Spent Easter up in the lovely Bay of Islands where we went to a family wedding and just spent a bit to time unwinding. Here are a couple of panorama shots at the place we were staying – The Pukeko’s Nest. Well worth effort to get there (it’s about 30 minutes off Highway 1 near Kawakawa but a lot of that is dirt road). Serene and safe surroundings (unless you’re a 2 year old with a desire to investigate the mangrove swamps) with no imposition of “modern life”.
Mangroves are a nice metaphor for Easter for me. There is this swampland, covered by the sea a high tide, that looks just like yucky, sticky, smelly mud. Yet out of this seemingly “dead” land life teems – mangrove trees grow up, crabs scuttle, pukekos nest – the place that looks initially uninhabitable is a rich, ecosystem. But you don’t know that unless you take time to “unwrap the grave clothes.”
