In the fourth of our summer series celebrating the best Kiwi beaches, Bob Harvey writes a letter to his favourite west coast spot.
Karekare, Mon amour. I'm sorry it's been a long time since I last wrote to you. I don't have any real excuses, after all, your generosity to me lately has been a little embarrassing.
I know you are fond of me but I did worry about your reaction
to my behaviour over those silly elections last year as I walked up and down the sand in a funk, throwing sticks at seagulls. Then suddenly you produced that beautiful net.
It looked like it had been woven by Circe for Ulysses, that extraordinary blue webbing was patched by mermaids surely; no one could have done it more beautifully. I turned it into a hammock and when I laid in it the fog of war drifted away.
Your gifts have been many over the years. Do you remember the glass ball from the Japanese trawler? It must have been one of the last glass fishing floats before they all turned to plastic. There it was, sitting on the sand shimmering, with a cloud of seagulls feasting on the long tentacles of sea barnacles attached to it.
And what about the ambergris? At first I thought it was just a piece of pumice hidden in the waves and, as I got closer, I saw it was the genuine article. My God, I sold it to a French perfume maker and paid for the bach. Have I thanked you for that?
Am I right in assuming you've mellowed of late? I used to remember you as wild and untamed, those terrible winters of storms and raging seas. Lately, you seemed to have calmed and warmed - don't tell me you've fallen for all that global warming stuff? That's not in your nature.
I love the way the pohutukawa extend their kingdom into your dunes and soon they will be almost at the water's edge.
I've been collecting photographs of you for years, and my observation is that you like certain people and reward them with offerings of dazzling sunsets and misty mornings. How do you manage to do that so easily?
Last year you treated me to a full moon in the east and a glorious sunset at the same time - where did that come from? No one should be that fortunate to see such wonders. But I guess that's the way you are - your generosity seems to know no bounds.
I hope you don't mind me being so personal because I think you are kind of modest and bigger than all that transient, fad, romantic stuff. I'm a sensible guy who knows nothing lasts forever but I wanted to drop you a note just to tell you how grateful I am that you are part of my life.
With love, Bob Harvey
* Waitakere City Mayor Bob Harvey gave away his second daughter Tessa at her Karekare wedding over the weekend.
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