Waverley Beach

We first saw Waverley Beach on a windy day just after the area had experienced a few days of heavy rain. The sea and surf looked dirty and rough . . . wild and beautiful.

The wind had whipped up lots of sea foam. It looked like snow against the black sand, and the wind blew it along the beach.

There are two beaches: Long Beach and Cave Beach. As dogs are allowed on Long Beach, this is the one we explored first.

It's obvious the sea is having a detrimental effect on the cliffs—some of the erosion appeared to be quite recent.

It was high tide, which restricted the distance we could walk before waves reached the cliffs and blocked the way.

There was a set of steps along the way, leading up to the top of the cliff.

When I went back the next day, the wind had died down, and with that, the sea was much calmer.

There were some swimmers deciding whether they would brave the water, a wake boarder and a couple of 4WD vehicles on the beach.

As the vehicles left the beach, they had to negotiate the incoming tide as well as a steep climb up.

This day, Lucy and I walked up the stairs to see where they led. (Dave was off playing golf.) This is looking back down towards the steps.

There are tracks along the top of the cliff, with mown walkways and several benches where people can sit and enjoy the views. The mown walkways connect with most of the locals' back yards. Imagine bringing your coffee out here to sit and enjoy a break—just a few extra steps from your garden gate.

Cave Beach is not so easy to access at high tide. At low tide you can walk around from Long Beach, but at high tide from the inland side I had to wade through water that almost came up to my knees.

Children were playing in the relative safety of the trapped water, although I though it looked pretty grubby after all the rain. Regardless, they were having a great time.

At high tide, it was only a small beach, with these interesting rock structures.

And then the caves, most of which cannot be accessed or seen at high tide.

I couldn't venture too far with the tide in, so thought I'd come back for another look later that evening.

With the tide out, you can walk around from Long Beach to Waipipi Beach. There are several small caves, inaccessible to walkers at high tide. It was worth coming back to see the caves with the setting sun shining on them.

Back up top, a couple of people were watching the sun set over Long Beach.

We stayed a couple of nights at Waverley Beach Camp. There was plenty of space with powered and unpowered sites. Down the road closer to the beach (top of the cliffs) was a freedom camping area, but the day we arrived it was so windy, we chose the more sheltered camp ground.

On the day we left, we took one last walk down Long Beach. The tide was out this time. It was interesting to see this tree stump in the middle of the beach. I didn't think this was driftwood—it looked as though it had once grown there.

There was another one further out to sea that was almost covered when the tide was in, as were these other tree stumps—perhaps testimony to the sea's slow but sure reclamation of the land.

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