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# Spring on the Coast
- URL: https://www.senseandwandermagazine.com/spring-on-the-coast/
- Published: 2026-09-02T23:10:28.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-09T01:36:31.000Z
- Author: Kara Gray Smith

The fire was still going when the drizzle set in this morning. That grey Westport light had settled in and it felt, for a while at least, like winter wasn’t quite finished with us. In comparison to the east side and the deeper South, the Winter here has been quite mild. And only for a few days, the mountain ranges had some snow capped peaks. 

By ten I’d cracked a window open.

By eleven the sun had made its way around the house and was warming the kitchen table. Then a shower came through around lunchtime, quickly enough that I barely bothered closing the window.

Spring on the West Coast.

Outside, the tūī have suddenly become an active part of the garden. We’ve been in New Zealand for nine months now and I hadn’t really noticed their call until recently. Now I hear them all the time. Clicking, gurgling, whistling.

A pair seem to have decided our garden is worth visiting, which I’m rather chuffed about.

The sparrows are everywhere too, lined up along the fence and fossicking around the compost. Blackbirds spend an extraordinary amount of time on the back lawn pulling at worms. I’ve started noticing their song as well. Different from the constant chatter of the sparrows and more sing-song-y.

There are other signs of the season around town.

Whitebaiting has started and in Buller that brings its own kind of excitement. People are talking about tides and rivers again. Gear is coming out, orders are being placed and everyone seems to have an opinion about where the good whitebait will be, and how it should be prepared and cooked.

And, naturally, Buller whitebait is the best. So we've heard. As I am writing this story, I am yet to try a whitebait pattie.

At home I’ve been spring cleaning without really planning to. Furniture has been shifted, windows opened and the spare rooms aired after winter. I bought some creeping plants for the front deck and moved the outdoor chairs around so they catch the sun. The lavender and daffodils are blooming and the bumble bees are busy from flower to flower.

Westport is getting a bit of the same treatment. Through Westport Enterprise Network, which I’m part of as a founding committee member, we’re pulling together a spring clean for the town and Main Street.

There’s something quite nice about that happening at the same time as I’m doing it at home.

By mid-afternoon today the fire was long out and the window was still open.

Tomorrow I might need the fire again.

That’s probably spring on the West Coast.