One of my film-making classmates was looking for footage of cockles (a type of NZ clam) so she kindly drove us out to a little inlet so we could “help” her look for them.  Of course, we mostly ended up lounging in the sunshine and enjoying the views.

The seagulls here have so much personality – they’re quite large, incredibly loud, and very opinionated.  I’ve taken a shining to the little brats!

The same view, without the car – it was really lovely.  Unfortunately, we missed low tide and didn’t have much luck finding cockles.

I did find some pretty shells and enjoyed exploring the rock beaches.

Eventually, Sam and Lana decided to brave the waters (it’s COLD) to see if they could set up an underwater camera.

They didn’t have much luck, but it was such a picturesque site that Madeleine and I ended up pretending that Sam and Lana were the leads in a romantic film we called “The Cockles of Her Heart” which featured a dastardly fiance trying to destroy the cockles’ ecosystem, a lost woman searching for herself, and many contemplative walks during the sunset. It would have been a smash on the festival circuit.

Alas, reality is never so romantic as our imagination – probably a good thing, honestly! We had quite the drama planned out for these two, but in the end, they couldn’t find a good way to anchor the camera and we wrapped things up and headed home.