This side of Town: To the lighthouse

I got this great Christmas-themed scenic photo of Ocean Beach.

I was on the look-out for a different scenic walk to review out in the Whangārei Heads area and a friend recommended climbing to the lighthouse at Ocean Beach.

A former lifeguard there, she mentioned how they would run to the lighthouse and back inside half an hour as part of their training. I didn't have much time to spare but thought I'd kill two birds with one stone – combine 'work' with exercise – so off we set with her 5-month-old in the front-pack.

This was the baby's beach debut but it seemed she didn't share her mother's enthusiasm for the seaside. Deciding to sit it out while her mini-me calmed down, my friend encouraged me to go ahead.

Scrambling up the first steep embankment, I realised how much an undertaking it would have been for her and decided there was no way they could do this. I'd just pop up, grab a photo and be back in no time, I decided.

Reaching the top, I was amazed at the views after only a two-minute climb. Really? It took the fit, young lifeguards half an hour? Perhaps I should sign up. I took a few photos before looking around for the lighthouse. Where was it?

Eventually, my eyes raised up and up … and up, and then I saw it, a mere white spec in the far distance. Already having wasted lots of time taking photos thinking I had reached the summit, I wondered if I should continue. Remembering the half-hour time frame, I decided if they could do it, so could I, so set off up the track at a run.

With the sun beating down, no shade, and the incline intensifying, I soon slowed to a breathless walk. Every now and then I remembered to look over my shoulder at the views – there was Marsden Point to one side and a large expanse of water on the other.

Rounding a corner, I spotted the lighthouse still in the far distance. Was it just me or was that lighthouse getting further away?

Still, I charged toward it, once again losing sight as I went around bends in the track. Finally, dying of thirst, when I was sure I should have arrived by now, I looked around. It was gone.

Feeling like I was in The Labyrinth, I spun around and around searching for this elusive lighthouse.

Then, I spotted it and I think a little part of me died. It was way back the way I'd come.

It turns out, I should've hung a left at some point and gone off the main track and back down toward the ocean.

My phone beeped. My friend said she and her baby wouldn't make it up. Feeling completely selfish at leaving her with a wailing baby in the hot sun while I took a hike, I started running back down the hill, realising just how far I'd come.

By the time I hit the beach, I was sure she wouldn't be talking to me. In fact, I wouldn't have been surprised if she'd up and left.

"I'm sooo sorry …"

"What's wrong?" she asked in surprise. "We're absolutely fine. She dipped her toes in the ocean for the first time and, after she calmed down, we've just been sitting here chilling."

I told her about my fail.

"Please tell me the view from the lighthouse isn't all that great," I finished.

"Oh, it's awesome – you should've gone!"

Not exactly what I wanted to hear but, hey, I got my exercise for the day, mini-me got to dip her toes in the ocean and I got this great Christmas-themed scenic photo from the first two-minute ascent.