Te Henga (Bethells Beach)

This week I got the chance to go to the coast on the opposite side, since I still barely know which direction is North, I am afraid I am hopeless on which way it is from where I am. I am making an educated guess it was South West, regardless of where it is in terms from me, it is on the side where all the wonderful surfing beaches are. Te Henga, does not disappoint in this sense, with surfers littering the shore. It was king tide when I went so the tide was at it's highest and the wind was so intense that day that a large part of the beach was unused because the waves were far too choppy. To get to the beach you have to drive down a classic New Zealand road: an extremely tiny, windy, 2 lane road. Once you bust out of the jungle with houses with large signs saying, "Deep Sea Oil is the best! FOR NO ONE,"  you reach some rolling sand dune hills with a few rough and tough plants sitting atop them. To the right there is a river that teeters off into the ocean with breathtaking colors and views of the valley behind.

From there you step onto the beach where there are two directions that you can go. First I went to the left because even from down that far on the beach I could see a huge cave in the rock wall! I wanted to go in it! As I got closer however, it became apparent that I couldn't get into the cave this time because the tide was too high and the cave was filled with water. I did however find a smaller cave close to the large on and went in there. It was pitch black and there was this loud popping sound coming from everywhere. I used my camera flash and found a ton of man of war jellyfish lying on the ground just bursting, I am not sure why they were exploding, but they were. I was glad I had my shoes on!

After exploring what little I could explore over there, I ventured to the other side of the beach which is where all the surfers were headed to. After climbing a large sand dune I came to the top to find a whole other section of the beach that was not windy and had perfect surfing waves! Too bad I don't surf! I walked around there for a bit and retreated to the outdoor food stand just next to the parking lot for some $6 fries which tasted like heaven.

I apologize for the lack of posting this week, I got a little busy! I am going to an event this Sunday which isn't a hike, but it is blog worthy. Expect that on Wednesday! Thanks for reading! Have a radical day!