Another Sign of a New Zealand Summer

We live in a coastal area on the North Island of New Zealand known as “The Pohutukawa Coast”. The name is taken from the prominent tree that adorns the coast and flowers with brilliant crimson needle-like clusters in the weeks that lead to Christmas. It is there known affectionately as the New Zealand Christmas Tree. Such is its fame that it appears on postage stamps, souvenir tea towels and place mats, calendars and city crests. Some people consider the Pohutukawa to be a weed and nuisance because the leaves and twigs fall into roof gutters and clog downpipes and the fine seeds propagate themselves unnecessarily all over the garden. However, the trees are protected along areas of coast around Auckland and Northland because they are considered a necessary part of defining what New Zealand is about. Honey made from Pohutukawa nectar has a very distinctive earthy sweet butterscotch flavour.

These images were taken along the coastal walkway that runs north from Long Bay on Auckland’s North Shore.