Lots of photos… not many words.  We’ve taken few days out to spend time with Rob’s parents and this time the weather has been kind to us!  Phew no ‘trapped-in-doors-with-small-children’ days.  Just warm sun, cool, cool nights and morning frost, as you have seen already.  Good times to get the girls out and take some happy snaps.

No shipping containers this time…  just icy water and warm sun.

Kids in bare feet can you believe it!  It was freezing today.

Wheel shells.

I just wish I had my sewing machine *sigh* it could be a tad unsociable though I suppose.

I know it’s obvious, but sea stars are some of my favourite animals.

So while Luna was after as many green lipped mussels she could cram into her hat, I was oooh-ing and aaaah-ing about some stunning sea stars.

Look how many they are?  They were just amazing, lots of little (and *cough* big) getting up close with these babies.  Each was unique, their colours so varied.  They felt like jeweled reptiles to touch, and I remembered what a deadly predator they are, exuding their stomachs onto their victim, then slowly digesting them…  I’m glad I’m not a mollusc.

This one was mauve!

So many, oozing and squeezing into the rocks.

Really, there is so much to explore and see at the beach.  A good day at Piha is completely exhausting for us all, clean water and life in and around the rocks.

A bit too wild for swimming in the sea for the little ones, though we found a perfect tidal pool, complete with tiny fish.

Luna is really keen on green lipped mussels just now, and she was bagging any she could find.  After a converstation about only taking empties with us, and remembering that there was an animal inside the shells, we reduced the risk of finding smelly shells in the back yard.

And limpets!  Luna found these ones.

Beautiful day.

Watching the waves.

Sand and space.

I love molluscs.  I love really small ones, like the juveniles that wash up in the fine sand on some beaches and then there are the just plain TINY ones that go unseen as we busily get on with the big stuff.  So it was a bonus to discover these little beauties when I brought home a big bunch of Italian parsley from my mums place, I’ve seen them around before and I don’t know what they are – yet!

Winter days on the west coast a lovely, we had a crisp clear day, after an icy start!

Spirula shell with tiny goose barnacles.

Looking up towards the dunes reminded me of some vast (yet miniature) archaeological site.

Watch out!

Beautiful.

Luna’s really into organising sticks.

Black sand on the west coast is perfect for making sand sculptures.. I used to spend hours at the beach and have made my share of Sand Dragons, now I just try and get one made before Blake dances on it’s tail!

This lady is a bit rough!

I see the occasional Common Janthina shells washed up, but blue?  Plastic.  Don’t see so much on this coast.

Very striking.

Byssus threads on a mussel shell.

Autumn, again at Te Henga, so beautiful and fresh.  There these jellyfish that were like jewels in the sun.

We have this new thing we’re doing, we will be heading out west once a month to clear our heads.  Yesterday we went out to Te Henga, north of Piha.   It’s been a while since either of us has been there, the first time for Luna and Blake.  The estuary has changed shape somewhat but it still feels the same.  I have most often headed out west when I have embarked on a change, maybe new lover, a big overseas adventure, or just needing to breathe.  Something about this coast just revitalises me, I feel like a gecko shedding my old skin, time for a serious change.

The kids love it.  Blake would not be up in the sling, no way!  He had to be down there getting into it, this let me run off with the camera for a few minutes… yippeee.

Something I’m really enjoying at the moment is Luna’s gentleness with nature.  She’s about as enthusiastic about exploring the beach and finding tiny amazing animals as I am.  I spent hours at the beach as a child, and it’s a pleasure to go to the beach with her just to run and look.

Here’s the head of a small paddle crab.

Snapper biscuits or sand dollars, are ecinoderms, and I find the fascinating, from this perspective, I wish I was small enough to wander inside.  So cool the way they break apart.

Amazing texture.

Always interesting getting down to see what’s washed up.

I was given some random nearly new cot sheets, and seeing as we’ve not used a cot they’ve just hung around for a while.  Not such a good idea, if you’re pretty pinky fabric you’ll get turned into a seahorse or a seashell if you’re not careful.  I’ve also enjoyed using some of the embroidery stitches that my sewing machine does, it’s great fun but it takes a while and uses up thread like mad.  They started out like these ones here, but then I discovered they need a little more depth to get a really good scallopy shape…

See?

My Shell Club is hosting the New Zealand Shell Show this weekend, it includes sale tables as well as an auction, fun fun fun!

It is being held at Te Tuhi, Centre for the Arts, 13 Reeves Road, Pakuranga, on 27-29th March 2009. 
A Shell Auction on Saturday, 5 – 7pm is sure to be a highlight with a large number of high quality New Zealand and World Wide shells up for grabs.  The show is open to the public from 10am to 5pm on Saturday and 10am – 4pm on Sunday.

I discovered a little Oxychilus cellarius, also sometimes referred to as Hyalina cellaria (kindly identified by one of my shell club colleagues!) sliming along the mulch under my parsley plants a couple of days ago…

It is not, as I first thought, a native, but was apparently introduced to New Zealand, originally from British Isles and western Europe.

The first time I have found a live one, and was amazed at how blue the animal is. The translucent wee shells are often turned up in under growth when fosiking around in the garden.

This was so exciting! Our shell club had the opportunity to view part of the Auckland Museum’s marine collection last night. The collection is estimated to contain approximately 500,000 specimens and includes both wet and dry specimens.

I made a special request to see echinoderms (urchins and starfish) as I have been very interested in the structure of these animals, they are composed of five sections – a pattern that has been emerging in my crochet.

Here are few photos…

..a freaky sea urchin

..another urchin

..a brittle star