WAIPU SEA-TREASURES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22332, 1 February 1936, Page 4 (Supplement)

WAIPU SEA-TREASURES

| By ELVA LEAP. Matakohe (age 11 yean). On the 6th of January we arose | early, packed al our goods, and jour- | neyed 30 miles by car to Waipu Cove, f where we usually spend a few weeks | every Christmas holiday. Every day f we went for a swim, and" as Waipu + beach is open to the Pacific Ocean, surtf ing is very popular. [On two occasions we went on fishing excursions, but the only fish caught (were mau-maus and butterfish. The mau-maus we caught were about eight £ inches to nine inches in length, -very f similar to butterfish, only they have a f touch of blue on their fins, while butterf fish have a touch of yellow, the colour ; of lbutter, from whence comes their f name. I In the evening we would walk up the [ beach to gather shells. Scallops are I very common and can be picked up i almost anywhere on the beach. The same can be said about cockles. Pipis and mussels are plentiful for anyone who cares to gather them. l When there is a storm much seaweed f is torn from the rocks and this often f lingers in the breakers and around the t shore for days, making it most unf pleasant for bathing, f It is very interesting to peer into one f of the numerous rock-pools at Waipu. f Most of them are walled in with pretty f specimens of sea-weed. In the bottom f are some gorgeously coloured sea anef mones, which, when touched, slowly f close their petals. Many are the small f shell-fish that cling on to the rocks, f Quite near to the camping ground is f a beautiful stretch of native bush. One f evening when the setting-sun was castf ing a rosy glow over sky and sea we strolled along to gather ferns and J were thrilled to hear a tui singing it 3 T twi-light song from the topmost twigs of ft puriri tree.