Turkeys and Oysters

Gobble, gobble went the turkeys as we drove slowly past after a drive down to a beach subdivision near Whakatane.  Mum and Dad turkey were in the paddock just over the fence.  Was that a baby turkey or two we can see?  We stopped the car and I slowly walked up to the fence line, so they didn’t get too frightened.  There were in fact ten young turkeys grazing on the grass with their parents.

The Turkey family

Father turkey was watching over his brood, and keeping a wary eye on me as I walked closer.  He spread his tail feathers, puffed out his chest and fixed me with his beady eyes.  “Gobble, gobble, don’t you dare come any closer”, he seemed to be saying.  He was certainly taking great care of his brood.

We got back into the car and continued on with our sightseeing drive around the Whakatane area.  It was getting on for lunch time when we stopped at Ohiwa Oyster Farm on our drive around the coast.  Perhaps they sell  cooked oysters here?  Yes, they certainly did, so we placed our orders for battered oysters and chips, received a number, and waited patiently for our orders to cooked.  Then we sat at the picnic tables overlooking the bay and devoured our delicious lunch.

 

The Pacific oysters are farmed right here in Ohiwa Harbour and the shop was kept very busy with orders.  Cars stopped across the road, and whole families and groups of friends arrived to place their orders and like us, enjoy their meals in the misty sunshine.  The setting was beautiful, with a flowering pohutukawa tree adding a splash of colour to the tranquil scene.  Sea gulls hovered around waiting hopefully for some left over chips to be thrown their way.

It was truly a magical place and our al fresco lunches were delicious.  Another glorious day on holiday.