Birdlings Flat Panorama

This is a view of the settlement and beach from the hills to the east. Click on the pic to see a larger (2000 pixel) version. The red circle is where we are.

Plenty of Room to Run Around

Small arm of Lake Forsyth, heading out to the groyne and the sea. You can see that a dog could have a lot of fun here. Unfortunately, the lake is subject to toxic algal blooms due to agricultural runoff from the surrounding hills, and the sea is very dangerous. Only last year a man drowned trying to rescue his dog from the sea.

Our first agate

From the Southern Alps, down the Rakaia River, and washed up on Birdlings Flat beach.

Shingle

Walking on all this shingle is very good exercise.

The Beach

Just another of New Zealand’s deserted beaches.

The destination of the dirt

Last week we saw Lake Forsyth flowing over this area. That’s it in the movie. This week the shingle is all back and the lake is no longer open at this point. That’s why the council have installed the groyne over by the cliffs, the shingle here just keeps coming back, those big rocks over by the cliffs are supposed to keep it stable.

Here we can see where the dumped soil is going. Every time the lake is opened, this shingle road disappears, and has to be put back so those who live over the other side can get to their homes without going a long way round.

The Groyne 2

CCC are installing this groyne to allow Lake Forsyth to be permanently open to the sea, to flush out all the pollution. The shingle bank I’m standing on is a bit wobbly, I don’t fancy going any closer, but the lake is definitely on the other side:-)

The Groyne

Away goes Ian, toward the groyne.

Colin and Ian

Colin with one of our neighbours, Ian, who is a local artist. You can see his paintings here and his house building blog here.

Stuck Truck

The truck driver has no idea why he has dumped all the soil. All he knows is that the ground is very soft, and he is waiting for a tow! We can’t help him.