Oakura Tide Pools

Freedom camping is a strange thing – once you start, it’s hard to stop. The fun of freedom camping started when Care kept track of the nights we paid to camp and the nights when we found a great spot and just winged it. Over the past few weeks the list showed a growing number of freedom camping nights until the scales finally tipped to make “freedom camping” our accommodation of choice at Oakura Beach. This little stretch of boardwalk and sand 10 km south of New Plymouth isn’t all that much, just a public restroom, showers, and water taps, but waking up thirty feet from the water makes up for a lot. For example, on our second day here grey clouds moved in, snuffing out any hope of a sunny day on the shore. However, for some reason we took a nature walk along the beach to the scattered boulders and shallow tide pools just a half km from our campsite. Next thing we know we’re picking up eleven-armed sea stars (we looked it up and that’s their actual name), pointing out other smaller different starfish (which we didn’t look up, but are pretty cool regardless), getting into staring contests with crabs, touching the sticky tentacles of sea anemones, fording streams, and planting stick trees. Care loved it, and it reminded me of home. What can I say, living for free is addicting.
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