Cape Kidnappers

Cape Kidnappers is a place known for its colony of Gannets, birds with really beautiful eye make-up. Though the locals don't think anything of them, I find them quite beautiful, at least, the few pictures I've seen of them.

So, I decided that I wanted to see them for myself and headed off one day with Dean, a cool Maori dude who is studying massage therapy in order to help his people heal. We met at the end of a Maori festival and he gave me a foot massage.

We became friends and he took me out for a ride. I wanted to go to Cape Kidnappers, the location where a group of Maori's tried to kidnap Captain Cook's servant, so we drove out there one afternoon.

Below are some pictures of the walk along the shore to see the gannets.

Gotta love how resilient trees are


Around the tip of that piece of land, is way more land to walk before getting to the colony

Interesting look at how wood can be squeezed between rock and turn into a kind of charcoal
Erosion's work
Close-up of rock formations
Dean walking along the shore

Alas, we were not able to get to the gannets. We arrived as the tide was coming in and you can't walk along the shore, the tide goes up too high. So we had to leave without seeing those darned birds. I was pretty disappointed and hoped that I would get a chance to go back there before leaving Hawke's Bay.

About a week and a half later, Shani took me out there. We went several hours earlier, hoping that this would be the perfect day.

Shani taking a dip in the ocean

It's still so far away!

A guardian overlooking the bay

Love this picture! A lot of the "stone" is actually clay. As we walked along the shore, some of the rocks we stepped on were moist and the color was coming off. Clay! The most beautiful colors too...greens and blues...
The rippled effect

Striations in the rock
The only bird I did get to see, though it's not a gannet


Alas, the tide came up fast and strong and we were yet again forced to turn back. It seems that I was not meant to see the gannets. Two strikes and I had no more time. So we left. The walk was beautiful though, and the day bright and hot. That was something!

Below a little video of the bay. To clarify, from right to left: Mahia Peninsula, Wairoa, and Napier.