Collingwood Beach
Collingwood sits in a beautiful location, on a spit at the mouth of a wide estuary where the Aorere River meets the sea, but as a town it's perhaps rather lacking in architecture or charm. Beyond the town there's a spread of dunes where dogs can be exercised, but they have a somewhat tired air about them, as if they've neglected or abused over the years. Head south, though, down Beach Road and you have 3km or more of good walking ahead of you, on a long and sandy beach that stretches all the way to the next river mouth at Milnthorpe.
On stormy days the beach can be wild, with high seas and a wind that seems intent on abrading you to the bone. Unless you're willing to risk your pet's sight, it's no place for a dog on days like that. But on calmer days, the walk is beautiful. Bright white sand, a vast blue sky, and the sea painted silver and aquamarine. Or a stilll, grey mist that seems to take the whole world into itself. On days like that, especially, the beach seems to lose all dimension, so you let go of time and soon have no idea how long you've been walking or how far you've come. It's beach walking at its best. And at the end, you can linger a while on the banks of Parapara Inlet, watching the water slowly ebb. Or to make the walk even better, you can dip into Milnthorpe Forest before you head back, where there's several hours-worth of walks to explore. To do so, however, you'll need to look out for one of the small access paths that lead off the back of the beach into the forest - and they're not that easy to see. Once you're in the forest, as well, the paths are like a maze, so without a map of some sort it's easy to get lost. So keep an eye on the tide and make sure you don't get stranded, because the walk back to Collingwood on the road is not a pleasant experience at all.
On stormy days the beach can be wild, with high seas and a wind that seems intent on abrading you to the bone. Unless you're willing to risk your pet's sight, it's no place for a dog on days like that. But on calmer days, the walk is beautiful. Bright white sand, a vast blue sky, and the sea painted silver and aquamarine. Or a stilll, grey mist that seems to take the whole world into itself. On days like that, especially, the beach seems to lose all dimension, so you let go of time and soon have no idea how long you've been walking or how far you've come. It's beach walking at its best. And at the end, you can linger a while on the banks of Parapara Inlet, watching the water slowly ebb. Or to make the walk even better, you can dip into Milnthorpe Forest before you head back, where there's several hours-worth of walks to explore. To do so, however, you'll need to look out for one of the small access paths that lead off the back of the beach into the forest - and they're not that easy to see. Once you're in the forest, as well, the paths are like a maze, so without a map of some sort it's easy to get lost. So keep an eye on the tide and make sure you don't get stranded, because the walk back to Collingwood on the road is not a pleasant experience at all.
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