March 25, 2013
Our walk to Bland Bay was both longer and hillier than we expected, but it was pretty as the tree-lined road passed by some lovely bays. After trudging up the final hill, we were rewarded with a great view of the isthmus between Bland Bay and Tuparehuia Bay.
After strolling down the hill amid peacefully grazing cows and pukekos (the big blue birds here), we headed over to the beach at Bland Bay. It was surprisingly nice, a long stretch of white sand in a bay partly enclosed by a string of rock islands stretching out from the headland.
It was actually quite beautiful, but in a remote and otherworldly sort of way that felt strangely lonely. I can’t put my finger on why any given place can feel this way, but I think there could be 20 boats in here and it would still feel the same. In spite of this, we liked this bay quite a lot and could see anchoring here at some future time.
The pictures in the gallery show both Bland Bay and some of the bays on our walk there. Click any picture to enlarge, the right side to scroll though the pictures, and the lower right X to return to the regular gallery. –Cyndi
