spoiled for choice

I love taking walks with the dogs. I am seriously spoiled for choice and super lucky to have several very different options in the area.

I can drive to the dog beach in Petone and the dogs get a big run and usually a bit of a play with other dogs. (An aside... A few weeks back I got caught up in a wicked sandstorm on Petone Beach as I watched a southerly blow in. It was an insane sight and the dogs got totally freaked. We were literally coated with sand.)
Duration: 1 hr

I can drive to the end of Eastbourne to the Esplanade and go for a hard, long walk again with the dogs running free. This one is pretty exposed to the elements, but the dogs return home completely knackered. I love that occasionally I can walk for what seems like miles next to a very rough sea and not see another soul.
Duration: 1 hr 30 min

I can walk 'round the bays to meet Jeremy at the ferry in the afternoon, 3/4 road & 1/4 beach. This is fun and feels old-fashioned for some reason. I love how the dogs get excited each time a man with a briefcase comes down the long pier. Their reaction when they spot Jeremy is equivalent to if we were meeting him at the airport after a long journey. Precious. The walk home gives J and I a chance to re-cap the day, so an extra bonus.
Duration: 40 min

I can drive to Lower Hutt and do the river walk at Melling Link. The dogs get such a great run and it's a nice loop. Kai usually finds something gross to roll in on this one, but you gottta take the good with the bad! I normally do this one on errand day. It works perfectly to tire the dogs out by the river and then head to the grocery. The dogs are always sound asleep when I return to the car. And the parking lot is under cover, so I don't have to worry if it's a super sunny day.
Duration: 3 hrs (inc. grocery shopping)

Plus there are all sorts of hikes in the hills around here, but I prefer to do these with someone else, ie Jeremy. So they are an occasional weekend treat. The Gum Tree Loop in Wainui and the Butterfly Creek Walk are favorites.
Duration: 2 hrs

But by far the easiest (especailly now that the restrictions have been lifted), is just heading down the hill to the beach in our bay. At high tide it's a very narrow strip of rocky beach, but at low tide it is transformed into an entirely different beach with nice sandy bits.
Duration: 30 min

While walking this morning, I thought of reasons why I love walking on the local beach so much. So here goes...

• the terrain changes so dramatically from day to day, especially if there's been a storm.
• occasionally there isn't a single wave for as far as you can see--just like glass.
• i get so excited when i find an unbroken paua shell.
• i like collecting sea glass and pieces of super smooth colorful pottery washed up on shore (i just have bits around the house and in various jacket pockets--i need to so something with all my finds!)
• even though it's a short walk, i feel like i get good exercise because of all the rock climbing and the walk back up the hill isn't all that easy!
• behind the huge rock at the end of the beach offers a great off-the-lead quicky explore for the dogs.
• i am continually surprised by the dramatic difference between low and high tide.
• i always seem to spot single shoes strewn about. i find it so curious. today i found a single sock though. just weird.
• sometimes the local quirky fisherman is down there and he tells me about his catch.
• it clears my head.
• i usually come up with page ideas or journaling as i walk.
• i can always depend on kai to painstakingly select the perfect bit of driftwood and carry it all the way home, like it's her job. once her stick of choice was a 1.5-meter-long ponga frond (read "branch"). she carried it all the way to the street-side door but struggled to get it in. i can still hear it, "gedonk, gedonk, gedonk," as she kept hitting the door frame, taking a few steps back and trying again. finally our clever girl realized she needed to turn sideways, and all was well in her world. she was so proud.
• berkley is a fan of rocks rather than sticks. he makes this seriously crazy wailing sound if he finds a perfect rock that he can't pick up. this is very rare, so i have to treasure it when it happens!
• they get to play fetch one-at-a-time (because it's so close to the road and they have absolutely no road-sense whatsoever, so i only let one off the lead at a time) at the end of the beach and they seem so appreciative of that little burst of play.
• people who pass on the road are friendly.
• it's a nice break in the morning.
• it makes me feel lucky, which is a nice way to feel.
• it is a great walk without eating up too much of the day.

So there you have it. I'm spoiled for choice.