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.
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| Yummmmmmm- |
From there we drove on to Omaha which you get to by
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| 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.
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| 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!!
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