I got my first trolley-load of seaweed this afternoon - only a small bagful as I wanted to make sure I could haul it up the hill to the quarry. It's hard enough to walk up without carrying anything and I was a bit worried as the trolley doesn't have a brake! There's only one way to find out though and that's to do it.
I did a spot of beachcombing first - lots of shells amongst the seaweed. The toroa (oystercatchers) were combing ahead of me but perhaps for different treasure. High tide was only an hour away but still plenty of beach on Horseshoe Bay.
The seaweed that washed up a week or so ago is a mixture - lots of different colours and textures and very little kelp. This stuff rots down quickly so great for the garden. I half-filled a rubbish bag with the topmost layer as it's drier/lighter, then set off for the hill climb. I'll take my GPS unit next time to get vertical height - it's quite daunting just looking at it but I put my head down and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. There's a couple of flattish bits so I could catch my breath and eventually I got to the top - magic!
I filled the trolley with manuka trimmings (it's great for kindling) then made the trek home; it's downhill from the quarry to the Hicks Road intersection but then there's another uphill for a few hundred metres but nowhere near as steep as the quarry road. Mission accomplished at 1.40pm - I'll have to try two bags next time :).
