Treasures Of Purau Beach

By

Patricia Shannon

Gentle, calm ocean waves tickle the pale gray sand of the Purau beach. The piccaninny grains respond joyfully and they dance gracefully through the clear blue water.

I watch this natural phenomenon in awe, captivated by the everlasting and complicated whirls of the finest sand, now and then interrupted by a bundle of seaweed.

A couple of sea birds attract my attention. Two of them fight over a piece of bread that they found, somewhere along the way. The birds scream and clap wildly with their wings. A heck of a battle over a small piece of food. In a way I feel sorry for them. It's a pity I didn't bring anything to eat. Unmoved by all the commotion, a few other birds sit quietly on the water and bob up and down on the gracious wavelets.

My eyes wander off to the pine trees in the distance. They form a beautiful green belt, surrounding the tranquility of this lovely area. On the right, another type of trees, with strange, oddly shaped branches, hanging low over the water. It is as if they weep from sadness, although I can't imagine they would be gloomy in this awesome place!

I sniff the salty air and relax. There are no other people around and I feel one with the beauty of nature.

After a while, I decide to walk along the shoreline, to see if I can collect a few branches for our garden, casualties of the strong winds that blow ferociously from across the wide ocean.

I'm lucky to find some awkwardly shaped remnants of trees, to create an artistic feature in the flower beds at home.

Most of Purau beach is covered in layers of shells, crushed by human footprints. But, if you look carefully, you can find larger pieces and white fractal spiral shells, still intact, all once home to a small species of sea life. I feel they would make lovely ornaments for the garden as well.

From then on I'm on a quest to find me a couple of special shells and I've become a real beachcomber. Towards lunchtime, I return home with my treasures of Purau beach.