Mangawhi Clifftop Walkway & Waipu

From Pakiri Beach we headed to Mangawhai where we arrived just in time to stroll through the Saturday market and buy some lovely fresh smoked trevally before continuing on to the Managwhai Surf Lifesaving Club from where you can start the excellent beach and Clifftop Walkway which is described as one of the best coastal walks in NZ and rightly so. As soon as we arrived in the carpark it began to absolutely pelt down with rain - fast black clouds had been flying over all day but we had only had the odd brief shower until then. So it was out with all the wet weather gear as we had decided to do it whatever the weather. Luckily it started to ease off not far into the walk and we were soon stripping off our unbreatheable outer layers!

Sand surfers at Mangawhai

The walk of 2-3 hours heads firstly along the beach for about 15-20 mins, past where several young ones were having fun sliding down the sand dunes on their boogie boards, to a sign leading you up lots of steps for about another 15 mins to magnificent views out to all the islands - Little and Great Barrier and the Hen and Chickens. Because of the cloud and haze the view wasn't as good as it could be as we couldn't see Coromandel or Bream Head but even so it was worth the climb up the steps. From there on the track rambles up and down along the fairly open cliffs before leading through patches of bush and stands of nikau, toi-toi and pohutakawa down more steep steps to the water.

The walk is tidal and once down to the beach for the return part of the walk you need to be sure no water is coming through the archway otherwise you would need to turn back. As it is there is about 20 minutes of boulder, rock and stone hopping which might not enthuse people who aren't confident with their ankles or balance but we rather enjoy seeing all the different rock and stone formations.

The beach at Mangawhai Heads

The walk took us a little over 2 hours which was good as it meant we arrived at Waipu just before dark but it meant we had no time to wander along Langs Beach or Waipu Cove on the way. With having our bikes on the front of the bus we are very conscious that our lights may be a little obscured so we avoid night time driving if we can. Once in Waipu we parked up in the carpark behind the Waipu Hotel which is an NZMCA POP and we are pleased to say there were no drunken disturbances in the night - in fact it was very quiet!
We have had a quiet day in Waipu, catching up on the blog, then wandering through the little village, looking in the older buildings and antique shop and buying a pizza for lunch from The Barn, originally the old Post Office, and now a very popular licensed eating place with lots of character filled memorabilia from the past - worth a visit!

We felt lacking in character next to our neighbour!

It was great to be joined for lunch in the carpark, in the bus, by our friends, Pete and Sue from Tauranga who were passing through from seeing their families further up North. We're kicking ourselves as, yet again, we forgot to get the camera out to record this memory!

Tonight we have set up camp at the Waipu Golf Course, where they let you stay the night, all ready to play golf here in the morning. And we can fill our tank up with fresh water which is running a little low!

Matakana, Omaha, Leigh & Pakiri Beach

Friday 26th April was quite a big day now I come to write about it as after the drive and walk on the Mahurangi Peninsula we stopped for a wander through Matakana, ogling at some of the prices in the boutique shops such as the shop with the "Massive Sale" - cushions reduced from $130 to $30 and bedspreads from $1000 to $200. I am still gob-smacked as I felt a realistic price would have been half the sale price as they were nothing special. We decided that they must be catering to yuppies and not pensioners in a bus. So, as usual, we didn't do any shopping but we did have a lovely lunch at the Black Dog Cafe which we would recommend. I had smoked salmon and kumera mash, eggs benedict style with spinach - yummy and very good value at $14. Len had French Toast with caramelised bananas, bacon and chocolate sauce which he also really enjoyed - $17 for his.

Yummmmmmm-

From there we drove on to Omaha which you get to by

mmmmmmmy

crossing a bridge over the estuary. We thought about playing golf on the links course there but it was busy as well as being another course at the top end of our budget at $47 each, I think, so it was nice to reflect on how much we were saving and head through the new upmarket housing developments to the beach - a nice one again and which would have safe swimming for children.

Cool dude @ Omaha . com

After driving down to the wharf at Leigh (with the arty toilet block) where quite a few people were fishing but not catching anything we visited the Rodney Point or Goat Island marine reserve where people were snorkelling - you can hire wetsuits and snorkels - and where the glass bottomed boat had just come in from its last trip of the day around the island. It takes about an hour and we did think about returning the next day to do it but changed our minds when we travelled the road to Pakiri that we would have had to return on, plus the next day was windy and showery.

We drove on over the windy, hilly, partially unsealed road which was quite narrow in places to Pakiri where we were looking for a POP listed in our NZMCA book. We found the road number that corresponded with the listing in the book but the gate was shut and there was no NZMCA sign to be seen. It was getting dark and we were both tired so decided to turn around and go to the Pakiri Beach Holiday Park instead. The road down to it was corrugated metal (gravel) so we had a very juddery ride but nothng has yet broken when we have been on these roads. The camp was busy with school holiday makers in the cabins and a large contingent of motorhomers from South Auckland but they found a spot for us and we had a peaceful night despite there being quite a lot of noise earlier on. In the morning we walked down the road to the beach as the direct access to the beach from the camp is blocked by the river which comes to a dead end, the sand dunes having risen high enough to prevent the flow to the sea. It looks like it has been like this for some time.
It's not a place I'd go back to for a holiday but we enjoyed a walk along the beach before setting off for Mangawhai. Incidentally we saw the POP we had been looking for on the way - just a few yards further down the road from where we thought!!

Wenderholm, Warkworth & Mahurangi

Thursday 25th April
We woke to a blue sky and sun at Wenderholm Regional Park - a great spot where you can stay just one night although we were the only vehicle there. Len took his fishing rod for a walk down to the mouth of the river at 7.00am but walked it back a couple of hours later without it even getting a bite. A bit shallow out there I think. By then there were quite a few cars and boat trailers in the park. We walked the hour or so Loop Track (Maungatauhoro Te Hikoi) which includes a fairly steep climb up to the Couldrey House (built in 1868 and now a museum) Lookout giving great views of the Puhoi Estuary and the house before continuing on through the forested headland - a really nice walk on a well-formed path. From there we continued on along the beach and around the river mouth, where Len had been fishing, back to the bus.

Arghhhhhhh!!!

After replenishing the groceries in Warkworth we found our way to the Warkworth Golf Club where we were just in time to play 18 holes before darkness set in - we ended up behind a group of 4 Asians so the last 5 holes were pretty slow but we weren't in any hurry. The course was nice to play - quite hilly and the greens took some getting used to - so fast!! Our last 2 games had been at Te Puke which was pretty rough on both the fairways and the greens as it had just been cored so there was no run of the ball. At Warkworth the ball ran for miles ( are we ever happy?!) but we eventually got the hang of it.
We stayed the night in the carpark but sadly couldn't have a shower at the Club because of the water shortage. We didn't even fill up our water bottles as the water was warm and yellow.

Mahurangi Peninsula was the next spot to explore, the first stop being Sandspit with its beautiful views across Kawau Bay to Kawau Island. Lots of cars and vehicles with boat trailers already in the carpark as there are good fishing spots out from here or you can catch the ferry for a trip to the island.

View from Sandspit harbour

We stopped and admired Snells Beach - a nice safe spot for young families to swim - and then Algies Bay which is where you would live if you had a boat and a tractor to launch it with, 3 boats being launched with tractors as we did our turning around manoeuvre so we could continue on to Scandrett and Mahurangi Regional Parks.

T @ Mullet Point with white knuckle syndrome!

There is an historic house and historic farm buildings as well as a few different walks at Scandrett Regional Park - just a small parking area compared to the other parks we have been to. We did the hour long Mullet Point Loop which goes through farmland along the cliff edge to the Point which is the nearest you can get to Kawau Island from land. It's a rocky headland with outstanding views of Kawau as well as numerous other smaller islands in the Hauraki Gulf. We then drove a bit further on to the Maharangi Scenic Reserve before heading back and further up the coast.

Auckland Regional Parks

From Jacki and Tims in Auckland we really didn't travel very far, deciding to explore the Whangaparaoa Peninsula / Gulf Harbour area, not having been out there before.
We stopped at Stanmore Bay first and watched a young South African, who has only been here for 4 weeks come in from fishing in his kayak with a couple of good-sized Kahawai. The day before he caught some 5 Kingfish in the same spot. We then drove further round the bay to Big Manly where we had a bit of a beach walk before driving on out to the end of the Peninsula to the Shakespear Auckland Regional Park, Auckland having 26 of these which we hadn't realised before.

Rangitoto island from Shakespear

They are lovely big coastal parks with camping grounds and good walks to do within. If you have a self-contained vehicle you can stay in the carpark for just $6 per person per night for a maximum of 2 nights and there are toilets and barbecues to use. This particular park (Shakespear) has a Predator fence to protect the birdlife all around with automatic gates to let you in and out though the gates do get locked at night. We did an hour circular walk to a lookout point giving great 360 degree views of Auckland, the Waitakeres and the Hauraki Gulf. On the way we saw a great variety of birds including the resident peacocks, Paradise geese, Kingfishers, swallows, skylarks, oystercatchers and dotterels.

Moove out of my space!

That's me, miles out with water up to my ankles!

This morning Len was at last able to get his new surfcasting rod out at the beach just across the grass from where our bus was parked. It was low tide but after fishing for a while he realised that it was actually very shallow for a long way out so we quickly packed up and moved to Army Bay on the other side of the Peninsula which was deeper but unfortunately he lost his tackle when it was snagged on a rock. So after that it was time to go down to the dump station at the Gulf Harbour Marina to discharge our grey and black water. We won't rush back there again though as there wasn't any fresh water available to fill the tank up with. Luckily we have been able to use a tap at our next port of call - the Wenderholm Regional Park which is just a few km up the road from Orewa and the Waiwera Hot Springs. Another lovely big grassy park with good bush and coastal walks and next to the beach and the Puhoi River. Len had his rod out briefly while there was still daylight, just before dinner but not a bite. From now on I think I will just mention he has been fishing when he actually catches something! In the morning he will probably head down to the river mouth where I'm sure they will be hungrier.

This park is apparently very busy over summer as it is a great place for walks, lots of room for picnics and games as well as a safe swimming beach but tonight we are the only motorhome parked up here and I guess we are now locked in. The gate is a long way away and it is a pitch dark night!

Whangamata to Auckland 21st April

With the very heavy rain over the weekend threatening to continue on Sunday we were keeping a close eye on the weather as we set off from Tauranga that day on our Northland exploration via Whangamata and Auckland. Fortunately we left most of the rain behind us though it did apparently throw a lot more down in Tauranga that evening.
We arrived at our friends, Jan and Doug's, lovely rural property overlooking the Coromandel Coast north of Whangamata in time to join them and their friends, Maureen and Colin for a lovely lunch made mostly from their own produce. After lots of catch-up chatter and a couple of wines we headed down the road to a neighbouring property to collect some of the abundant mushrooms that have sprung up from all the rain and warm weather. Great childhood memories revived for me with this as at primary school age Peter and I used to make good pocket money from boxing up the mushrooms we collected on the farm (apart from the ones the family ate) and sending them off on the train to Turners & Growers in Wellington. It was pretty exciting when the cheques arrived in the mail even after the freight had been deducted.

Not mushroom left in those receptacles!

We love field mushrooms, barely bothering with the tasteless supermarket version, so it was wonderful to collect more than a big bucketful which we were also able to share with Jacki & Tim, and my friend, Sue in Auckland. Thankyou Jan and Doug! Since then we have enjoyed mushrooms and bacon, mushroom risotto and mushroom soup of which I still have some in the freezer for another day.

Usually when we have been staying at friends we still sleep in our bus where we are very cosy and it is easier all round but one of the bedrooms at Jan and Dougs has our name on it so I enjoyed the luxury of being able to get out of their comfortable bed without climbing over Len first and it is nice to open the curtains in the morning and watch the rabbits and the quail through the full length windows.

Monday morning we headed straight for Auckland as we don't want to run out of time in the winterless North - we can explore places closer to home at another time. Once through Auckland we can start to take our time again.
First stop in Auckland was to visit my old school-friend, Sue, who is in the middle of moving house and trying to work out what to do with everything now she is downsizing. We weren't much help as we couldn't take anything off her apart from some teabags and magazines - we can only cope with small disposable things! It was nice to catch up with a wine in hand before we moved on to my nieces, Jacki and Tims at Pt Chev, where we had already booked a night outside their house. It was great as it felt like ages since we had seen them with having been on the road now for 7 months and again their 3 children now have a few more inches between them. We were spoilt with freshly cooked snapper for dinner and Len is looking forward to using his own new surfcasting rod which he bought in Tauranga.
I've been forgetting to get the camera out so we're a bit short of photos - darn!!

Tauranga

The blog stopped while we were back in Tauranga for over 3 weeks as it was more back to reality life than life-on-the-road. It was great to catch up with all the children, grandchildren (who have all grown a little while we have been away) and friends (who fortunately haven't grown!) David and Christine came over from Sydney for Easter and it was great to have all the family together.
Somehow I didn't seem to have to cook much, enjoying lovely meals with Tony and Margaret, Gladys and Earle, Sandra & Matts, Colin & Carlene and a pot luck at Trish & Chris's with the rest of the 'mostly Physio Gang' - Jenny & Derek, Sue & Pete and Margo.
I had a nice catchup with Jos, and Sandra took me out for an early Mother's Day lunch to Side Track, at the Mount, which we always enjoy.
Len and I celebrated our 7th Wedding Anniversary at the Kwang Chow restaurant with Norrie and all his Dunedin flatmates from 1968 who were also my flatmates for a few months when I returned to Dunedin from Palmerston North to sit my Finals, Norrie and I being engaged at the time - John & Tom from Auckland with their lovely wives, Ruth (who I also knew in Dunedin) and Petro, Crunch (Paul) from Christchurch and Clem from Port Chalmers. They had their first flat reunion in Dunedin 5 years ago and plan to keep meeting up every 5 years and even though it was an odd way for Len & I to celebrate our anniversary we both thoroughly enjoyed the night and it was easy to recognise everybody! Somehow it was very reminiscent of being around the table at 138 St David Street with all the banter going on!

The flatmates reunion

We spent a weekend parked on our section at Whakatane and appreciate, yet again, what a lovely spot it is in - so easy to walk into town, to the river for whitebaiting, to the Heads for fishing and yet very quiet and peaceful. We have dug our house building plans out of the shed and are thinking that instead of selling the section we might yet build on it!
We played golf at Te Puke (twice) on our way past even though it wasn't in a good condition, having just been cored and went to one movie with Margaret & Tony - 'Hudson on Hyde Park' which is not a must-see but enjoyable providing an interesting insight into Roosevelt's social life.

Relaxing at Tony & Margarets

Overnight parking sites were various, the most popular one being the wide roadside lawn in front of Colin and Carlenes but we also enjoyed our parking spot at M&Ts (excellent!), Pilot Bay, Fergusson Park, the wide grassed area by the port, a block over from the Mount movie theatre and the roadside outside Gladys's and then Trish's which was the Friday night the rain just bucketed down all night and the next 2 nights creating major flooding throughout Tauranga, the Mount and Waihi.
Our poor neighbour at Bain St, whose house sits lower than ours, had the water rush through her whole downstairs, halfway up to window level and she has only just completed major renovations. Sandra and Matt had some flooding in their basement and Colin narrowly missed flooding, in Amelia's bedroom particularly, only by vigorous drain creation and brisk water-sweeping. It had been so hot and dry for 4 months the ground just couldn't cope - I think it was the heaviest prolonged rain I have ever heard.
I have done a week of locum work, Len has helped Tony with some painting, our medical checks are completed and the time has come to move on!

Tauranga Easter Pics.

EasterEgg hunt

Marton to Tauranga

We spent our last night in Marton at the new NZMCA camp in the town as we were quite keen to see what it was like. There were quite a lot of other vans there with several of them , including the President, being en-route to the Easter Rally in New Plymouth. The camp is quite well set up compared with others, being the only one we have stayed in with toilets. There was a clothes line, potable water, a shower but no hot water, a barbecue and some trees for shade.
We joined several of our neighbours for Happy Hour before dinner and were one of the first to leave camp in the morning as we wanted to drive all the way to Taupo! - Much further than we usually travel in a day and of course we had to stop for a game of golf on the way -this time at Turangi, a course we have played on a couple of times before and enjoy. Think we must have played too many games in a row this time though and our scores suffered a little from tiredness! We were told we were welcome to stay the night, the club just having listed itself on the NZMCA site. They have plenty of showers but unfortunately no hot water at the moment.
Then it was on to Rainbow Point, just before Taupo, where my good schoolfriend, Sally, and her husband Dave have just retired to from Auckland. They have a beautiful new home with views of the lake and lots of special features and it was great to enjoy their wonderful hospitality and catch up on the news of the last few months. There was a bed for us inside but, as usual, we were quite content in out little bus which we parked on the driveway.

Sally & Dave's Taupo home

Their house is very close to the new Lion's funded cycle path which goes along the edge of Lake Taupo from further round the bays right into town so the next morning Len and I hopped on our bikes and went as far as we could South and then back along the path into town. Lots of walkers out and the lake is so warm generally and even hot in a couple of places where thermal streams are flowing into the lake. It's certainly a beautiful spot and the path is a fantastic asset. In fact it probably one of Len's ideal spots with it's lake and mountain views, not unlike the Lake District.

Taupo Blue View!

Wednesday, we arrived back in Tauranga and have been camped on the lawn outside Colin and Carlene's, spending the last few days catching up with all the family, including David and Christine who are over from Sydney. Lots of happy times catching up, eating too much with all the wonderful food that Carlene and Christine have been producing, watching the grandchildren hunt for Easter Eggs and then eat too many of them and generally being rather lazy although we did join Sandra and her 3 boys for a walk up the Mount on Friday morning before heading to our house to get the garden tidied up and the hedge cut. Only half of it done so far as instead of finishing it today we have been playing in a golf scramble at our home club, Omanu. Len did well with 41 stableford points but I rather underperformed. My excuse is that the fairways have just been cored, the grass is long and so the ball isn't running well and I did too many shots on the par 3s! Don't know why it didn't worry Len! Amazing to see so much green on the fairways compared to all the brittle, brown courses we have been playing on and also to see so many others playing - we so often have a course all to ourselves!