was an overcast, windy day, but we needed out, and the view was definitely worth it. Lion Rock separated the beachhead between the two headlands, standing monolithic in the surf, much of the beach hazed from the pounding waves.
We drove down through a windy road, completely doted with houses. It was understandable why they would want houses on the hill, I mean what a view! But of course there were two things running through my head; that it would be some difficult to safely go in and out of one's driveway and that no one in their right mind would want a driveway like this in Canada!
The beach itself was fantastic, nice dark sand, easy to walk on, although there was numerous kelp washed ashore from the cyclone that had gone through recently. These were huge, and I don't mean big piles of numerous seaweed, I mean enormous blades of kelp, some greater than 3 metres. Really puts the strength of the storm into perspective, something lost from being in ones flat in Auckland.
Avoiding these huge kelp, we wandered over to Lion Rock, where I could not help myself but take a look at all the marine invertebrates clinging to the rock faces. Despite the heavy pounding of waves, life manages to flourish in even the harshest of environments, although I suspect these rocks were slightly sheltered from those waves. Barnacles, tube worms, and mussels such as the Green Lipped ones below (the species I am working with) all have strong attachments to the rocks, allowing them to stay firmly in place when the surge of water from those crashing waves attempts to dislodge them.
Another small excursion with great rewards. There was a campground near and we will likely find ourselves coming back for an overnight to fully enjoy this little place on the West coast.
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