Opononi Beach

The beach here at Opononi has lovely fine and golden sand but just round the shore it becomes a bit pebbly.
There is a story - true - about a dolphin which came here and frolicked with children in the sea for almost a year! Tourists flocked and locals murmured - some Maoris thought Opo was an evil spirit and took away their fishing. In the middle of the night one came and killed the dolphin. Opo is buried here and will never be forgotten

[Jen Hudson]

Lovely composition of the beach with its wood and the hut just before the lovely curve round into the bay. Beautiful blue sky and whispy clouds.

[julia]

Lovely spot.. going up there in a few months for a wedding.. Opo was a real legend..

[Beryl Lloyd]

A super scene and a great composition !

[ShirleyB]

Lovely shot and such a sad story for a lovely place. Love the clouds.

[Ann Williams]

I would never want to leave here - it's so beautiful. Wonderful photo and enjoyed the story.

[Ann H. LeFevre]

Pretty beach! Would love to be there right now! Oh how sad about the dolphin! )o:

[Bep]

Lovely shot, sad story about the dolphin.

[Osia Strasner]

What a sad, sad story about the dolphin!! I cannot imagine someone killing such an innocent creature... I am surprised they did not treat it as a benevolent spirit that came to play with them....and, bring tourists to improve the economy!! How very sad....nice place, though...

[Pam Knowler]

What a beautiful place but so sad about the dolphin!!

[Rosie Kind]

A lovely composition of this peaceful looking beach and a shame about the dolphin but Fav for this capture

[summerfield]

what osia @panthora said. :-) beautiful colours, too!

[Tony]

Lovely scene, nicely captured.

[Kerry McCarthy]

Looks like a lovely spot! Love the wispy clouds!

[Ann Stenson]

I would love to be there right now.. 💙 Fav

[Junko Y]

What a sad story. But what's also interesting is that your cloud colors feel like it's a photo from a past era of Kodachrome, which matches the story's timeline.

[Lindy]

Beautiful image...sad story

[Kim Harper]

Sad ending to Opo's life. What a beautiful place with the building jutting out toward the blue sea.

[Lesley Chisholm]

It looks like a really pretty beach. What a sad story though!

[katy]

Great picture.....sad story!!

[Debs Stott]

Fabulous comp, all lines lead to the hut. Love the colours too.

[Rick Schies]

It looks like such a nice get away

[Gena Pegg]

Great beach view...nice textures and lovely wispy sky.

[Taffy]

Very sad tale of the dolphin. There's a dark mysterious look to this now, just because I'm sure I was influenced by what happened there so long ago.

[Maggiemae]

@taffy that is so true, Taffy! There was a public story about this event in 1955 but I only heard the real story now! In the hotel information only... they said that a Maori fisherman went out and blew this poor dolphin up!

[Dianne]

Lovely image and nice place to visit.

[Joyce]

Looks a beautiful place to be Maggie

[richard saffold]

poor opo.

[Sebastian Gritt]

Beautiful but sad.

[Elisabeth Sæter]

Wonderful shot.

[bruni]

I'm going backwards in your calendar. lovely picture, sad story.