John
You have heard the phrase “an inconvenient truth” no doubt before. The view from this bach window is inconvenient because it reveals a truth about Waitarere Beach that goes completely against the stories we are all being fed about coastal property being in danger because of Climate Change.
I was working down at Waitarere Beach and seeing the view from the bach window I remarked to the owner that I had stayed at the beach for a week 51 years ago.
She replied, “I bet you didn’t have to walk so far to the beach back then.”
To cut a long story short below is a photo taken from the bach window looking out at the Waitarere Beach Lifesaving club that is not used because it’s too far from the surf!
They are trying to fundraise to build a pavilion closer to the beach but the council is reluctant to consent because of erosion which seems very odd as if there was an erosion problem surely the Lifesaving club would have moved closer to the sea not further away!
It is further along this beach that the Hydrabad ran ashore in 1878. I remember it being around or above the high tide mark in 1969!
If you read this 2013 Stuff article that mentions the shipwreck they actually admit that the beach extends by more than a metre a year! (I thought that the science was settled, Stuff).
[…] the wreck itself has now disappeared. Coastal processes mean a constant supply of sand replenishes the dunes at Waitarere, rarely eroding away. The beach at Waitarere extends by over a metre each year as a result. 135 years later, the sand that sunk the Hydrabad has now swallowed it for good measure.
The wreck lies under the sand, its location marked by an enormous blue post. Locals tell me that if I want to see even a tiny piece of her, I need to dig.
“It’s only just below the surface.”
Stuff
This is the view from Google maps. Red is where my above photo was taken from!
Here is the street view.
And this
You don’t hear about this from the “Klimate Kult” now do you?
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