SMUGGLER'S BAY*

* Or 'Nice and Responsible Guys' Bay' if pedantic and boring old schoolteachers were allowed to name and market geographical features.

As Dargaville was a no-go today Geoff and I went to Smuggler's Bay which is on one of our local walks.

The walking track is a mixture of farmland, coastal and bush tracks that skirt the bays and goes past the WW2 gun emplacements.

I was keen to see Smuggler's Bay as I had heard that Cyclone Gabrielle had stripped away a lot of the beautiful white sand.

BEFORE

AFTER

There was very noticeable reduction of sand and rocks exposed.

The track down to the beach has been washed away and replaced with tonnes of driftwood.

Someone has made a shelter out of driftwood. It's well made.

The day started off well but a storm was on the way.

A storm worthy of King Lear began with thunder, lightning and rain began and we hurried to the car. The storm has lasted a few hours and thunder is still shaking the house as I write this.

I'm aware that this post is written in the style of Robert the 50% Guy (and other descriptors) so I might as well tell you what I'm going to cook for dinner:

Italian lemon piccante chicken with Hasselbach roasted potatoes.