Her Majesty

There’s a grand old dame residing at a popular beach in the Far North who would have many an interesting tale to tell if only she could.

Her silent presence features in many a holiday snapshot and taken back to the vacationers’ respective parts of the globe.

She has most likely played host to loads of teenage drinking sessions (according to the odd telltale Cody’s can strewn about) and rendezvous by night but, by day, she welcomes family after family with her outstretched ruby-bejeweled arms.

Our family is just one of many who make a beeline for this magnificent Pohutukawa tree. The kids are still young enough to have forgotten previous visits and so rediscover her each year through new and adventurous eyes.

While us adults park ourselves underneath the shade of her crimson-hued foliage high above, she keeps the kids entertained for hours on end - she is also an experienced babysitter.

After exploring the nooks and crannies of her magnificent base, they scramble along the low-slung, gnarled, sprawling branches before jumping off into the shallows of the incoming tide and repeating over again.

Back in the day of newborns, with us at least, this was also the scene of the great tandem power-poo episode. Anyone who’s experienced a newborn power-poo through four layers of clothing (that’s counting the garments of the victim who’s holding the baby) – at the beach no less – knows this is not a fun experience. To have both babies do it in unison was almost laughable. Although I’m sure, that day, covered in sand-coated poo, we were not laughing.

In hindsight, our host was probably having a wary chuckle. Nothing fazes her as she has seen it all before.

Yes, I’m sure each summer she has noted many pooy, crying infants transformed into fun-loving children, clambering over her old, creaky limbs, and then, some years later, gathering under her sprawling mass with their cans of Cody’s before becoming parents and seeking the sanctuary of her attractive, relaxing presence while she entertains their offspring all over again.

As the summer holidays wind to a close the great Pohutukawa of Whatuwhiwhi can begin to recover through the winter, ready to bloom in all her splendor and play host once more.

Until next year Your Majesty.