Welcome to the Rangatira waterfront. This is where we all leapt off the boat that first day, and probably is where we’ll leave the Island, depending on the weather and wind direction of course. There are other landing areas but Front Landing is the closest to the hut. Front Landing has a rock platform with the sea on either side of it. The rocks are home to all sorts of wildlife including the shore plovers who squeak constantly while you’re on the rocks. There are also the skuas, which for some reason don’t try to eat the plovers. If I had a neighbour who squeaked that loudly all day I know I’d get grumpy. But it seems that skuas and plovers happily coexist.
A skua:
There is a lot of seaweed and tiny snails on the rock platform. The snails make half of your steps crunchy and the seaweed (a green weed called Ulva) makes the other steps slippery. The platform is far from even and you have to watch yourself as there are some deep chasms and pools here that you could fall into.
Slippery seaweed:
Seals also like basking on Front Landing, away from the busier seal colonies on the other side of the island. You should always keep 10 metres from a seal and never get between it and the sea so that it can escape if it feels threatened. But what I wonder, should you do when there is sea on both sides of a seal? I just made sure to give her a very wide berth.
A seal on the move....
When you look up towards the Island you see the beginning of the forest with the Rangatira Island sign and the chair. We’ve all had moments sitting on the seat watching the sea and reflecting on what has happened during the day. It’s a great view too, over the rock platform and out to Pitt Island.
What a view!
There is so much I’ll miss when I leave here, but sitting here, watching the sea and the wildlife will be near the top of that list.
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