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.
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| 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.
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| Moove out of my space! |
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| 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!
I bet it's great to be back on the road. We can't wait. We'd only been home a day & we were ready to go again. But it'll be a few weeks as we have some more loose ends to tie up. Sorry we missed you, we got caught in the rain at Waihi & unloaded the van in torrential rain back in Tga. Maybe we'll make contact somewhere up north although I hear you'll be back sometime in July?
ReplyDeleteARP have a reasonably priced pass similar to DOCs but I guess you're only passing through so it'd be cheaper @ $6 night. Would be great to do all their parks though, they all look good.
If you stop in Whangarei, pop into Killer Prawn Restaurant or the Irish Bar, McMorrissey's- owned by my sister & BIL. David my BIL is usually found in KPs, make yourself known & I'm sure he'll look after you. Sometimes my sister is there (although she works elsewhere, a nurse at White Cross)
Have a great time up north, I'll be following along as per usual. Take care.
Shellie