Since we have been living life on the road we have had the joy of experiencing three Spring Seasons.
All three we have been in the DoC camp at Uretiti.
The first Spring caught us completely by surprise.
We had no idea that these windswept dunes , at times drenched in salt spray then baked in sunshine to where the sand is too hot to walk on in barefeet , could in just a few days show us Nature at its best.
We have tried to capture and display here what a lot of people have never enjoyed . Cheers.
White Daisies with a hint of blue.
A cheery ( check the spelling ) succulent of some sort.
The orange tinge to the petals glowed real brightly in full sunshine.
This pink clump of beauty was hanging off a rambling , scruffy looking vine.
Not really a bloom , these dried seed heads were in mass along the leading edge of the dune.
Their dry but fresh appearance added to the total Dune experience.
These bell shape blooms flower progressfully up the stem.
Deep in a growth of pine trees we found this small display of what appears to us to be an orchid.
A Native Orchid ? If you know about this plant, please tell , we are most interested .
Lemon and yellow blooms appear in a large variety of forms.
Little Buttercups ?
Another bloom that glowed in the sunlight.
Our first look at the Mauve Cineraries .
There was many more to come.
The flattened dunes in the camp present a display of the humble little yellow daisy.
Very colourfull but no idea what it is.
Perhaps an excapee from the garden on the other side of the fence.
Variation after variation.
Nature lined up to impress us , again.
Every day the clumps got bigger.
These were only the size of a 10c coin , what they lacked in size they made up for in quantity , there were 100s of them.
Fairly sure this is a Lupin of some sort.
And then the WOW factor arrived.
Literally acres of mauve.
Not confined to one site , as the dunes rolled on so did the blooms .
Wild Freesias ?
Snow Drops or Onion Weed ?
Either way they make their own contribution to Natures Basket of Delights.
The basic Daisy again.
A magical ring , it is easy to imagine elves and fairies dancing in this array.
Two colours on the one vine.
Oops - have already shown this beauty.
But hey , why not.
Then the Mauve wave burst out all over the Dunes.
Acres of colour , other times of the year it would be hard to imagine a scene like this.
Looking North.
And from the same spot , looking South.
Alongside the walkway to the beach this Bouquet from Nature.
As the Mauve reaches its peak the white version begin their show.
As they dry off, the display changes but continue to be a delight to the eye of the beholder.
Another week and they will be gone , until next Spring.
Lupins are often quite solitary but we came across several clumps putting on a good display.
In a damp hollow by the pines , a large growth of Arum Lillies.
A bit further on a Plane Tree in bloom.
It's definately not a plain tree.
Looks a lot like a Bottlebrush , but yellow and wild ?
Thanks to Nature for the Spring Display.
It's not a oncer ,
and next Spring it will burst upon us again.
Who else but DoC could get away with the uncontrolled growth of such an obnoxious weed.
It does add it's splash of colour.
