Whakatane II - Matata and Ohiwa

With our trip to to White Island only taking about 2 hours ( a pretty fantastic 2 hours it should be said) we had plenty of time to visit a couple of nature reserves. En-route to Matata we stop at The Red Barn, a specialist bakery and cafe for a couple of cappuccinos and some rather nice cakes. 

Matata is a small reserve just inland of the coast, a bit like a mini Kenfig with a pool and dunes. 

We've arrived at Matata. I think I'll stay in the shade, it's very hot.

Nothing particularly notable is seen, but good views of Paradise Shelduck, Black Swan, Spur Winged Plover and a Heron fishing from the top of an upside down car (well a toy one anyway).

Overlooking the beach which is packed with holiday makers as it is the Labour day bank holiday

View of the busy beach at Matata.

Walking through the dunes we see this dragonfly, species unknown.

And this butterfly. It could be a common copper but doesn't quite match the pictures we have found, so still to be ID'd.

And we think this is a PuriPuri.

A retreating Pukeko.

Then it was off to Ohiwa, a large harbour with a big salt marsh behind it. 

Eric checks out the Fernbird to be sure he can spot them as they are reputed to be here. This was backed up up by a few ladies just coming away as we arrive.  They say they have seen a number on the board walk.

We get down to the board walk and wait.

There's one just landed behind Eric but we are not quick enough to get a photo. We saw a number here and further along the boardwalk but this was the closest we got to a picture - poor show eh?

The fern bird is a poor flyer and so doesn't hang about to be photographed. After a while we get the hang of spotting them. They fly like they are in an absolute panic at finding themselves in the air and seem to try to land immediately. 

The same can't be said of the Caspian Tern. We had some magical views of this one diving for fish but our photography skills again let us down. But you get the idea from these various views. 

The fish were jumping right out of the water. We are told later that they were probably trout.

There were Fernbird along this stretch too.

Eric hopes he doesn't meet one of these though we'd certainly like to

Eric wonders if this is the remains of one of the many Bittern that have been hit by cars on the adjacent road as they fly from one side to the other. 

There have been so many fatalities that they have tried planting trees along the edge of the road to force the Bittern to fly higher.

We return to Whakatane to look for something suitable to eat - it's still bank holiday Monday and there is very little open.  A walk along the promenade before dinner. 

Eric studies the complicated Tsunami warning sign - flipping heck, how do we get to somewhere safe in time after reading all this?

There's also some yarn bombing going on in the Main Street.

A suitable Indian restaurant provides us with what turned out to be a lovely meal at a reasonable price, although there was some confusion over the rice.  Here they provide Basmati rice as part of the meal (it's included in the price), but we didn't realise, couldn't see any Basmati rice on the menu so ordered Jeera rice as it was the cheapest. No idea what it was though!  Our meal comes - the usual Chana Masala for the vegetarian and Mint Chicken for the other. We tuck in. As we are nearing the end of the meal the waiter comes over and tells us our dinner is coming - ???? We assume we have mis-heard and say thanks everything is lovely again (they have asked us if everything is good about three times already). A couple of minutes later the waiter comes back with...the Jeera rice. Confusion reigns. We did order it but now don't want it as have finished our meal.  In the end we didn't have to pay for it either. 

A chat with our hosts on our return and then to bed.